National Park Partners celebrates its 20th year hosting the Moccasin Bend Lecture Series, inviting the public to a one-of-a-kind event featuring retired National Park Service Superintendent M. Ann Belkov and Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly.
The October 20 event features a presentation from the first woman named a National Park Service Superintendent, M. Ann Belkov. She will be joined by Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly in a conversation about the relevance of community involvement in a National Park City.
Also the former Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty, Belkov’s service in Chattanooga was critical to shaping the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
During her tenure as CCNMP Superintendent, Ann Belkov accomplished three major feats that distinguish her among past superintendents and remain highly relevant today. She organized the Friends of CCNMP, which began fundraising in 1986 for the expansion of the Visitor Center at Chickamauga Battlefield.
Following that success, she rallied support for the restoration and installation of the James Walker mural in the new Visitor Center at Lookout Mountain Battlefield (the painting had been in a storage shed for more than 35 years). Finally, almost alone, she prevented a four-lane divided highway from being constructed through the middle of Chickamauga Battlefield.
Register here for this important discussion.
Retired Superintendent Belkov will discuss how engagement between the National Park Service and the community was instrumental to the success of these achievements and how essential community engagement is to current and future successes given current staffing and budget challenges.
She and Mayor Kelly will describe the potential for linking Chattanooga's National Park City designation with the tremendous resources of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including Moccasin Bend National Archeological District.
Ann is the retired Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Museum. She had a 25-year career with the National Park Service that also included her positions as Superintendent of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana and Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Park and Russell Cave National Monument in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. A D.C. native, she also worked for the D.C. Department of Recreation for nine years.
Ann took a civilian assignment with the U.S. Air Force in the Far East during the Vietnam conflict. She received the Freedom Foundation Award and the Department of Interior Superior Performance Award. She retired in 1996 and has since been active in the D.C. arts and nonprofit scene as an active board member of both Step Afrika! and the Atlas Performing Arts Center. Ann also serves on the Board of the U.S. Park Police Foundation.
The culminating presentation in the series, “Public Lands Partnerships: The Fort Monroe National Monument Model,” is presented by Scott Martin, former Administrator of the Department of Parks and Outdoors (DPO) for the City of Chattanooga. Linda Moss Mines, Hamilton County Historian, will join Scott for a discussion of how the best practices of their model for public lands management may be replicated in other communities. Register here for this culminating presentation.
All Moccasin Bend Lecture Series events take place on Monday evenings at 7:00 pm at the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Auditorium. Seating is limited and advance registration is required to guarantee a spot. All lectures are FREE and open to the public and recordings of previous lectures are available on-demand on the National Park Partners YouTube Channel.
Hosted now in her honor, the series was important to Johanna ‘Rita’ Vital. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 to German immigrant parents, Rita married Leo Vital, a returning WWII veteran in 1951, and embarked on a lifelong pursuit of education and faith. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Atlantic Union College, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a chaplaincy degree from Andover Newton Theological School.
An avid traveler, she visited over 50 countries, loved nature, and founded the Adventurers program, a nature-based youth outreach effort with the Seventh Day Adventists that was so successful it was spread internationally. Rita was instrumental in the Moccasin Bend Lecture Series, never missed an event, and was a stalwart supporter of the National Park Service.
National Park Partners preserves and promotes the landscapes and stories of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. We believe the park belongs to everyone and everyone belongs in the park, and we engage the community in growing Chattanooga’s National Park legacy for current and future generations.
Visit nppcha.org for more information.