Assistant Professor of History Erin Devlin
Erin Devlin, assistant professor of history and American studies, was interviewed in an article on OutsideOnline.com entitled “Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History.” She discussed her research into sites in national parks in Virginia that were associated with segregation during the first half of the 20th century.
“‘Basically, the park was segregated on an ad hoc basis,’ says Erin Devlin, associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Mary Washington, who is leading the study of the five national parks in Virginia. African American visitors wrote letters of complaint both to the park and the Department of the Interior, reporting that rangers told them certain areas of the park were off-limits to them. Some white visitors also wrote letters to the National Park Service, arguing that this kind of race-based practice was un-American. But the policies continued.” Read more.