H.R. 6852

Holcombe Rucker Park Landmark Act

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL T. REYNOLDS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON FEDERAL LANDS, REGARDING H.R. 6852 TO DESIGNATE HOLCOMBE RUCKER PARK, IN HARLEM, NEW YORK, AS A NATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE SITE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

March 7, 2024
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Chairman Tiffany, Ranking Member Neguse, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the views of the Department of the Interior on H.R. 6852, to designate Holcombe Rucker Park, in Harlem, New York, as a National Commemorative Site, and for other purposes.

The Department supports bringing greater recognition to the achievements and legacy of Holcombe Rucker, but we have concerns about the use of the “national commemorative site.”  We would be happy to discuss alternative ways to commemorate Holcombe Rucker, the person, and the Holcombe Rucker Park, the site.

H.R. 6852 would designate Holcombe Rucker Park in New York City, New York as a National Commemorative Site.  The bill specifies that the site would not be a unit of the National Park System.  There are no provisions in the bill that would provide any relationship to the National Park Service for the site, such as authority to provide financial or technical assistance.

Holcombe Rucker Park is a playground owned and operated by New York City Parks in the Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan.  In 1974, the park was renamed in honor of Holcombe Rucker, the Playground Director for a number of sites across Harlem from 1948 to 1964.  The park’s outdoor basketball court has become well known as a venue for a creative and competitive form of basketball referred to as streetball and has been the subject of three films about the sport: Above the Rim, On Hallowed Ground, and The Real: Rucker Pro Legends and Fathers of the Sport.

Holcombe Rucker Park was among the sites inventoried in the National Park Service’s 2023 African American Outdoor Recreation National Historic Landmark Theme Study.  The study highlighted Holcombe Rucker as an educator and a playground director who believed that education and supervised recreation could help troubled Black youth in urban neighborhoods.  In the 1940’s, Rucker started a small outdoor basketball tournament for Black youth.  Despite limited support from the city park management, Rucker’s summer tournaments grew in popularity and, by 1965, the tournaments were relocated to the more suitable facility that would eventually bear his name – Holcombe Rucker Park.  

Holcombe Rucker Park would eventually become a magnet for the city’s most talented young basketball players, and it played host to pickup games and tournaments where future professional basketball stars such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving and other streetball legends honed their craft.  Rucker’s philosophy of education and supervised recreation, put into practice through his successful outdoor basketball tournaments, contributed in the 1960’s to the city’s efforts to construct other recreational facilities in several predominantly Black neighborhoods.  

Designating Holcombe Rucker Park as a National Commemorative Site could create confusion among the general public about the significance of the title and the site’s relationship to the National Park Service.  The term “National Commemorative Site” has no definition by law or custom.  The National Park Service is aware of two examples where Congress has used this designation: for the Quindaro Townsite National Commemorative Site in Kansas, and the Charleston High School National Commemorative Site in Arkansas.  In both instances, designation has included a role for the National Park Service, either as a provider of financial and technical assistance, or as a provider of a commemorative monument and interpretive exhibit.  Designating Holcombe Rucker Park as a National Commemorative Site, without any provisions tying it to the National Park Service, would bring further uncertainty regarding the significance of this designation.

Rather than moving forward with H.R. 6852, the Department would encourage the proponents of providing greater recognition for Holcombe Rucker Park to explore alternative ways to honor and interpret the site’s history and the contributions of Holcombe Rucker to outdoor recreation in urban America.  The Department would be pleased to work with the sponsor and their constituents to explore other options.    

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer questions that you or
other members of the Committee might have.