This project examines the history of the National Park Service since the creation of the first national park in 1872 until 1959 (Library of Congress n.d.). It emphasizes the national parks as a means of environmental and historical preservation and reflects how the National Park Service was impacted by the time period, such as the Progressive Era or the Great Depression. It also addressed issues of segregation, overuse of the parks, and the lack of diversity among park-goers.
Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 to challenge the rapid development that was occurring as a result of westward expansion. Efforts to preserve the Yellowstone area began the year prior with a government funded expedition led by Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden (Library of Congress n.d.). The area was one of the only unexplored and uninhabited areas in the U.S. (Dilsaver 2005, 240). The expanse of land under review was mainly in Wyoming, but also included pieces of Montana and Idaho, and was a diverse geological area that had “geyser basins, hot springs, and canyon features” (Dilsaver 2005, 241-243). Hayden’s resulting report was so convincing that it inspired Congress to write a bill to establish a park at Yellowstone, which was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872 (Library of Congress n.d.). Thus began a national tradition of land preservation. Despite this early establishment of a national park, the National Park Service would not be created until 1916, and the management of the existing national parks before 1916 would fall to other agencies, including the U.S. Department of War and the Department of the Interior (Library of Congress n.d.).
John Muir was one of the most important figures in the history of the national parks. Muir dedicated his life to experiencing nature and encouraging others to experience it as well, which he did through numerous writings. Muir loved Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, and he petitioned the government to preserve the area. As a result of his efforts, Yosemite National Park was established in 1890 (Sierra Club n.d.). Two other important figures in the early history of the National Park Service are President Theodore Roosevelt and his close friend Gifford Pinchot, who was the head of the U.S. Forest Service. Roosevelt was known for being an outdoorsman and set aside millions of acres of land to create new parks; his ideas about conservation fell in line with the Progressive ideals (Foner 2016, 727). Muir and Pinchot had opposing philosophies about the country’s natural resources. Pinchot believed that they should be used for the economic benefit of the country, while Muir strongly advocated for the preservation of these areas of beauty for public enjoyment (Ridenour 1994, 15).
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act,” establishing the National Park Service (Dilsaver 10). The years between the founding of the National Park Service (NPS) and the Great Depression were formative years due to the work of its first director, Stephen Mather, and his successor Horace Albright. Mather and Albright worked to gain public support for the parks and make them more accessible to all. These were difficult tasks because most of the parks were in remote areas that were still largely unsettled. Mather and Albright are also responsible for laying the foundation of the modern National Park Service by organizing the agency, passing legislation, and establishing new parks (Dilsaver 1994, 53-55).
The 1930s were a very important decade for the national parks and the NPS. While the Depression caused the number of visitors to the parks to drop drastically, the parks were affected positively by two New Deal initiatives, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which built roads and maintained trails in the parks, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which designed travel posters for fourteen parks (Unrau 1987, 25; Dilsaver 1994, 111; Time n.d.). Preservation of historical sites also became a priority during the 1930s. In addition to working in the parks, the CCC also helped to preserve and develop new historic sites (Unrau 1987, 23). The National Park Service’s three aims in establishing national historic sites were “preservation,” “physical development,” or restoration of the site, and “interpretation,” or education (Unrau 1987, 23). The Historic Sites Act of 1935, which allowed the NPS to find, establish, and restore national historic sites, came “at a time of economic crisis when the nation needed a sense of its cultural heritage” (Unrau 1987, 33). After the passage of this act, the NPS expanded to include historical and cultural preservation in addition to environmental preservation.
World War II put a halt into the changes the parks and the NPS witnessed during the 1930s. The United States had to mobilize for war, so funding was cut, and federal employees moved to other industries (Dilsaver 1994, 165). The NPS was pressured to use natural resources from the parks to increase wartime production. Finally, some even questioned whether it was worthwhile for the parks to even remain open (Drury 1943, 167). After the end of World War II, the future of the NPS was uncertain. It was underfunded and would continue to be until the 1960s (Dilsaver 1994, 197).
Today, the National Park Service is a federal agency in the Department of the Interior that manages all federally designated national parks and areas. Of the 419 “units” that the NPS manages, 61 are national parks; the rest are sites such as national battlefields, national rivers, and national historic sites (Library of Congress n.d.) This project focuses on the history of the National Park Service, placing an emphasis on the role the NPS played in the early conservation movement. It will also touch on some of the issues within the national parks. Ending the project in the late 1950s leaves the NPS at a rather low point in its history, where the future of the parks was truly unclear. However, as the NPS regained strength in the 1960s, it changed in organization and motivation. Leaving the project in 1959 separates the “old” national parks from the “new” national parks, the national parks that are so popular today. The variety of sources in the exhibit seeks to illustrate the impact the National Park Service had on the country culturally and economically and the impact the country had on the National Park Service. The national parks are treasured by the American people because they are examples of the beauty and diversity of the United States. However, the parks are facing issues with overcrowding and overuse, problems that are rooted in the first half of the 20thcentury. The parks also have a history of segregation and have historically catered to a white middle-class audience. While it focuses heavily on the positive parts of the national parks, this project also seeks to introduce the issues within them.