Board of Directors

Secretary
Jim Morgan

Rick Mosteller
Cliff Roberts
W. Michael Walsh, MD
Camille M. Wingate

A Message from the Park Superintendent
J. Tracy Stakely

On behalf of the National Park Service, and the staff at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National
Historical Park and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, I want to thank the Friends of
Charleston National Parks for their partnership and ongoing support. The work of committed
and engaged partners like the Friends is integral in the National Park Service’s efforts to
preserve significant places and stories and offer educational and recreational opportunities for
visitors from across our nation and around the world. This partnership is a good example of
how local commitment to heritage preservation allows private citizens and park managers to
cooperatively address the challenges and opportunities of managing historic sites. Our
collaboration gives us more opportunities to offer programming that connect with the public
and makes history relevant, and it helps us leave parks and resources in better condition than
when we inherited them.

In coming years, the challenges we face will become more intense as we work to address park
resource deterioration from age, the affects of stronger and more frequent weather events, and
impacts from increased visitation. We know we can achieve greater success in addressing such
issues through continued collaboration with partners. Past and ongoing support from the
Friends has led to completion of important work like producing new park-based educational
videos, funding historic cannon conservation, and supporting Kids to the Parks, a program that
brings hundreds of local school children to Fort Sumter. In the coming years, we look forward
to identifying new ways to work together. Some large-scale projects we have in the pipeline that
may benefit from such collaboration include implementing a park-based historic preservation
maintenance skills program to train park staff and others in maintaining historic resources,
improving the seawalls and historic brickwork at Fort Sumter to better protect the fort, and
stabilization of the Charleston Light to ensure the sustainability of this well-loved regional
landmark. There are smaller opportunities as well. Leading up to 2026, as part of the national
America 250 commemoration of the founding of our country we will work to expand
interpretation and education by identifying and sharing new and untold stories of the diverse
people who have historical connections to all our sites. Additionally, we are planning for
improvements to the visitor experience at Fort Moultrie, a site whose history has direct ties to
our country’s founding and historical development.

We have a lot going on now and a lot planned for the future. We look forward to many more
years of successful partnership with the Friends and our other partners to achieve shared goals.
Together we can ensure the Charleston area national park sites continue to be a draw for visitors
who are seeking to learn about our nation’s history and the people, places, and stories give the
South Carolina lowcountry a special place in the American story.