# Pullman National Historical Park Act

This bill changes the official designation of an existing protected site in Illinois from the "Pullman National Monument" to the "Pullman National Historical Park." While that might sound like just a name change, it actually signals a shift in how the government will manage and interpret this important historical site.

The Pullman area in Illinois has significant meaning in American history. It was the first planned industrial community in the United States, and it played a crucial role in labor history—particularly the creation of Labor Day as a national holiday. The site is also important for African-American history because Pullman porters were instrumental in building the Black middle class. By redesignating it as a historical park rather than a monument, Congress is emphasizing that this location should be preserved and interpreted as a complete historical story, not just as a scenic or natural landmark.

The practical changes this bill creates include giving the Secretary of the Interior more tools to manage the site and tell its story. The government can now work with local communities, nonprofits, and the state of Illinois through cooperative agreements to preserve nearby historic properties, create educational programs, and put up interpretive signs and exhibits both inside and outside the park boundaries. The bill also allows the government to acquire additional land if owners are willing to sell, and it requires the Interior Department to develop a detailed management plan within three years. Essentially, this gives the federal government more flexibility to work with the local community to preserve and share Pullman's complex history with visitors and future generations.

Pullman National Historical Park Act

Kelly, Robin L.

Pullman National Historical Park Act This bill redesignates the Pullman National Monument in Illinois as the Pullman National Historical Park. The Department of the Interior may enter into cooperative agreements with interested parties to <ul> <li>support collaborative interpretive and educational programs at nonfederal historic properties within the boundaries of the historical park, and </li> <li>identify, interpret, and provide assistance for the preservation of nonfederal land within the boundaries of the historical park and at sites in close proximity to the historical park. </li> </ul> Interior may acquire any land (including interests in land), buildings, or structures by donation, transfer, exchange, or purchase from a willing seller for inclusion in the historical park. Interior must complete a general management plan for the historical park.