History

astern National, formerly known as Eastern National Park and Monument Association, is a 501(C) (3) not-for-profit “cooperating association,” that supports the National Park Service. Cooperating associations are recognized by Congress as a means to assist the educational and interpretive mission of the National Park Service. Cooperating associations provide various services, primarily by procuring, distributing and selling educational material in retail outlets located in national parks. Associations also provide an assortment of services including supplemental funding for land and artifact acquisitions, special events, educational and interpretive programs, and research grants.

Eastern National was founded by National Park Service rangers in 1947 at Gettysburg National Military Park. It was to be a cooperating association that would serve a network of individual parks that could not sustain their own cooperating association. Smaller parks do not generate sufficient resources to maintain an individual cooperating association. However, a network of parks sharing resources can maintain an association capable of supporting all of them. This ‘sharing’ principle is paramount and enables smaller parks to reap the same benefits as the larger, better-funded parks.

With only $147, Eastern National published its first title, Abraham Lincoln in His Own Work and That of His Contemporaries. It was developed and sold at Eastern National’s first agency, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site.

Today

Currently, Eastern National is the cooperating association for over 150 national parks, and is partners with many other public trusts including the U.S. Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and state and city park systems. Eastern National’s role has expanded over the years, becoming the largest cooperating association in the United States. Since its incorporation in 1948, Eastern National has donated over $100 million to the National Park Service, in the form of direct donations and grants.

Through the years, Eastern National funds have purchased such critical items as land, artifacts, media for park libraries, period costumes for living history demonstrations and reenactments, signage and exhibits, facility renovations and upgrades, interpretive tools and programs, staff training programs, and much more. Donations have also funded archeological, historical, and cultural research programs which have had a direct impact on the parks and their interpretive programs.

Partners

The primary partner of Eastern National is the National Park Service under the U.S. Department of the Interior. Additional partners include the U.S. Forest Service (USDA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce), Harvard University, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and various state and local entities, such as the State of North Carolina and the City of Parkers Crossroads in Tennessee.

Eastern National works with other associations, friends’ groups, and concessioners in many different capacities. It has joint retail ventures with organizations like the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy. It has supported programs and initiatives of other organizations as a means of enhancing visitors’ experiences in national parks, like the First Bloom program sponsored by the National Park Foundation.

Employees & Alumni Association of the National Park Service

Founded in 1957, the Employees & Alumni Association of the National Park Service (E&AA) is a 501 (c) 4 membership organization dedicated to promoting the values and ideals of the National Park Service family. The E&AA is a means for current National Park Service employees and retirees to connect with each other. It provides interest-free educational loans to members and their dependents through The George B. Hartzog, Jr. Educational Loan Program. The E&AA also administers a Disaster Relief Fund, which assists National Park Service employees who have been devastated by natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

Eastern National assumed the operation of the E&AA in 1986, at the request of the National Park Service, which was maintaining the program through a handful of volunteers and dedicated employees. The arrangement was formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement between the two organizations. Eastern National consistently donates administrative services to the E&AA through several means, including the production of the Arrowhead newsletter, which is distributed to current NPS employees and E&AA members.