Arno Cammerer at George Washington's Birthplace

National Park Service Director Arno Cammerer

NPS Region III Quarterly, Volume 2

National Park Service Director Arno Cammerer played an important role in the development of George Washington Birthplace National Monument. He led the National Park Service from 1933 to 1940.

Born in Arapahoe, Nebraska in 1883, he earned a Bachelor of Law degree from Georgetown Law School in 1911.

During most of the 1910s, he worked as the Executive Secretary of the Fine Arts Commission.

In 1919, Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service (NPS), appointed him as the assistant director of the NPS. He replaced Horace Albright who had become the NPS Director.

Cammerer succeeded Albright as Director of the NPS on August 10, 1933, the same day that saw the transfer to the NPS of more than 50 of the national capitol parks, historic sites, battlefields, memorials, and monuments from the War and Agriculture departments.

New Director Cammerer now turned his attention to George Washington Birthplace. He agreed that, “the development and approval of a Master Plan for this monument is a vital need and a problem which should be undertaken as early as possible.”

In November 1933, a committee composed of both NPS and Wakefield National Memorial Association representatives crafted a development outline intended to initiate the master planning process.

By 1936, Cammerer had become involved in the archeological progress at the Park, authorizing plans written by Superintendent Phillip Hough, to survey several sites on the property. On March 25, 1936 Cammerer approved the plan. Unfortunately, by the end of 1936, budget cutbacks effectively ended the plan. Additional plans for an administration building were also curtailed with the cutbacks and did not resume until the end of 1938.

Cammerer resigned from his position as Director in 1940 and died in 1941.