Title 54National Park Service and Related ProgramsRelease 119-73

§308302 Program

Title 54 › Subtitle Subtitle III— - National Preservation Programs › Chapter CHAPTER 3083— - NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM › § 308302

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must set up a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom inside the Park Service. The Secretary will make and share educational materials (like handbooks, maps, guides, and online information), make written agreements to give technical help, and create an official network symbol with rules for its use. The network will include Park Service sites and programs about the Underground Railroad; other federal, state, local, or private places that have a proven link and are on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places; and other public or private education, research, or interpretive programs tied to the Underground Railroad. The Secretary can make agreements and offer technical help to other agencies, states, local governments, regional bodies, private groups, and, working with the Secretary of State, to Canada, Mexico, and suitable Caribbean countries.

Full Legal Text

Title 54, §308302

National Park Service and Related Programs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall establish in the Service the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Under the national network, the Secretary shall—
(1)produce and disseminate appropriate educational materials, such as handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic information;
(2)enter into appropriate cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding to provide technical assistance under subsection (c); and
(3)create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device for the national network and issue regulations for its use.
(b)The national network shall encompass the following elements:
(1)All System units and programs of the Service determined by the Secretary to pertain to the Underground Railroad.
(2)Other Federal, State, local, and privately owned properties pertaining to the Underground Railroad that have a verifiable connection to the Underground Railroad and that are included on, or determined by the Secretary to be eligible for inclusion on, the National Register of Historic Places.
(3)Other governmental and nongovernmental facilities and programs of an educational, research, or interpretive nature that are directly related to the Underground Railroad.
(c)To achieve the purposes of this chapter and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal elements of the national network with System units and programs of the Service, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding with, and provide technical assistance—
(1)to the heads of other Federal agencies, States, localities, regional governmental bodies, and private entities; and
(2)in cooperation with the Secretary of State, to the governments of Canada, Mexico, and any appropriate country in the Caribbean.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 30830216 U.S.C. 469l–1.Pub. L. 105–203, § 3, July 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 679; Pub. L. 110–229, title III, subtitle G, § 361(a)(1), May 8, 2008, 122 Stat. 801. In subsection (a), the words “a program to be known as” are omitted as unnecessary. The words “national network” are substituted for “program” because of the definition of “national network” in section 308301 of this title and for consistency with subsections (b) and (c).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

54 U.S.C. § 308302

Title 54National Park Service and Related Programs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73