[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 59771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16073]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-IMR-BLSC-NPS0037689; PX.XXIMRC63.00.1-244-PPIMFODA00]


Blackwell School National Historic Site

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As authorized by the Blackwell School National Historic Site 
Act, the National Park Service announces that the Secretary of the 
Interior has established, in the State of Texas, the Blackwell School 
National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park System.

ADDRESSES: A color version and more detailed area maps depicting the 
boundary are available online at https://www.nps.gov/blsc/planyourvisit/maps.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lance Hatten, Deputy Regional 
Director, National Park Service, Intermountain Region at 303-969-2500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 17, 2022, President Biden signed 
into law the Blackwell School National Historic Site Act (Pub. L. 117-
206), designating the Blackwell School in Marfa, Texas, as a unit of 
the National Park System. The Blackwell School was a segregated school 
constructed in Marfa, Texas in 1909. The school was the sole public 
education institution for hundreds of Marfa's Mexican-American children 
until its closure in 1965 following the integration of the Marfa 
Independent School District (ISD). Blackwell School serves as a 
tangible reminder of the period during which the doctrine of ``separate 
but equal'' dominated education and social systems, and that de facto 
segregation of Mexican-American children was perpetuated in Texas 
school districts through the mid-twentieth century.
    The statute provides that Blackwell School National Historic Site 
shall be established as a unit of the National Park System once the 
Secretary determines that a sufficient quantity of land, or interests 
in land, has been acquired to constitute a manageable park unit.
    The National Park Service has acquired all 0.77 acres within the 
proposed historic site boundary, encompassing the core area of 
Blackwell School. On July 17, 2024, the Secretary of the Interior 
signed a Decision Memorandum determining that the Marfa Independent 
School District has entered into a donation agreement with the National 
Park Service and that a sufficient quantity of land, or interests in 
land, has been acquired to constitute a manageable park unit. With the 
signing of this Decision Memorandum by the Secretary and the 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, Blackwell School 
National Historic Site is established.

Charles F. Sams, III,
Director, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-16073 Filed 7-22-24; 8:45 am]
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