Freedom’s Frontier, a coalition of more than 200 historically significant sites on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri border, will “cease to exist” if Congress approves proposed legislation to defund National Heritage Areas, the organization’s spokesman says.
Johnny Szlauderbach, director of communications and strategic projects at Freedom’s Frontier, said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that “everything’s in a bit of a crisis state right now in terms of government funding.” Congress allocates about $500,000 annually to the organization, he said.
“If anybody really cares about preserving this history, about this region’s significance on a national level, and about building economic development in these small towns and helping these small sites thrive, I would encourage you to contact your representatives on Capitol Hill and tell them about how important Freedom’s Frontier’s continued existence is,” Szlauderbach said.
President Donald Trump’s administration has yet to release congressionally approved funding for National Heritage Areas, pending congressional action on proposed legislation to defund the program, which is administered through the National Park Service.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a Missouri Democrat, sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget urging the release of funds for Freedom’s Frontier and other National Heritage Areas.
“This delay in funding is causing significant strain on our NHAs — many of which rely on small staffs and robust volunteer networks,” they said in their letter.
The 62 National Heritage Areas are supported through public-private partnerships that require local matching funds. The areas recognize historic, cultural and natural resources, with an emphasis on preservation, recreation, tourism and educational projects.
Freedom’s Frontier, which unites more than 200 sites across 41 counties in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, preserves the story of the border war that preceded Kansas’ entry into the union, the enduring struggle for freedom and the settlement of the western frontier.
“This area is interesting in that it’s served as a kind of microcosm for concepts of freedom throughout American history,” Szlauderbach said, from the abolition of slavery to the fight for women’s suffrage, to the landmark legal battle that ended segregation in public schools.
“This is a testing ground. We serve to be stewards of that nationally significant story,” Szlauderbach said.
Freedom’s Frontier encompasses sites as large as the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, or the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Topeka, and as small as the Little House on the Prairie Museum in Independence, Kansas.
The National Park Service board recently designated Quindaro Townsite in Kansas City, Kansas, as a National Historic Landmark, pending approval from U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Szlauderbach said Freedom’s Frontier also partners with volunteer-run “passion projects” like historical societies or the preservation of one-room schoolhouses in “very rural locations.” Freedom’s Frontier is in a unique position to connect those sites and can help with grant writing, he said.
“All we want to do is make sure that people understand that these stories are nationally significant,” Szlauderbach said. “And beneath all of that, this program really, truly promotes economic development and tourism. If somebody goes and visits one of our partner sites, they have to stop at a local gas station along the way. They’re going to eat lunch at some local diner.
“We’re trying to build these small towns and bring money to rural communities. That’s fundamentally, in essence, what we do. And so it’s disappointing when people in Washington don’t necessarily appreciate that.”
This story was originally published by the Kansas Reflector.
