Title 54National Park Service and Related ProgramsRelease 119-73

§308402 African American Civil Rights Network

Title 54 › Subtitle Subtitle III— - National Preservation Programs › Chapter CHAPTER 3084— - AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS NETWORK › § 308402

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must create a program inside the Service called the African American Civil Rights Network. The Network must avoid repeating past studies, make and share educational materials (like handbooks, maps, guides, and online resources), make agreements to give technical help, and create one official symbol for the Network with rules for how it can be used. The Network covers National Park Service units and programs tied to the African American civil rights movement from 1939 through 1968. With an owner’s permission, it also covers federal, state, local, or private places that relate to the movement, have a clear connection, and are listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, plus other government and non‑government educational, research, or interpretive programs directly related to the movement.

Full Legal Text

Title 54, §308402

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

(a)The Secretary shall establish, within the Service, a program to be known as the “African American Civil Rights Network”.
(b)In carrying out the Network, the Secretary shall—
(1)review studies and reports to complement and not duplicate studies of the historical importance of the African American civil rights movement that may be underway or completed, such as the Civil Rights Framework Study;
(2)produce and disseminate appropriate educational materials relating to the African American civil rights movement, such as handbooks, maps, interpretive guides, or electronic information;
(3)enter into appropriate cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding to provide technical assistance under subsection (c); and
(4)(A)create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device for the Network; and
(B)issue regulations for the use of the symbol or device adopted under subparagraph (A).
(c)The Network shall encompass the following elements:
(1)All units and programs of the Service that are determined by the Secretary to relate to the African American civil rights movement during the period from 1939 through 1968.
(2)With the consent of the property owner, other Federal, State, local, and privately owned properties that—
(A)relate to the African American civil rights movement;
(B)have a verifiable connection to the African American civil rights movement; and
(C)are included in, or determined by the Secretary to be eligible for inclusion in, 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 African American civil rights movement.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2019—Pub. L. 116–9 substituted “African American Civil Rights Network” for “U.S. Civil Rights Network” in section catchline and subsec. (a).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References Pub. L. 116–9, title II, § 2407(c), Mar. 12, 2019, 133 Stat. 750, provided that: “Any reference in any law (other than in this section [amending this section and analyses preceding section 100101 and preceding section 308401 of this title]), regulation, document, record, map, or other paper of the United States to the ‘U.S. Civil Rights Network’ shall be considered to be a reference to the ‘African American Civil Rights Network’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

54 U.S.C. § 308402

Title 54National Park Service and Related Programs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73