On December 13, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland designated sixteen new National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) and two new National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) that represent unique stories, rich history, and significant natural resources of our nation. Included on the list for the NHL Program are two designations at historic places long advocated for by the National Trust.

The Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center in Socorro, Texas represents a significant site associated with the Bracero Program that brought skilled Mexican workers to the United States as part of the Mexican Farm Labor Program established by executive order in 1942. Recent efforts to document the site and it’s history help tell the unique story of labor, immigration, and migration patterns from the Bracero Program that shaped the region and beyond. In Guerneville, California, Pond Farm Pottery is a new addition to the NHL program adding a site within the Pond Farm Workshops artist colony conceived during World War II. The site was the home and studio for nationally-prominent ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain, who fled Jewish persecution in Europe and taught at this summer school for three decades.

Read more about the preservation of Rio Vista and Pond Farm.