Praising Pullman: NRDC Supports New National Monument Designations

CHICAGO (February 18, 2015) – President Obama will be in Chicago tomorrow to sign an order designating the city’s Pullman District as a national monument. He is also expected to announce two other new monuments, Browns Canyon in Colorado and Hawaii’s Honouliuli Internment Camp.  

Following is reaction from Natural Resources Defense Council Executive Director Peter Lehner:

“The rich history of the Pullman District makes for a significant national monument; memorializing a moment in history that remains rich with meaning around race relations, the labor movement, technological innovation and urban planning. The Pullman story represents the struggle for a better life and should be preserved for generations to come.

“We appreciate the President’s continued investment in developing national monuments that memorialize not only our most important wild places, but also essential historical sites that illuminate the American experience. Certainly Pullman, Browns Canyon in Colorado and the Honouliuli Internment Camp site in Hawaii represent the amazingly diverse breadth of special places that require protection and interpretation.”

NRDC Midwest Director Henry Henderson blogged on the importance of the Pullman District national monument designation at http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/pullman_national_monument_a_re.html