There were 25 pivot points when the idea, the proposal, the legislation or starting up the park might have been stopped in its tracks, dead in the water. These include for example the classic way that women’s projects are derailed with a “sorry you are not on the priority list” and you know you never will be. When you are facing these assaults or sidelining speed up: jump the lines, break the rules, keep moving as fast as you can. Leap immediately through every open door; it may slam shut soon. Read about these in the book.

 When you are facing impossible headwinds blocking your project, invite Alan Alda to cut a ribbon for whatever you do have. He came to Seneca Falls to cut the ribbon and open the park in 1982 and 5,000 came to see him. The actor made the park real when we had very little that was real. Make something out of nothing if need be.

 The Women’s Rights Park was deemed “the first idea park” meaning that the women’s rights movement was such a significant story that it overrode the concerns about the central historic structure, the Wesleyan Chapel, which had devolved to a deteriorated local laundromat. The fact that this centrally significant church was never preserved to showcase women’s history is the perfect pair to not saving or telling women’s history. And it opened the door for new idea parks, Stonewall Tavern National Monument being one example where the Park Service owns a tiny plot of land across from the Tavern which is still open and serving the public.

In 2022 there are still only 12 national parks focusing on the contributions of women who have made a difference to our nation. In 2022 there are 423 national parks.  This is not sufficient or acceptable.