In the 12 inspiring lectures of Stories of America’s National Parks, Dr. Megan Kate Nelson, author of several highly acclaimed books about American history and ecology, takes you on a marvelous journey through some of the most beautiful places on Earth. You’ll traverse the country to explore the origins, cultural legacy, and environmental import of sites from the Hawaiian islands to the Alaskan wilderness to the Atlantic seaboard.
Stories of America’s National Parks
From Yellowstone to the Everglades, get to know America through our natural landscapes preserved by the National Park System.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
ses711 from
Individual advocacy matters
In addition to all the positives noted by other reviewers, I appreciated the presenter's highlighting of the critical role of individual advocacy in the development and growth of national parks. This advocacy often involved women, indigenous peoples, and enslaved peoples. standing up against business interests, land exploiters, and forces of tradition.
Date published: 2024-12-30
Rated 5 out of
5
by
FloridaPat from
Splendid Program
Having been to the National Parks discussed in this program, I learned a great deal about the parks in this program. The topics ranged from history to geology. I appreciated the information about Native Americans and others who are generally not included in programs about the National Parks. The visuals are plentiful and very relevant. The program gives a greater appreciation and dimension to these special places and I hope there are more programs by Professor Nelson added to this one.
Date published: 2024-12-20
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Bobbi Jean 65 from
Beautiful and informative series
I learned so much about national parks I have known and loved, and I can hardly wait to visit the two I have yet to experience. The presenter shows so clearly how each of the parks has caused disruption to native peoples. It is one more way our country has trampled native lands with little regard to the peoples living there. Everyone who cares about our national history needs to see this course.
Date published: 2024-12-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
BigWally from
Simply outstanding!
This is truly an outstanding course. This is not just a travelogue, but the emphasis is on the history of the park whether going back thousands of years or just a few hundred. The professor does a wonderful job bringing the history alive with commentary, videos, pictures, etc. I truly hope she will follow up with the story of more parks. I worked in Glacier National Park in the summer of 1965, and that summer is one of the highlights of my life! P.S. I hope she gets around to featuring a lecture on Glacier National Park BEFORE all the glaciers have melted.
Date published: 2024-12-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Thanuja from
A storied course for a traveller
I think this is a well presented course for travellers, national park-goers and vacationeers! I'd certainly take this course whether you are seasoned National Park visitor or someone new. Professor has exqusitive skills in presenting this material and you can binge this one in a one go. I'd like to recommend this course to anyone interested in Parks, stories, and just freedom!
Thanks TGC to produce this one!
Date published: 2024-12-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
the professor from
A Dark History of America's National Parks.
Megan Kate Nelson, PhD., passionately delivers a sometimes dark history of the evolution of America's National Park system. The twelve lectures are mesmerizing as Dr. Nelson walks the learner through tales of environmental stewardship and its nemesis, personal greed. Each lecture provides the learner with a rich overview of the particular National Park site, it's inhabitants, the environs, and those attempting to enhance its national status. As someone who spent 40 years in the environmental field, I walked away amazed by the personal impact this wonderful course provided me. This course easily pushes one to get involved in local or national conservation efforts. What hit me the hardest was the horrible abuse of indigenous peoples that continued right through White Sands National Park. Mammoth Cave National Park, The Everglades, Denali, were outstanding as were all the individual Parks. Dr. Nelson is very engaging and passionate about the topic and delivers a very captivating lecture set, which is well worth the investment. I highly recommend this course and hope that The Professor continues with many others.
Date published: 2024-12-09
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jambu from
Great Professor and great subject!
I have always been excited about knowing our national parks, and almost all of them have been like a sight seeing tour.
This one was very different and informative. This is not a sight seeing tour of the national parks. It is an educative and historical journey about the 12 national parks selected for the course which makes it laudable.
Professor Megan Kate Nelson, guides us through the background and history of how these parks came into being, and most importantly about the lives and history of the indigenous people who have been living in these places for tens of thousands of years.
She also brings to light a lot of women, indians, african americans and even slaves who have been the leading lights in the formation of these national parks.
I enjoyed each of the 12 lectures, and I only wish the same professor takes us through all of the 63 national parks soon. The Great Courses, this is a request for your really great team.
The professor is also so presentable, knowledgeable and personal as she has visited most of these sites. Thanks Professor Megan for your time and sharing. I have decided to visit some of these sites soon. The only National Park I have ever visited is the Shenandoah National Park, and I could relate so well with the lectures. Your lectures will help me enjoy and understand more better when I visit them now. You are awesome!
Thanks again!
Date published: 2024-12-08
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Scrof from
More to know than you think
The national parks are one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by the USA. This course fills in some of the why it happened and who made important contributions. The speaker is knowledgeable and pleasant to listen to. I only regret that the course is only 12 lectures long. Perhaps another set of fill in lectures could be arranged in the future.
Date published: 2024-12-05
Overview
About
Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer. She has a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She has taught at Texas Tech University, Cal State Fullerton, Harvard, and Brown. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America, which won the 2023 Spur Award for Best Western Historical Nonfiction Book, and The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West, which was a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist in History. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Smithsonian magazine.
Trailer
01: Yellowstone: America’s First National Park
Venture back in time to witness the birth of the National Park System. Here, you’ll meet Ferdinand Hayden, a scientist who lobbied to explore Yellowstone in the 1870s. Once he recognized what a treasure this region was—including forests, geysers, and other natural wonders—he convinced the federal government to protect the land for posterity.
33 min
02: The Majestic Giants of Sequoia National Park
Travel to California’s Sierra Nevada mountains to stand among the world’s largest trees. More than a century ago, conservationists recognized not only the great beauty of this unusual forest, but also the threat posed by loggers and economic development—resulting in the creation of Sequoia National Park.
27 min
03: Mesa Verde: Preserving Ancient Ruins
Mesa Verde National Park offers an astonishing combination of environmental beauty and cultural heritage. Dr. Nelson takes you on a journey through the American southwest, where ancient cliff dwellings offer archaeological insight into Pueblo history.
27 min
04: Hawaii Volcanoes: Parks as Science Labs
Shift your attention from the American West to the Pacific Ocean, where the fiery spectacle of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park captures the imagination. Central to the geologic story of Hawai‘i’s Big Island is Pele, the goddess of creation and destruction, who is central to this park’s cultural heritage.
28 min
05: Denali: What’s in a Name?
Bundle up as you ascend the heights of Denali National Park, the tallest peak in North America. The park’s rich cultural history includes Indigenous groups who have called Alaska home for thousands of years. These groups—along with gold miners, big-game hunters, and mountaineers—all played a role in preserving this awe-inspiring wilderness.
28 min
06: Grand Canyon: Building on the Edge
Many of us have fond memories of visiting the Grand Canyon with our families, but what is the story behind Grand Canyon National Park? What do the geological formations tell us about millions of years of Earth’s history? And how did one of the nation’s foremost architects work to shape visitor experiences at the Grand Canyon? Deepen your understanding of one of America’s most famous landscapes.
30 min
07: Philanthropy and Park Creation at Acadia
Discover the rugged beauty of coastal Maine. Here, you’ll see how wealthy vacationers, the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, the preservationist George Bucknam Dorr, and many others worked to create Acadia National Park, which today is a striking symbol of cultural preservation and innovative landscape architecture.
29 min
08: Shenandoah: Who Owns a View?
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Shenandoah National Park is a significant testament to America’s natural beauty and complex history. From the native Monacan people to “hollow” residents to activists working for integration during the civil rights era, those who have lived in and loved the Shenandoah region are all part of the captivating history of the easternmost rampart of the Appalachian Range.
29 min
09: The Power of Water in the Everglades
Head south to the tropics of Florida, where conservationists like Marjory Stoneman Douglas battled to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades. Along with examining the park’s biodiversity, Dr. Nelson walks you through the region’s history of exploitation and preservation.
29 min
10: The Vast Underground World of Mammoth Cave
Not all national parks can be viewed from the surface. Head underground with Dr. Nelson to travel through Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park, the world’s longest cave system. Learn about the history of mining and exploration in the caves—including the life of Stephen Bishop, an enslaved man who became a pioneering cave guide in the 19th century.
30 min
11: Saving the Desert in Death Valley
Return above ground to the harsh deserts of Death Valley National Park, which at 3.4 million acres is the largest national park in the continental United States. In addition to its size, the park is known for its extreme weather conditions and its dark sky views at night. Delve into this wonder of contradictions.
29 min
12: White Sands: A Landscape of Warfare
Your course wraps up with a look at White Sands National Park. Located amid desert dunes in New Mexico, the history of White Sands ranges from Indigenous hunting and gathering to the US military’s atomic bomb tests in the 1940s—a testament to the complexity of interaction between human and natural worlds.
36 min
