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Exhibits along the wall of the Pullman visitor center

Program

Inclusive Storytelling

Exhibits inside the visitor center at Pullman National Monument
NPF Photo / Dimitre Photography

Introduction

Supporting projects to help parks share more inclusive and comprehensive narratives.

Our national parks tell the diverse and incredible stories of America. However, there are stories, experiences, and interpretations of peoples and communities whose voices and contributions have been excluded from the American story. The National Park Foundation (NPF)’s Inclusive Storytelling program supports work that documents, preserves, and shares the voices and actions of people who are not often recognized as having shaped our history or for whom the struggle for social, racial, and environmental justice continues.

Inclusive Storytelling grants support contemporary research in parks, as well as projects that transform this research into relevant interpretative products – from interpretive park programs and exhibits to websites and videos.

Note: the term “storytelling” has several meanings. In this context, “storytelling” is used to describe the art and craft of interpretation – the art of organizing and sharing a story.

Exhibit of boxes, labeled things such as "Cypress Green" and "Devon Imperial"

By the Numbers

  • $2
    Million
    NPF has been able to fund $2 million in Inclusive Storytelling grants in parks across the country.
  • 31
    Projects Funded
    In 2023, NPF’s inaugural Inclusive Storytelling grants supported 31 interpretative projects in our national parks.

Program Highlights

Park visitor using New Bedford Shoreside Industries app
New Material Production

Research supported by Inclusive Storytelling grants can help shape new materials, such as collections of oral histories, new films or videos, podcasts, or other public communication materials that help share these stories.

Visitor reads the Does History Matter panel with text explaining the transition from slavery, 13th amendment, and Jim Crowe. Images of the time period and quotes for subject experts included.
Updating Interpretive Materials

Interpretative materials in our parks abound – from wayside signs to visitor center videos. Inclusive storytelling grants help refresh materials that contain outdated, incomplete, inaccurate, and biased stories or language.

A ranger points to the upper right to something out of frame. The visitor next to her follows where she is pointing. They are standing in a pull off in front of a large red rock and tree. More green trees and red canyon are in the background.
Funding Interpretive Rangers

Interpretative park rangers are the hands-on historians in our parks. Inclusive Storytelling grants help support the funding of these positions in national parks, ensuring parks have the capacity to continue evolving and refreshing their interpretative materials.

Dorien Scheets stands on a paved pathway that leads up to a historic site
Supporting Research Interns

Inclusive Storytelling grants enable parks to engage interns to research and document narratives that help build inclusive storytelling in the park.

A man and woman looking at an wayside exhibit along the Carver walking trail.
Seed Funding

Grants from NPF’s Inclusive Storytelling program help pilot or provide seed funding for larger interpretative projects, or the completion of existing storytelling projects in national parks.

People looking in an exhibit case.
Documentation & Conservation of Artifacts

The preservation of cultural resources, such as artifacts and objects, helps parks preserve relevant cultural histories. Inclusive Storytelling grants support projects in parks that help document and conserve these objects.

Program Updates

Related Areas of Work