Betty Soskind

No Time to Waste

Thursday, February 22, 2024 - 6:30pm to 7:30pm
  • Library Hall
As we honor Black History Month, celebrate the urgent mission of 100-year-old NPS park ranger Betty Reid Soskin to restore critical missing chapters of America’s story.

No Time to Waste celebrates legendary 100-year-old park ranger Betty Reid Soskin's inspiring life, work and urgent mission to restore critical missing chapters of America’s story. The film follows her journey as an African American woman presenting her personal story from a kitchen stool in a national park theater to media interviews and international audiences who hang on every word she utters.

The documentary captures her fascinating life -- from the experiences of a young Black woman in a WWII segregated union hall, through her multi-faceted career as a singer, activist, mother, legislative representative and park planner to her present public role. At the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, Betty illuminates the invisible histories of African Americans and other people of color. Her efforts have changed the way the National Park Service conveys this history to audiences across the U.S., challenging us all to move together toward a more perfect union. “The history that I have lived it was nowhere in sight. Not one mute of it. The opportunity to insert the African American stories is what the park became to me.”— Betty Reid Soskin

50 min.
“What gets remembered is determined by who’s in the room doing the remembering.”
Betty Reid Soskin