NPS Family Tree MENU Contents Foreword Introduction Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Acknowledgements Abbreviations		Family Tree of the National Park System Part VI part VI GROWTH OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM, 1964-1972 HISTORICAL AREAS, 1964-1972 Twenty-nine historical areas were added to the System between 1964 and 1972 and two were consolidated bringing the total number to 172. These new historical areas were located in 21 States and the District of Columbia, further extending the System's geographical representation. They were distributed among eight of nine major themes in American history as follows: I. The Original Inhabitants: 1965, Aug. 28 Hubbell Trading Post N.H.S., Ariz. 1965, May 15 Nez Perce N.H.P., Idaho 1965, Aug. 31 Alibates Flint Quarries and Texas Panhandle Pueblo Culture N.M., Tex. II. European Exploration and Settlement: 1965, June 28 Pecos N.M., N. Mex. 1965, Oct. 22 Roger Williams N. Mem., R.I. IV. Major American Wars: 1966, July 23 George Rogers Clark N.H.P., Ind. 1970, Oct. 16 Andersonville N.H.S., Ga. 1970, Oct. 10 Fort Point N.H.S., Calif. V. Political and Military Affairs: 1965, Aug. 12 Herbert Hoover N.H.S., Iowa 1965, Aug. 31 Fort Scott Historic Area, Kansas 1965, Sept. 30 Pennsylvania Avenue N.H.S., D.C. 1966, June 30 Chamizal N. Mem., Tex. 1966, Sept. 9 San Juan Island N.H.P., Wash. 1966, Nov. 2 Ansley Wilcox House N.H.S., N.Y. 1967, May 26 John Fitzgerald Kennedy N.H.S., Mass. 1967, Nov. 27 Eisenhower N.H.S., Pa. 1969, Dec. 2 Lyndon B. Johnson N.H.S., Tex. 1969, Dec. 2 William Howard Taft N.H.S., Ohio 1971, Aug. 18 Lincoln Home N.H.S., Ill. VI. Westward Expansion: 1964, Aug. 30 Fort Bowie N.H.S., Ariz. 1964, Aug. 31 Fort Larned N.H.S., Kan. 1966, June 20 Fort Union Trading Post N.H.S., N.D.-Mont. VII. America At Work: 1964, Aug. 3 Allegheny Portage N.H.S., Pa. 1968, April 5 Saugus Iron Works N.H.S., Mass. VIII. The Contemplative Society: 1964, Aug. 31 Saint-Gaudens N.H.S., N.H. 1968, Oct. 17 Carl Sandburg Home N.H.S., N.C. IX. Society and Social Conscience: 1964, Aug. 31 John Muir N.H.S., Calif. 1964, Aug. 31 Johnstown Flood N. Mem., Pa. 1969, Jan. 16 Mar-A-Lago N.H.S., Fla. Limits of space preclude detailed comments on these many individual areas, though each is unique. A few highlights, suggestive of general trends, deserve special attention. There was a notable continuation of the previous tendency to preserve places associated with the lives of American Presidents in the National Park System. Seven former Presidents were honored in this manner between 1964 and 1972. In the order of their presidencies, they were Abraham Lincoln at his home in Springfield, Illinois; Theodore Roosevelt at the Ansley Wilcox House, Buffalo, New York, where he took the oath of office following the assassination of William McKinley; William Howard Taft at his birthplace and early home in Ohio; Herbert Hoover at his birthplace, boyhood home, and burial place, West Branch, Iowa; Dwight David Eisenhower at his home and farm, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; John Fitzgerald Kennedy at his birth place and boyhood home, Brookline, Massachusetts; and Lyndon B. Johnson at his birthplace and boyhood home in Texas. In addition, the handsome Theodore Roosevelt Memorial situated in natural surroundings on Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, D. C., was dedicated by President Johnson on October 27, 1967. Designed by Eric Gugler, the memorial incorporates a seventeen-foot bronze statue of Roosevelt by Paul Manship in an oval terrace ornamented by two fountains and tour granite slabs inscribed with tenets of Roosevelt's philosophy of citizenship. Seven other Presidents are also represented in the National Park System by historic sites or memorials. Other additions to historical areas during this period are fairly evenly distributed among seven themes, two or three sites for each. It may be noted that two sites were added under Theme VIII, The Contemplative Society — homes of the American sculptor, Saint-Gaudens, and the poet and writer, Carl Sandburg. With these additions the System now contains three sites representing the Contemplative Society. Three sites were added under Theme IV, Major American Wars — George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Indiana, the Andersonville Prison site in Georgia, and Fort Point. California. With these additions the System now contains 36 sites commemorating Major American Wars. The contrast in representation between Theme VIII, The Contemplative Society, with a total of three sites and Theme IV, Major American Wars, with 36 is striking and deserves reflection. New directions for historic preservation within the National Park System were developed further during this period in two unusual undertakings — the Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho, and the Fort Scott Historic Area, Kansas, both authorized in 1965. Though quite different, both projects involve continuing cooperative arrangements between the National Park Service, the States, other political subdivisions, and quasi-public and private organizations and individuals. The Nez Perce National Historical Park provides an instrument for coordinating the preservation and interpretation of 23 related historic sites geographically distributed over 12,000 square miles in northern Idaho. These sites represent the history and culture of the Nez Perce Indians and of the whites who eventually engulfed them — explorers, fur traders, missionaries, soldiers, settlers, gold miners, loggers, and farmers. The sites in this park include historic Nez Perce gathering places, explorers' campsites, historic missions, battlefields, natural formations, and historic Lolo Trail and Pass under a variety of ownerships and will so continue. The park is a joint venture between the National Park Service, other Federal agencies, the State of Idaho, several local governments, the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, private organizations and generous individuals. The Secretary of the Interior has an important coordinating role. Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, authorized in 1948, involves similar cooperative relationships and served as a partial precedent for Nez Perce. Ice Age National Scientific Reserve is a somewhat parallel example of cooperative relationships in the field of natural areas but under state management. Fort Scott Historic Area, Kansas, authorized by Congress in 1965 also illustrates a new type of cooperative historic preservation project. The act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to commemorate and mark — but not acquire as Federal property — the sites of certain historical events in Kansas that occurred between 1854 and the outbreak of the Civil War. These include Fort Scott; sites associated with John Brown in Osawatomie; Mine Creek Battlefield; and the sites of the Marais des Cynges massacre and Quantrell's raid. The Secretary was also authorized, under certain conditions, to make grants to the city of Fort Scott for land acquisition and development necessary to display the fort to the public and to provide historical information to enhance public understanding. All these authorizations were contingent upon the execution of satisfactory cooperative agreements with the city or other property owners. The importance of the addition of 29 historical areas to the System between 1964 and 1972, notable as it is, was over-shadowed by the deeper significance of passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. This landmark legislation grew out of recommendations made by a Special Committee on Historic Preservation established in 1965 under the auspices of the United States Conference of Mayors with a grant from the Ford Foundation. The eleven-member committee was headed by Hon. Albert Rains, for many years a distinguished Representative in Congress from Alabama and former Chairman, Housing Subcommittee of the House, and included high ranking officials of Federal, State, and local governments and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its report With Heritage So Rich, published early in 1966, spoke eloquently of the depth and diversity of our historical heritage, the mounting dangers to its preservation, and the need for a new and broadened national preservation policy and program. Congress responded to the Rains Committee report, and to strong recommendations from the Secretary of the Interior and other Federal officials, notably Director Hartzog, by enacting the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, signed by President Johnson on October 15. The new law greatly enlarged the scope and character of National Park Service participation in the historic preservation movement in the United States. (1) It authorized the Secretary of the Interior to expand and maintain a National Register of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture. By March 1, 1972, the National Register of Historic Places contained some 3,614 entries, with many additions being made each year. (2) It authorized a program of matching grants-in-aid to the States to help them prepare comprehensive statewide historic preservation surveys and plans. By 1972 survey and planning grants had been made to most of the States totaling over $2.25 million dollars annually. (3) It authorized matching grants to the States for "brick and mortar" acquisition and preservation projects. By 1972 grants had been made under this authority for some 175 projects widely distributed through most of the States, and additional grants were being authorized annually. (4) It authorized matching grants to assist the National Trust for Historic Preservation to meet its responsibilities under its Congressional charter. By 1972 the National Trust was receiving over $1 million dollars in grants annually. (5) It established a high-level Advisory Council on Historic Preservation whose members include the Secretaries of Interior, Commerce, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Attorney General, the Administrator of the General Services Administration, the Chairman of the National Trust, and ten interested and experienced citizens. The Council's duties include advising the President and Congress on matters relating to historic preservation. The Director of the National Park Service or his designee is Executive Director of the Council. (6) It established procedures to insure that no registered site or building would be adversely affected by a Federal or Federally assisted undertaking or licensing action without first giving the Advisory Council formal opportunity to comment. Congressional and Presidential interest in this program continues to be strong. In 1970 Congress amended the National Historic Preservation Act to add the Secretaries of Agriculture, Transportation, and the Smithsonian Institution to the Advisory Council; provide for United States' participation in the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Rome Centre); and extend the appropriation authority for grants three additional years at an additional total authorization of 32 million dollars. In 1971, President Nixon took another major step to strengthen Federal participation in historic preservation. On May 13 he signed Executive Order 11593 calling for "Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment." In an accompanying statement he said: As we approach the American bicentennial, it is fitting that we devote greater attention to the protection and enhancement of our cultural heritage. By my order today I am directing Federal agencies to assure that the Government's own historic properties are identified, nominated for listing on the National Register, and preserved at professional standards. The order is now being implemented. Some fifty Federal agencies have designated representatives to work with the National Park Service on historic preservation matters. Each agency is required to locate, inventory, and nominate to the Secretary of the Interior by July 1, 1973, all sites, buildings, districts and objects under its jurisdiction or control that appear to qualify for listing on the National Register. Thereafter, among other responsibilities, each agency is required to initiate measures to provide for the maintenance of such registered sites, through preservation, rehabilitation, or restoration at professional standards prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. There are estimated to be thousands of significant historic sites and structures on military reservations, public lands, national forests, and other Federal holdings to which new protection will now be extended in cooperation with the National Park Service. Through these various means, the National Park Service is now stimulating new historic preservation efforts at the grass roots level throughout the United States. This was one of the principal purposes of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 — to see to it that the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation are "preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people." Continue >>>
Top		History | Links to the Past | National Park Service | Search | Contact Last Modified: Sat, May 12 2001 10:08 am PDT http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/lee2/lee6b.htm