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THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES: AN OVERVIEW WITH A SURVEY OF SELECTED GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

AND ARCHIVAL MATERIALS

JOHN R. JAMESON

Dept. of History, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99163

(Received 24 May 1979; accepted for publication 17 June 1979)

Abstract-The idea of national parks originated in the United States over a century ago. This article examines the evolution of the unique concept and sug- gests selected research aids, government documents, and archival holdings useful for further study of the national park system.

The concept of national parks “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” had its birth at Yellowstone in Montana and Wyoming Territories just over a century ago. Today there are approximately 1200 parks or equivalent reserves in 100 countries. In the United States alone, one can visit over 300 sites in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. [l] These include natural, historic, archeological, recreational, and cultural parks ranging in size from less than 1 acre to over 3000 square miles, from a few structures on a city block to the

Appalachian Trail winding along the Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Georgia. An abundance of published and manuscript materials can be found on the national park system

in the United States and the volume increases annually. The bulk of the printed items are government documents and publications of commercial and academic presses tailored for popular con- sumption-picture books, guides, reminiscences, and narratives of individual parks-yet few scholarly monographs are among these. And most of what little scholarship has been produced neglects the extensive holdings in the National Archives and Records Centers. A case in point is John Ise, Our National Park Policy: A Critical History, still the basic scholarly work on the park system although it relies almost exclusively on published government documents. [2] The neglect of manuscript collections stems partly from the vast quantity of the materials and, in the past, an absence of adequate guides to the archives. Now that good finding aids are available there should be more monographs published from research in the National Archives as well as other government and private collections.

The potential for original research and publications on the park system is not restricted to the mature scholar either. The large number of published primary and secondary materials and archival holdings affords excellent resources for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students for term papers, honor’s and master’s theses, and doctoral dissertations. These sources are readily accessible at depository libraries for government documents, on microfilm, at the libraries of the parks themselves, and at the National Archives and Records Centers in Washington, D.C. and the regional offices.

145

146 JOHN R. JAMESON

Because the published and manuscript materials are considerable, this essay is intended pri- marily as a general overview and guide to point the way to reference aids, selected publications,

and archival holdings and to suggest fields of inquiry for teachers, students, scholars, and any other persons interested in the history of a unique idea, the national park system of the United States. [ 31

THE NATIONAL PARR SYSTEM: AN OVERVIEW [ 41

Established in 1872, Yellowstone remained the only national park for almost two decades, and the fact it survived these early years at all was remarkable indeed. [5] Most members of Congress did not feel the federal government should be responsible for raising and protecting wildlife and supporting “pleasuring grounds” for the public. Because of problems of access, there were not the expected number of tourists to make the park self-sustaining and Congress consequently reduced appropriations well below levels required for basic maintenance and development by the Depart- ment of the Interior. Insufficient and poorly trained staff and the appointment of political hacks as superintendents compounded the difficulties. Under these conditions the park wildlife faced extermination from the guns and traps of poachers and vandals who threatened to destroy or carry off the natural assets. Even on rare occasions when lawbreakers were caught, the superintendent and his assistants lacked authority to make arrests or to levy fines.

Finally in 1886 the Department of War received authorization to send troops into Yellowstone to restore order and to protect the park’s resources. They would remain for over 30 years provid- ing much needed reinforcement for the civilian staff. Army units were also deployed in 1890 when

Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks were added to the system. [6] The establishment in 1906 of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado to preserve archeological

ruins broadened the scope of the park system. The passage of the Antiquities Act that same year gave the President authority to set aside by executive decree public lands whose scientific and

historic values were endangered. [7] Three departments administered the national park system during the formative years-War,

Agriculture, and Interior. One of the results of nationwide Progressive reform to bring efficiency to government was the creation in 1916 of the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior. The new agency received an appropriation of $19,500 for salaries in the Washington office and Congress approved $500,000 for the operation of seventeen national parks and twenty- two national monuments, or an average of approximately $12,000 for each site, a paltry sum indeed. [ 81

Steven T. Mather was the first director of the Park Service, a position he held with distinction for 14 years. His strong personality and leadership propelled the young agency from infancy into a competent maturity during the 1920s. One of Mather’s strengths was his ability to enlist outstanding individuals, and the Park Service became known by friend and foe alike as a capable organization comprised of well trained and dedicated men and women. The last of “Mather’s boys,” Arthur Demaray, retired as director of the Park Service in 1951, 35 years after the establishment of the agency. [9]

The Emergency Conservation Work programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal- the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration-played a major role in the revitalization of the Park Service and the country during the depression years. From 1933 to 1940 the NPS congressional appropriation only rose from $10.8 million to $13.5 million, yet during this same time the agency’s ECW programs received $218 million. The number of Park Service employees grew from 2027 in 1933 to 13,900 in 1937, the peak year for emergency conservation work. New Deal programs also involved the

The National Park System in the United States 147

NPS in helping local and state governments plan for their park and recreational needs. [lo] President Roosevelt himself was an enthusiastic park booster. With his family he visited Hawaii

and Glacier National Parks in 1934 and returned full of praise for the entire system. In a nation-

wide broadcast he suggested that the slogan, “1934-A National Park Year” be changed to “Every

Year a National Park Year” and urged Americans to visit their parks since they were “not for the

rich alone.” Roosevelt continued to frequent the parks throughout the decade and the subsequent publicity, coupled with the promotional efforts by the NPS, helped increase attendance almost five-fold from 3.4 million in 1933 to 16.7 million in 1940. [ 1 l]

The park system expanded in other ways as well. In 1930 the establishment of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia served as the catalyst for Director Horace M. Albright’s historic preservation program. A provision of the Historic Sites and Buildings Act of

1935 furnished the Park Service with WPA funds to direct a survey of “important examples of the builders’ art erected in the United States.” This, along with another mandate of the 1935 act-the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments-laid the groundwork for the active participation of the federal government in historic preservation following World War

II. [12] By mid-year 1940 the national park system consisted of 161 areas including 26 national parks,

82 national monuments, 4 national historical parks, 11 national military parks, 7 national battle- fields, 5 national historic sites, 1 national recreational area, 9 national memorials, 12 national cemeteries, 3 national parkways, and the national capital parks in the District of Columbia-an increase of 98 units since Roosevelt’s inauguration 7 years before. [ 131

The entry of the United States into World War II drastically curtailed the development of the

national park system, a situation that would last through the Cold War years. Conrad Wirth, director of the Park Service from 1951 to 1964, wrote in a National Geographic article about the degenerating conditions in the parks since the early 1940s: “Facilities were out of date and run down, roads were in dangerous condition, trails were washed out, employee morale was at a low ebb, and even scenic beauty was deteriorating.” [ 141

The post-war American public had literally “loved to death” its national park system. It could adequately accommodate 21 million people but faced an annual onslaught of 55 million. The Service budget had remained inadequate to meet the increased usage largely because of the Cold War mentality and accelerating military expenditures. In response to the crisis, the Park Service in 19.55 presented to President Dwight Eisenhower and Congress a long-range package plan-Mission 66. It stated that present and future needs of the national parks would cost $786.5 million over a 10 year period. Mission 66 would conclude in 1966, the golden anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service. Both the President and Congress responded favorably to the idea. The program for physical improvements, restoration of park resources, increased staffs for protec- tion and interpretation, and additional lands to round out the system would eventually cost the American taxpayer over a billion dollars. [ 151

After 1966 the escalating Southeast Asian conflict temporarily put a stop to the ample federal funds the Park Service had received during Mission 66. By 1972 the Service needed $1.8 billion for physical improvements but only received $40 million while funds for visitor-use projects had declined $30 million annually since 1966. Fortunately 1972 also marked the centennial of the national park system. As its second century began, Congress responded with a generosity surpassing even the Mission 66 programs. The Department of the Interior has already spent almost one billion dollars on land acquisition with funds from federal offshore oil leases and another $725 million is earmarked through 1984 for the renovation of recreational facilities in urban areas. [ 161

In November 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed the National Park and Recreation Act. In addition to the aforementioned $725 million, it also established 15 new units in the national park

148 JOHN R. JAMESON

system and approved further land acquisition and improvements at other existing sites, designated almost two million acres in eight national parks as wilderness areas, and placed eight new additions in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. As if that were not enough, the following month when the 95th Congress failed to act, the President invoked the Antiquities Act of 1906 and withdrew 110 million acres in Alaska to protect the state’s fragile ecosystem. His action pleased environmental- ists but it angered many Alaskans who felt federal controls and restrictions had gone too far. [ 171

The history of the park system has been frought with controversy from its inception to the present, as the Alaskan incident illustrates. A recent news story recounted alleged heavy-handed tactics used by Park Service officials to harass landowners into selling their property for inclusion in national parks at prices, some owners felt, below fair market value. “We’re the Indians of 1978,” remarked one embittered resident near a national park. “Except we’re being kicked off the reservation instead of being moved from one reservation to another.” The article concluded that “somehow the park service will have to balance the rights of the individual against the public good.” [ 181

The solution is not an easy one since individual citizens, local, state and federal officials, and Park Service employees themselves disagree as to what constitutes the “public good.” The Forest Service and the Park Service have fought for decades over which agency was entitled to the country’s timber resources. The creation of a new national park or the expansion of an established

one invariably causes friction since either existing or potential forest reserves are involved. The NPS and the Bureau of Reclamation on several occasions have clashed over the placement of dams

in or near national parks. [19] And wilderness area proposals for much of the national park acreage have even produced a schism between Park Service officials causing some to agree, albeit covertly, with private citizens that parks should not be “locked up” for exclusive use by a backpacking minority. [20] Unfortunately, the future should find the controversies multiplying

rather than diminishing as an expanding population makes even greater demands on the national park system and the country’s natural resources.

The Carter Administration has taken several steps to prepare for the mounting crisis facing the parks with varying degrees of success. [21] One of the more notable was the creation of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. The new agency houses the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, formerly one of the Park Service’s most active divisions. The demands made on the NPS while serving as the federal clearing house for historic preservation information and programs, overextended the agency’s personnel and resources. [22] The responsibilities assumed by the HCRS should allow the Park Service adequate time to concentrate on its original purpose “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife” of the national parks “and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner _ . . as will leave them unimpaired for future generations,” a full time job indeed. [23]

GENERAL GUIDES TO GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

The researcher’s investigation should begin with the general guides to government documents available in most major libraries. A recent article by Michael L. Tate in Government Publications Review [24] provides a good analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the more important references including Benjamin Poore, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881; John G. Ames, Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893; Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909; Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1975; Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1975; the Document Catalog, and the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications.


A useful guide for recent topics is the Congressional Information Service Index to Publications of the United States Congress. Issued monthly since 1970, it enables the researcher to keep abreast of the over 800,000 pages generated annually by congressional committees. Types of congressional publications covered include hearings, committee prints (internal background information papers prepared by committee staffs, Library of Congress researchers, and outside consultants), House and Senate Reports and Documents, Executive Reports and Documents, special publications, and

-public laws. A cumulative index is published at the end of each year in the CIS Annual. The CIS Index and Annual are quite helpful for following the voluminous hearings on Alaska’s public lands

and the proposed Department of Natural Resources, for instance. [25] The Congressional Information Service is publishing indexes to the U.S. Serial Set of all con-

gressional documents and reports from 1789 to 1969 to accompany the CIS U.S. Serial Set on microfiche. This will be a welcome addition for researchers faced with the time-consuming and sometimes confusing task of searching for serial numbers in the Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-l 909, the Consolidated Index of Congressional Documents, and the Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes of the Reports and Documents of Congress. The 1969 cutoff date chosen by CIS unfortunately stops short of the last decade of increased governmental activity

concerning the national park system. [26] The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress has compiled the Digest of

Public General Bills and Resolutions since 1936. The Digest gives a brief summary of the public

bills and resolutions and notes changes made in these during the legislative session. Also noted are committee and floor actions and enactments. The annual cumulative issue is divided into seven parts to aid the researcher-the status of the measure receiving action, public law listing, digests of public general bills and resolutions, an author (sponsor) index, subject matter index, specific title index, and an identical bill index. [27]

Four sources list the ever increasing number of national park system and related government publications. The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, mentioned above, is available by subscription, but the large output of publications has necessitated a substantial boost in its price. This, along with the space required to shelve the issues, makes it more practical to visit the library than to have it in one’s home or office. There are three helpful items free of charge from the Superintendent of Documents-the Subject Bibliography Index, Subject Bibliographies, and Selected U.S. Government Publications. The first contains listings of 270 subjects for which bibliographies can be ordered. The Subject Bibliographies relevant to the national park system include the “Historical Handbook Series” (SB-16), “Recreational and Outdoor Activities” (SB-17), “Visitor Activities in the National Parks” (SB-89), “Public Buildings, Landmarks, and Historic Sites of the United States” (SB-140), “National Park Service Folders” (SB-170) and “Conserva- tion” (SB-238). A brief synopsis is provided for most of the individual entries and the subject bibliographies themselves are periodically revised. And finally, the monthly Selected U.S. Govem- merit Publications generally contains a variety of national park system titles. [28]

SELECTED GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

There are several government publications that furnish background reading on the national park system. Paul Herman Buck, Evolution of the National Park System of the United States provides a well written, concise overview of early developments from the exploration and establishment of Yellowstone to the years following World War I when the “See America First” campaign helped direct large numbers of visitors away from Europe and to the national parks. Although dated (originally written in 1922 as a master’s thesis, it was not published until 24 years later, and then

150 JOHN R. JAMESON

without revision) and relying only on published sources, Buck’s perceptive narrative nevertheless is a good starting point for a study of the park system. Complementing Buck are James F. Kieley, A Brief History of the National Park Service, Steven T. Mather, Progress in the Development of the National Parks, and Lewis C. Crampton, Early History of Yellowstone National Park and Its Relation to National Park Policies. Mather, of course, was the first director of the Park Service, while Crampton, a congressman from Michigan, was a strong supporter of NPS projects. [29]

The Index: National Park System and Affiliated Areas as of June 30, 1977 is a small booklet that briefly gives a chronological narrative of the development and scope of the Park Service and then lists by state each of the 294 sites then in the system. It, too, is dated because of the phenomenal growth under the Carter Administration. The sites are classified according to almost two dozen types. In 1977 there were: 37 national parks, 82 national monuments, 2 national preserves, 4 national lakeshores, 6 national rivers (which includes wild and scenic rivers and riverways), 10 national seashores, 53 national historic sites, 1 national memorial park, 22 national memorials, 11 national military parks, 3 national battlefield sites, 18 national historical parks, 16 national recreation areas, 4 national parkways, 1 national scenic trail, the national capital parks system, the White House, the National Mall, the national visitor center and 10 “others” such as Wolf Trap Farm Park, a center for contemporary culture and the performing arts. And finally, the

Index explains the criteria for the confusing and seemingly redundant nomenclature for the sites. [30]

The Park, Parkway, and Recreation Area Study Act of 1936 authorized the Park Service, in cooperation with other federal agencies and state and local governments, to gather information and to draw up a plan to insure adequate park facilities for the nation as a whole. One result of their efforts was A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States, a thorough treatment of the recreational needs and problems in municipal, county, state, and national parks. Another positive consequence was the interaction of the well-trained Park Service staff with the employees of local and state agencies. Without the expertise of the NPS personnel, it is doubtful if the country’s non-federal parks would have made the progress they did during the 1930s and subsequent decades. A later general planning document stemming from the 1936 Act and useful to the researcher is Parks for America: A Survey of Park and Related Resources in the Fifty States, and a Preliminary Plan. Published in 1964, the soft-bound book is a state-by-state survey by the National Park Service of 4800 non-urban parks and related areas, with a recommendation that 2800 additional sites be added to protect important scenic, scientific, historic, and recreational sites and values. The parks in each state are broken down according to ownership-federal, state, local, quasi-public and private, and private enterprise. The recommendations given by the NPS reflect the agency’s evolving policies and attitudes toward recreation, conservation, and development of the park system since the 1930s. [31]

In 1962 the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission published a report titled Out- door Recreation for America, a long-range planning guide for America’s outdoor recreation needs. One of the report’s recommendations was the creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation which Congress authorized in 1963. Because the BOR’s scope included all prospective outdoor recreational possibilities, the responsibility of Nationwide Planning and Cooperative Services was trans- ferred from the Park Service to the Bureau. [32] The Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission has also published 27 study reports, many of which relate directly to the national

park system. [33] On 18 June, 1969 the Secretary of the Interior issued policy guidelines for the National Park

Service which called for the agency “to identify gaps in the System and recommend . . . areas that would fill them.” The ensuing report was published in two volumes, Part One of the National Park System Plan: History and Part Two of the National Park System Plan: Natural History. Although


the studies do not make any recommendations for specific acquisitions to fill the gaps, they do list and describe historical and natural history themes of the United States and point out deficiencies in the system. Overall they provide valuable planning documents for the country’s cultural and

environmental resources. [34] In 1970 President Richard Nixon signed a law authorizing the National Parks Centennial Com-

mission and charged it with developing “a suitable plan for commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the worldwide national park movement by the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872.” The Commission in turn asked a private organization, the Conservation Foundation,

“to conduct a study and submit a report identifying the basic problems and issues confronting the National Park System today and those antici- pated in the future.. . [and to develop] a statement of philosophy and long-range objectives and goals with implementation recommendations to guide the administration of the National Park System into a Second Century of Parks.”

After extensive citizen input (almost 300 took part), the results of the study were published in National Parks for the Future: An Appraisal of the National Parks as They Begin Their Second Century in a Changing America. [35]

The report deals with park values, outdoor recreation, education and culture, urban needs, and the ways and means of realizing the future potential of the national park system. More specifically it addresses such issues as: wilderness in the national parks, the extent of facilities in the parks, the roles of national park concessioners, park space for urban America, as well as several others. In short, National Parks for the Future is essential reading for an understanding of the evolution of the national park system during its first 100 years and for a grasp of the attitudes, priorities, and obstacles facing the parks in their second century. [36]

The National Park Service has produced numerous publications on its sites and programs which run the gamut from two page folders to beautifully illustrated clothbound editions. Some of these are rather obscure and require diligent research in the Monthly Catalog of Government Documents and other reference aids referred to above, but the search is well worth it when one uncovers master plans, archeological reports, transcripts of public hearings, environmental impact state- ments, and historic resource management plans, to name only a few of the possibilities. [37] Not surprisingly, the early Western national parks have the most publications, with Yellowstone first and Yosemite a distant second, but other parks have made good headway, particularly in the last two decades. In addition, the NPS has published several dozen titles in the following series- Historical Handbooks, [38] Natural History Handbooks, [39] Scientific Monographs, [40] Source

Books, [41] Fauna of the National Parks, [42] and Interpretive History. [43] The books are paperback, usually less than 100 pages in length, and deal with a variety of subjects ranging from individual historic sites to broader topics such as George M. Wright and Ben H. Thompson, WiMZife Management in the National Parks and Albert Mauncy, Artil1e.v through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Gmnon, Emphasizing Types Used in America.

Many of the Park Service books and pamphlets can be effectively used by other cultural, educational, and recreational organizations. These ‘nuts and bolts’ materials cover the agency’s wide scope of activities from museums through historic preservation to staff training books. Ralph H. Lewis, Manual for Museums is “meant to provide curatorial standards and [to] serve as a reference for museum workers everywhere.” The comprehensive volume treats collecting, artifact preparation and conservation, research, record keeping, and security for botanical, zoological, geological, archeological, ethnological, and historical collections, with a separate section on furnished historic structure museums. The publications on historic preservation are particularly useful

152 JOHN R. JAMESON

at the grassroots level. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on consultants’ fees and research to develop a plan to care for historic properties, J. Henry Chambers, Cyclical Maintenance for Historic Buildings furnishes a model for preparing a maintenance manual that can be adapted to almost any structure, from a frame smoke house to a four-story granite court house. Other helpful items related to historic preservation include Haley J. McKee, Recording Historic Buildings, the Public Building Act of 1936 with Amendments. . . through January 2, 1975, National Historic Landmarks, the National Register of Historic Places, and the volumes in the series on the Historic American Buildings Survey. [44]

Park Service staff training procedures and techniques are noted for their thoroughness and innovative approaches. Such publications as Howard R. Stagner, Talks (public speaking guide for NPS employees), H. Raymond Gregg, Campfire Programs (guide for leaders of campfires in national parks), Albert Mauncy, Yours to Preserve (on-the-job guidelines for park conservation), and William Kennon Kay, Keep It Alive! (tips on living history demonstrations) indicate the variety available. [45] The training manuals for NPS interpreters deserve special mention-A Personal Training Program for Interpreters, Gary Machlis and Maureen McDonough, Children’s Interpreta- tion: A Discovery Book for Interpreters, and Training Methods Manual. [46] Utilizing tape cassettes, programmed learning lessons, and field exercises the publications contain theoretical and practical applications of one of the most difficult of subjects, effective interpretation. Machlis and McDonough, for example, deal with a largely neglected audience, the children who visit the parks. The authors discuss key concepts in cognitive development for the different age groups and give suggestions on how interpreters can best incorporate these into their presentations.

One should not overlook the researcher’s mainstays, the Congressional Globe, Congressional Record, Statutes at Large of the United States, Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Park Service, Park and Monument Superintendents (as well as other

agency department heads), the reports of the House and Senate Committees, and the Executive Documents authorized by the Secretary of the Interior. These sources encompass a profusion of materials on specific legislation, administrative policies, appropriations, and controversies that

continue to challenge the national park system. Recent developments affecting the national park system in the Executive Branch can be fol-

lowed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, first published in 1965. It contains the president’s public remarks, press releases, lists of appointments, contents of reports to the chief executive, and bill signings. The publication is distributed promptly and furnishes ready documentation for assessing the administration’s position on such current matters as the expansion of the national park system and the proposed Department of Natural Resources. [47]

Last, but certainly not least of selected government publications, is the current issue of the United States Government Manual, the official handbook of the federal government. During these times of rapid change in the composition, purposes, responsibilities, and key officials of the agencies administering the national park system, the Government Manual provides a compendium for keeping track of what often appears to be a chaotic situation. One note of caution, however- because the reorganization of agencies concerned with the park system and other natural resources continues at an accelerated pace under the Carter Administration, one should carefully check the information in the Man& with the latest issue of the Congressional Record and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents for accuracy. [48]

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS CENTER

The National Archives and Records Centers in Washington, D.C. and in regional offices across the United States contain thousands of cubic feet of materials concerning the national park


system. The quantity is “mindboggling” but the researcher fortunately has a number of good reference sources to use. The Guide to the National Archives of the United States, revised in 1974, offers a listing of the records in each group, the linear feet in the collections, inclusive dates, and a brief summary of the scope of the holdings in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. There are almost 3000 cubic feet of archival materials described in the National Park Service collection alone. The Guide is specific in some areas (the papers of the early directors of the Park Service are referred to by name and years served, for instance) but because of space limitations it has to be general in its coverage of others. The valuable Central Classified Files (1907-1949) receives only a cursory paragraph and no mention is made of the numerous holdings on individual national park sites. Other finding aids can be located in the Select List of Publications of the National Archives and Records Service which itemizes guides, reference information papers, inventories, and special lists of the holdings at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., as well as the Presidential Libraries. [49]

The Select List contains several guides prepared in 1972 for the National Archives Conference on the Use of Audiovisual Archives as Original Source Materials. Three of these are useful for research on the national park system. Mayfield S. Bray and William T. Murphy, Motion Pictures in the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives has listings of films on the Civilian Conservation Corps (RG 35), Office of the Secretary of the Interior (RG 48) Work Projects Administration (RG 69), and the National Park Service (RG 79). Movies relevant to the national park system occasionally appear in unexpected record groups. Included in the 235 reels of the Bureau of Mines (RG 70), for example, are films on natural resources and scenic attractions of Arizona and Texas and Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah National Parks. Bray and Leslie C. Waffen compiled Sound Recordings in the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives. Most of the park system items can be found in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior (RG 48) including a 1941 interview with William H. Jackson, the man who first photographed the Yellowstone area. The seventeen items in the Records of the National Park Service (RG 79) are of little consequence. [50]

Still Pictures in the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives, also by May field Bray, points out the outstanding collection of 47,558 items in the Records of the National Park Service (RG 79). The photographs cover the years from 1863 to 1963 and deal with the Civil War, the exploration of the Yellowstone area, foreign parks, improvement projects by the Emergency Conservation Work agencies, snapshots and portraits of NPS personnel and celebrities who visited the parks, and miscellaneous collections on individual parks and other topics. Numbered among the photographs of negatives are the works of William Jackson, Ansel Adams, and the 25,000 pictures in the Abbie Rowe White House collection. Other record groups to note are the Office of the Secretary of the Interior (RG 48), Geological Survey (RG 57), Work Projects Administration (RG 69), Public Works Administration (RG 135), and the National Capital Planning Commission (RG 328). [51]

The most detailed guides to the park system holdings in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. are the preliminary inventories. Of these, the mose useful is Edward E. Hill, Prelimiruny Inventory of the Records of the National Park Service (PI No. 166) which provides a 45 page annotated inventory of records pertaining to the national park system in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, the War Department, and the National Park Service. [52] Hill’s introduc- tion gives a synopsis of the history of the National Park Service and also mentions related holdings in other record groups. [53] In addition, it contains an appendix listing almost 200 sites which have records in the Central Classified Files, some of which are extensive. The Big Bend National Park papers, for example, total 14 cubic feet and comprise 15,000 documents and photographs covering almost every aspect of the park’s early history. A final appendix in Hill is the decimal

154

classification system subjects. [54]

Only very general

JOHN R. JAMESON

for National Park Service records, a helpful tool for research in pre-1952

guides have been published on the holdings in the eleven regional offices of the Federal Archives and Records Centers. In many cases, no inventories have been prepared because the records still belong to the originating agencies which have stored the materials in the regional facilities. Photostatic copies of accession number master lists and shelf lists can be made but one’s request should be as specific as possible since the regional offices do not have the staff for extended searches. [55] Occasionally unpublished preliminary guides have been prepared by the regional offices for staff use which a researcher can borrow on the premises. [56]

The Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications lists selected records published for purchase or loan because of their “high research value.” Indicative of the neglected status of resource history is the paucity of microfilm publications on the national park system. There are several reels on Yellowstone National Park and the Hayden Survey of the Yellowstone area, but no others. These publications can be obtained on interlibrary loan from the regional Federal Archives and Records Centers or purchased from the National Archives and Records Center in Washington, D.C. [57]

There is a variety of topics for scholarly research and publications on the national park system- histories of individual parks, biographies of leaders in the park movement, agency histories, historical analyses of policies and programs (recreation, historic preservation, planning, the wilderness preservation system, interpretation, etc.), the influence of the American national park system on other countries (a comparative study of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, for instance)-to name only a few. A need exists for both case studies and, eventually, broad syntheses to place the national park system in historical perspective. Such a foundation, based on a thorough grasp of the published and manuscript sources, is necessary to assure the continuing development of a truly national park system. The contradictory goals of outdoor recreation, resource exploitation, and the preservation of America’s natural and historical heritage can be realized but it will require a drastic revision of prevailing attitudes and priorities toward the national parks. Documented studies of the national park system will be an important step toward bringing about these changes.

NOTES

1, Delaware is the only state without a national park site. 2. Ise, John. Our National Park Policy: A Critical History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961. 3. Nash, Roderick. “The American Invention of National Parks,” American Quarterly, XXII (Fall, 1970),

726-735. 4. Non-government as well as government publications have been cited in the “Overview” to give the reader a

basic national park system bibliography. 5. Artist George Catlin was the fast to conceive the idea of national parks in 1832. He wrote: “what a beautiful

and thrilling specimen for America to preserve and hold up to the view of her refined citizens and the world, in future ages! A nation’s Park, containing man and beast, in alI the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature’s beauty!” Quoted in Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind, rev. ed.; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973, p. 101. Catlin had been inspired by Sioux Indians hunting buffalo near Fort Pierre, South Dakota. That same year Congress reserved Hot Springs, Arkansas for “public use” but it was not designated a national park until 1921. Most historians of the national park system consequently regard Yellowstone as the first national park. See Thomas R. Cox, “From Hot Springs to Gateway: The Evolving Concept of Public Parks, 1832-1976,” paper presented at the Western History Association Annual Conference, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 12 October, 1978.

6. Hampton, Duane. How the U.S. Cavalry Saved Our National Parks. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971. Hampton ably demonstrates the first-rate historical scholarship possible for national park system topics.

I. Stat. 32, 765. Stat. 34, 225. 8. The best studies of the early conservation movement are Samuel P. Hays, Conservation and the Gospel of

Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890-1920. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959,


and Elmo R. Richardson, The Politics of Conservation: Crusades and Controversies, 18971913. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press, 1962. A well written and surprisingly objective administrative history of the Park Service is William C. Everhart, The National Park Service. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972. Everhart is an employee of the NPS and the book is one in a series of the Praeger Lib&y of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies. Other volumes published on agencies involved at one time or another with the national park system include the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the Forest Service, and the United States Army.

9. Shankland, Robert. Steve Mather of the National Parks. 3rd ed.; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970. In addition to being a very good biography of Mather, it is an even better history of the National Park Service. Unfortunately, as with Everhart’s The National Park Service, it is not documented. Swain, Donald C. Federal Conservation Policy, 1921-1933. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press, 1963 dis- cusses the Park Service in the 1920s. Swam has also written a biography of Mather’s successor, Horace Albright. See Wilderness Defender: Horace M. Albright and Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

10. U.S., Department of the Interior. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1940. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office [GPOj, 1940, pp. 171,203,208. Ibid., 1937,

PD. 6&69. Ibid.. 1933. DV. 154-155. A scholarlv treatment of the CCC is John Salmond. The Civilian Conservation Corps, 193311‘942: A New Deal Case Study. Durham: Duke University Press, 1967.

11. Quoted and cited in Donald C. Swam, “The National Park Service and the New Deal, 1933-1940,” Pacific Historical Review, XL1 (August, 1972), 318.

12. The National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History has published two leaflets which list and describe the federal laws, agencies, departments, and projects of the national historic preservation program. See Don Rickey, “Historic Preservation and the Federal Law” (NCC Supplement No. 15) and Todd Phillips, “Federal Historic Preservation Efforts and the National Heritage Program” (NCC Supplement No. 16). Copies can be obtained from the American Historical Association, Department DM, 400 A Street, S.E., Washington, DC 20003.

13. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1940, p. 185. 14. Wirth, Conrad. “The Mission Called 66,” National Geographic, CXXX (July, 1966), 11. 15. Ibid., II, 15-16. 16. Everhart, The National Park Service, p. 239. “Land Grab by the Parks,” Newsweek, August 14, 1978, p. 21.

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Vol. XLV, No. 45, November 13,1978, p. 1999. 17. Weekly Compilation, November 13, 1978, p. 1999; March 26,1979, p. 443. 18. “Land Grab by the Parks,:’ p. 21. 19. See Duane Hampton, “Nmeteenth and Twentieth Century Opposition to the Establishment of the National

Parks,” paper presented at the Western History Association Annual Conference, Hot Springs, Arkansas, October 12, 1978. Richardson, Elmo. Dams, Parks and Politics: Resource Development and Preservation in the Truman-Eisenhower Era. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1973 is based almost entirely upon primary sources “since such sources have not been used extensively by students of federal resources policy, the essential building blocks of scholarly monographs are not available.” (p. 236) Richardson’s study serves as a model for further scholarly work.

20. The term “locked up” has been a popular one bandied about by critics whether discussing visitor accessi- bility, timber, or other natural resources. During World War II, Drew Pearson’s column. ‘Washington Merrv-Go- Round,” charged that a Southwestern park refused to allow the exploitation of a sealing compound for gas masks, thus impeding the allied war effort. The column headline read. “Gas Masks or Parks?” and Pearson concluded, “So now- the deer and the antelope, instead of gas mask-wearers, will have the benefit of the [sealing compound] .” Dallas Morning News, October 26, 1942. “Locked up” is still an active phrase in the preservation-use controversy. See James G. Zander’s letter-to-the editor in Audubon, LXXXI (May, 1979), 120.

21. Phillips, “Federal Historic Preservation Efforts and the National Heritage Program,” pp. l-4. 22. Agency personnel, for example, had to take “working vacations” since each of the National Historic Land-

marks, of which there are several hundred, required an annual visit. 23. Stat. 39,535. Everhart, The National Park Service, p. 21. 24. Tate, Michael L. “Studying the American Indian Through Government Documents and the National

Archives,” Government Publications Review, 5, (1978), 285-294. 25. CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information

Service, Inc., 197Gpresent. 26. CIS Index to the U.S. Serial Set. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1975-1979.

Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909: Congressional: To Close of 60th Congress: Depart- mental: To End of the Calendar Year 1909. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1911. The Consolidated Index of Congressional Documents. Washington, DC.: GPO, 1895-1933. Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes of the Reports and Documents of Congress. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1933-present.

27. Digest of Public General Bills and Resolutions. Washington, DC.: Library of Congress, 1936-present. 28. U.S., Superintendent of Documents. Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. Washing-

ton, D.C.: GPO, 1895present. The Subject Bibliography Index, individual Subject Bibliographies, and the

156 JOHN R. JAMESON

monthly Selected U.S. Government Publications can be obtained by writing the Superintendent of Docu- ments, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

29. Buck, Paul Herman. Evolution of the National Park System of the United States. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946. Kieley, James F. A Brief History of the National Park Service. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1940. Mather, Steven T. Progress in the Development of the National Parks. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1916. Crampton, Lewis C. Early History of Yellowstone National Park and Its Relation to National Park Policies. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1932.

30. Index: National Park System and Affiliated Areas as of June 30, 1977. Washington, DC.: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1977.

31. A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1941. Parks for America: A Survey of Park and Related Resources in the Fify States, and a Preliminary Plan. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1964. The survey was conducted from 1956 to 1962.

32. Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission. Outdoor Recreation for America: A Report to the President and the Congress. Washington, DC.: GPO, 1962.

33. The titles of the ORRRC Study Reports follow: Public Outdoor Recreation Areas-Acreage, Use, Potential (ORRRC SR-1); List of Public Outdoor Recreation Areas-1960 (ORRRC SR-2); Wilderness and Recrea- tion-A Report on Resources, Values, and Problems (ORRRC SR-3); Shoreline Recreation Resources of the United States (ORRRC SR-4); The Quality of Outdoor Recreation as Evidenced by User Satisfaction (ORRRC SR-5); Hunting in the United States-Its Present and Future Role (ORRRC SR-6); Sport Fishing- Today and Tomorrow (ORRRC SR-7); Potential New Sites for Outdoor Recreation in the Northeast (ORRRC SR-8); Alaska Outdoor Recreation Potential (ORRRC SR-9); Water for Recreation- Values and Opportunities (ORRRC SR-10); Private Outdoor Recreation Facilities (ORRRC SR-11); Financing Public Recreation Facilities (ORRRC SR-12); Federal Agencies and Outdoor Recreation (ORRRC SR-13); Di- rectory of State Outdoor Recreation Administration- (ORRRC SR-14); Open Space Action (ORRRC SR-15); Land Acauisition for Outdoor Recreation-Analvsis of Selected Legal Problems (ORRRC SR-16); Multiple Use of Land and Water Areas (ORRRC SR-17);~A Look Abroad: The Effect of Foreign Iravel on Domestic Outdoor Recreation and a Brief Survey of Outdoor Recreation in Six Countries (ORRRC SR-18); National Recreation Survey (ORRRC SR-19); Participation in Outdoor Recreation: Factors Affecting Demand Among American Adults (ORRRC SR-20); The Future of Outdoor Recreation in Metropolitan Regions of the United States (ORRRC SR-21); Trends in American Living and Outdoor Recreation (ORRRC SR-22); Projections to the Years 1976 and 2000: Economic Growth, Population, Labor Force and Leisure, and 7ransoortation (ORRRC SR-23); Economic Studies of Outdoor Recreation (ORRRC SR-24); Public Ex- pend&es for &door Recreation (ORRRC SR-25); Prospective Demand for outdoor Recreation (ORRRC SR-26); Outdoor Recreation Literature: A Survey (ORRRC SR-27). In 1978 the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service absorbed the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation.

34. Part One of the National Park System Plan: History. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior/ National Park Service, 1972. Part Two of the National Park System Plan: Natural History. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1972. To illustrate, there are nine major themes for American History which are further broken down into subthemes and facets. The major themes are: 1. The Original Inhabitants 2. European Exploration and Settlement 3. Development of the English Colonies, 1700-1775 4. Major American Wars 5. Political and Military Affairs 6. Westward Expansion, 1763-1898 7. America at Work 8. The Contemplative Society 9. Society and Social Conscience.

35. National Parks for the Future: An Appraisal of the National Parks as They Begin Their Second Century in a Changing America. Washington, D.C.:~The Conservation Foundation, 1972.

36.Ibid. The Conservation Foundation study’s main premise is that the “National Park System can best meet the future needs of all Americans by reasserting its original mission-the preservation and interpretation of natural landscapes and ecosystems. The function, which must involve truly representative citizen participation, can enable the park system to make its most meaningful and lasting contribution to an urban people, and can exemplify and inspire an enduring environmental ethic.” (p. 9)

37. For example, a House Document contains detailed studies on sixteen sites in the national park system recommended for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. See U.S., Congress, House. Proposed Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System. H. Dot. 93,93rd Cong., 2nd sess., 1974.

38. The Historical Handbook Series contains the most publications. For a list of titles in print, write the Superintendent of Documents for Subject Bibiography Number 16, “Historical Handbook Series.”

39. Note: In footnotes 39 to 46 only the authors, titles, and dates of publication are given because of the large number of citations Natural History Handbook Series: Fagerland, Gunnar 0. Olympic National Park, Wash- ington (rev. 1965). Swartzlow, Carl R. and Robert F. Upton. Badlands National Monument, South Dakota (rev. 1962). Alberts. Edwin C. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (rev. 1963). Stupka, Arthur. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee (1960). Nelson, Ruth Ashton. Pkmts of Rocky Mountain National Park (rev. 1953). McDougall, W.B. and Omer E. Sperry. Plants of Big Bend National Park (1951).

40. NPS Scientific Monograph Series: Black, Robert F. Geology of Ice Age National Scientific Reserve of Wisconsin (1974). Johnson, A. Sydney, Hilburn 0. Hillestad, Sheryl Fanning Stanholtzer and G. Frederick


Stanholtzer. An Ecological Survey of the Coastal Region of Georgia (1974). Whitson, Paul D. The Impact of Human Use Upon the Chisos Basin and Adjacent Lands (1974). Smathers, Garrett A. and Dieter Mueller- Dombois. Invasion and Recovery of Vegetation after a Volcanic Eruption in Hawaii (1974). Au, Shu Fun. Vegetation and Ecological Processes on Shackleford Bank, North Carolina (1974). Art, Henry Warren. Ecological Studies of the Sunken Forest, Fire Island National Seashore, New York (1976). Godfrey, Paul J. and Melinda M. Godfrey. Barrier Island Ecology of Cape Lookout National Seashore and Vicinity: North Carolina (1976). Haas, Glen E. Recreation and Parks: A Social Studv at Shenandoah National Park (1977). Peterson, ‘Rolf Olin. Wolf Ecology and Prey Relationships on Isle Royale (1977). Steinbergh, WarrenF. and Charles H. Lowe. Ecology of the Saguaro: ZZ (1977).

41. Source Book Series: Appleman, Roy Edgar, ed. Abraham Lincoln from His Own Words and Contemporary Accounts (rev. 1956). Hatch, Charles E., Jr. and Thomas M. Pitkin, eds. Yorktown: Climax of the Revolu- tion (1941). Mauncy, Albert C., ed. History of Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzasfrom Contemporary Narratives and Letters (rev. 1945). Riley, Edward M. and Charles E. Hatch. Jr.. eds. Jamestown: In the Words of Contemporaries (rev. 1955). Padover, Saul K., ed. Thomas Jefferson and the National Capital (1946).

42. Fauna of the National Parks Series: Wright, George M., Joseph S. Dixon, and Ben H. Thompson. A Pre- liminary Survey of Fauna1 Relations in the National Parks (1935). Wright, George M. and Ben H. Thompson. Wildlife Management in the National Parks (1935). Dixon, Joseph S. Birds and Mammals of Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska (1938). Murie, Adolph, Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone (1940). Welles, Ralph E. and Florence B. Welles. The Bighorn of Death Valley (1961). Mech, L. David. The Wolves ofZsle Royale (1966).

43. Interpretive History Series: Lykes, Richard Wayne. Campaign for Petersburg (1970). Hatch, Charles E., Jr. America’s Oldest Legislative Assembly and Its Jamestown State House (rev. 1956). Mauncy, Albert. Artillery through the Ages: A Short History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America (1949). Mauncy, Albert C. The Building of Castillo de San Marcos (1942). The half dozen series here represent only the “tip of the iceberg” of government publications on the national park system.

44. Lewis, Ralph H. Manual for Museums (1976). Chambers, Henry J. Cyclical Maintenance for Historic Build- ings (1976). McKee, Haley J., compiler. Recording Historic Buildings (1970). Public Building Act of 1936 with Amendments, Condensation Laws with Amendments, Public Works and Construction Laws, a Compila- tion of Laws from June I, 1910 through January 2, 1975 (1975). National Historic Landmarks (1976). National Historic Landmarks Supplement (1977). The National Register of Historic Places (rev. 1976). Colonials and Patriots: Historic Places Commemorating Our Forefathers, 1700-I 783 (1964). Explorers and Settlers: Historic Places Commemorating the Early Explorations and Settlement of the United States (1972). Founders and Frontiersmen: The National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (1969). Lewis and Clark: Historic Places Associated with Their 7’ranscontinental Exploration, 1804-1806 (1975). A Nation in Motion: Historic American Transportation Sites (1976). The Presidents from the Inauguration of George Washington to the Inauguration of Jimmy Carter: Historic Places Commemorating the Chief Executives of the United States (rev. 1977). Prospector, Cowhand and Sodbuster: Historic Places Associated with the Minins. Ranch- ing and Farming Frontiers in the Trans-Mississippi West (1969). Signers of the Constitution: Histon’c Places Commemorating the Signing of the Constitution (1976). Soldier and Brave: Historic Places Associated with Indian Affairs and the Indian Wars in the Trans-Mississippi West (197 1).

45. These publications are in the NPS Visitor Services Training Series: Stagner, Howard R. Talks (1953; revised in 1968 by David D. Thompson, Jr.). Grega, H. Raymond. Camufire Proerams (1955: revised in 1968 bv Douglass Hubbard and Will&m Wl Dunmire),Mauncy, Albert, et ai Yours-to Preserve (1969). Kay, William Kennon. Keep It Alive! (1970). Also included in the series is Mauncy, Albert. Say, Ranger, or How to Perform in the Information Center (1968).

46. A Personal Training Program for Interpreters (1976). Mach& Gary and Maureen McDonough. Children’s Interpretation: A Discovery Book for Interpreters (1978). TrainingMethods Manual (rev. 1976).

47. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service [NARS], 1965-present.

48. Another good source for current topics is the Federal Register. Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1936-present. It is published daily and includes presidential proclamations, executive orders, and public regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies. United States Government Manual, 1978-1979. Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1978.

49. Guide to the National Archives of the United States. Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1974. Select List of Publica- tions of the National Archives and Records Service. rev. ed.; Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1976.

50. Bray, Mayfield S. and William T. Murphy. Motion Pictures in the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives, prepared for the National Archives Conference on the Use of Audiovisual Archives as Original Source Materials, 1972. Bray, Maytield S. and Leslie C. Waffen. Sound Recordines in the Audi+ visual Archives Division of the Natt&al Archives, preliminary draft prepared for the National Archives Conference on the Use of Audiovisual Archives as Original Source Materials, 1972.

51. Bray, Mayfield S. Still pictures in the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives, preliminary draft prepared for the National Archives Conference on the Use of Audiovisual Archives as Original Source Materials, 1972. Copies of the three guides can be obtained from the Director, Audiovisual Archives Division,

1.58 JOHN R. JAMESON

NARS, Washington, DC 20408. 52. Hill, Edward E. Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National Park Service (PI No. 166). Washington,

D.C.: NARS, 1966. 53. Other record groups with materials on the national park system are: Office of the Chief of Engineers (RG

77); Office of the Quartermaster General (RG 92); Adjutant General’s Office (RG 94); United States Army Commands (RG 98); Office of the Secretary of War (RG 107); Office of the Judge Advocate General [Army] (RG 153); Bureau of Land Management (RG 49); Office of Public Buildings and Grounds (RG 42); Public Buildings Service (RG 121); Commission of Fine Arts (RG 66); National Capital Planning Commission (RG 328); Fish and Wildlife Service (RG 22); Bureau of Public Roads (RG 30); Civilian Conservation Corps (RG 35); Geological Survey (RG 57); Work Projects Administration (RG 69); Public Health Service (RG 90); Forest Service (RG 95); Farmers Home Administration (RG 96); Public Works Administration (RG 135); National Resources Planning Board (RG 187); United States Senate (RG 46); United States House of Representatives (RG 233); Bureau of Accounts [Treasury] (RG 39); United States General Accounting Office (RG 217).

54. The decimal system was used from 1925 until 1952 when it was replaced by the NPS subject-numeric system. The latter system has twelve primary classifications: administration, concession, development and maintenance, fiscal, forestry, history and archeology, information, lands and recreation planning, laws and legal matters, natural science, personnel, and supplies and equipment.

55. The eleven Federal Archives and Records Centers have substantial holdings. The Fort Worth, Texas office, for instance, has 326 cubic feet of records on the National Park Service; the Laguna Niguel, California office has 189 cubic feet.

56. For instance, see Svenningsen, Robert, compiler. Preliminary Guide to the Research Records in the Denver Fedeml Records Center, unpublished preliminary report.

57. Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. Washington, D.C.: NARS, 1974.

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