Superintendent tapped for Alabama national monuments

By Nicole Norman | 08/13/2024 04:23 PM EDT

Rolando Herts will oversee the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and the Freedom Riders National Monument.

A worker stands atop the historic A.G. Gaston Motel during renovation work in Birmingham, Alabama.

A worker stands atop the historic A.G. Gaston Motel during renovation work in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 17, 2019. The site is part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. Jay Reeves/AP

The National Park Service selected a new superintendent for Alabama’s Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and the Freedom Riders National Monument.

Rolando Herts has worked in various leadership roles over the past decade to advance cultural heritage. He served as director of the Delta Center and executive director of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a congressionally designated partnership with the National Park Service, since 2014.

“Rolando’s experience developing sites of memory and empowering communities to preserve nationally significant stories will help solidify the foundation of these two relatively new parks,” said Mark Foust, NPS South Atlantic-Gulf regional director, in a statement

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Herts’ research with Tourism RESET focuses on race, ethnicity and social equity in tourism, and he holds board positions at multiple organizations such as the Association of African American Museums Board of Directors and the Advisory Committee for the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at University of Mississippi.

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