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From Wondry, I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers.

Our History, Your Story.

Next week, we begin a new series on the Civil Rights Movement.

As the United States entered World War II, the country remained deeply divided by segregation.

For decades, Jim Crow had maintained his stranglehold on every facet of Black life in the

South.

And in the North, African Americans were often excluded from the best housing and employment

opportunities because of the color of their skin.

But across the country, Black communities were beginning to rise up.

They were fighting and sacrificing for freedom overseas.

Now it was time to fight for their own freedom at home.

Today though, we talked to Greg Dudgeon, superintendent of the Gates of the Arctic National

Park and Preserve and the Yukon Charlie Rivers National Preserve in Alaska.

For the past six weeks, we've explored the history of America's best idea, our national

parks.

They began as the nation was rebuilding from its calamitous civil war.

Westward expansion had already pushed the nation's boundaries all the way to the Pacific.

And it was there in the wilds of the Sierra Mountains that the seeds of our park system

and a movement to preserve our natural wonders began.

Passionate Americans explored the Yosemite Valley, got both lost and found in Yellowstone,

...