Are you parked at home this winter? The staff at Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park invites you to learn about your local national park—and some faraway places—without even packing a bag.  

Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park is made up of six different sites in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. All of these sites, from Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, to the Little Red Shop in Hopedale, Massachusetts, have a unique story. Through a series of virtual talks called “Parked at Home,” local National Park Service staff will pair up with other rangers at six other National Park Service units to explore unexpected connections.  

“This is a way for people who live outside of the Valley to learn our story, and for local people to get an insiders’ view of a totally different part of the country,” Supervisory Ranger Kevin Klyberg explains. 

This series began on Thursday, March 10, and will run on consecutive Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. through April 14.  All programs are free and presented in partnership with Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. To register, visit the National Historical Park’s website at www.nps.gov/blrv. For more information, contact Park Ranger Allison Horrocks at [email protected].  

Parked at Home: Construction - Thursday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. featuring: Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The second event in this series takes us from the Blackstone Canal all the way to Ohio. Together with folks from the Cuyahoga Valley, we’ll explore the lives of people who built the infrastructure that made America’s age of industry. We will also consider how historic canalways give us space to recharge for the future.   

  Parked at Home: Family - Thursday, March 24, at 7:00 p.m. featuring: Wright Brothers National Memorial.  From the Whitins in Northbridge, to the Wrights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, family businesses and ventures can be full of tension and triumph. What can the Whitins and the Wrights teach us today about the lines between business and family?  

  Parked at Home: Equality - Thursday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. featuring: Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument. Before Hope-dale was a factory town, it was a commune founded on utopian ideals—and women’s equality. During this talk, we’ll take a long look at the fight for women’s suffrage and other battles for equity in society with a ranger from the nation’s capital.  

  Parked at Home: Space - Thursday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.  featuring: Canaveral National Seashore. Did you know that workers in Ashton, Rhode Island made materials that allowed humans to go into space? Soar beyond earth’s atmosphere during this talk with the people who manage the land for Kennedy Space Center.  

  Parked at Home: Cotton  - Thursday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. featuring: Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. During the final discussion in this series, we will learn from experts in Florida about cotton cultivation and the system of plantation slavery. Together, we’ll connect the labor system at Slater Mill (a cotton spinning mill) in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to the global web of enslaved labor.  

  More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice