People: Individuals

Charles Peirce (1839-1914)

Charles Peirce

Described as America's DaVinci, Charles Peirce (pronounced purse) produced ground-breaking work in the world of philosophy with his theory of pragmatism. He made contributions to the disciplines of astronomy, psychology, logic, chemistry, meteorology, and geodesy (mapping the earth's surface.) Some of Peirce's most innovative scientific work was for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), the forerunner of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Peirce and his wife Juliette made their home in Milford from 1887 on; the building is now the office of the park’s Division of Research & Resource Management.

 

Herbert Kraft (1927-2000)

Herbert Kraft

As the proposed Tocks Island Dam threatened to inundate Native American habitation sites in the flood plain of the river, archeologists labored to record the data. under government contract to excavate sites on the New Jersey side, was Dr. Herbert Kraft, Professor and curator of the Museum of Archeology at Seton Hall University. Dr. Kraft devoted 50 years to the academic study of the prehistory of the Delaware River Valley and was an acknowledged authority on the Lenape (Delaware) people.

 

Nancy Shukaitis in 2005.

Nancy Shukaitis

Nancy Michael Shukaitis descends from a family that has owned land along the Delaware for 200 years. She was one of the first voices raised in protest over the proposed flooding of the valley for the Tocks Island Reservoir, and with her actions against the dam she unleashed events that contributed to the environmental movement in the United States. In her own words, she describes what the valley meant, and what the struggle was for.

 

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