National Park Service

CTL-E-5252 · Organization · other · 1916–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency, within the Department of the Interior, charged with caring for the National Park System. Congress created it on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act, unifying parks and monuments that had been managed piecemeal; its first director was Stephen T. Mather. The Organic Act's mandate — to conserve scenery, natural and historic objects, and wildlife, and to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations — still governs a system of more than 430 units covering over 85 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. In CultureTechLens research, the Service is the administering authority of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, established by presidential proclamation on July 25, 2023, whose three sites include Chicago's Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Emmett Till's open-casket funeral was held in 1955.

The record

• Also known as: NPS

Notes

Staged 2026-10-15 under CTL-GOV-006; Gate A clear (no entity, alias, or variant match in the 2,993-entity graph); Gate B met (3 sources incl. the agency's own official monument page as primary). CTL treatment: designating/administering authority for the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in CTL research (CTL-RB-BIZ-000001 sources); named in 36 CTL research files per the 2026-10-15 corpus gap scan. Statistics carried: National Park System of 433 units covering over 85 million acres (agency figures as published in the agency overview, checked 2026-10-15); the Till monument comprises 3 sites totaling 5.7 acres (monument record, checked 2026-10-15). No current director is named: agency leadership was in acting status in the sources located, and the name was omitted rather than risk a stale status claim (see packet red team). Photo slot: CLEARED CANDIDATE — official NPS photograph of the Till monument (Roberts Temple), U.S. federal work, public domain, via nps.gov/till; the NPS Arrowhead emblem was rejected as a candidate because 36 CFR Part 11 restricts use of the registered emblem.

Sources

• National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior), “Laws & Policies — Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument” — https://www.nps.gov/till/learn/management/lawsandpolicies.htm (primary source)
• NPR News (via WUOT), “Biden designates a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother” (July 25, 2023) — https://www.wuot.org/2023-07-23/biden-designates-a-national-monument-honoring-emmett-till-and-his-mother
• Wikipedia, “National Park Service” (agency overview: formed August 25, 1916; 433 units; 85 million acres) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Park_Service

Record CTL-E-5252 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources (1 primary) · CTL research: PPL-001.
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