Guide to the Newton B. Drury Papers

This finding aid describes the Newton B. Drury Papers, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Newton B. Drury (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series I.A.4)
Creator: Drury, Newton B. (1889-1978)
Title: Newton B. Drury Papers
Dates: 1914-1999 (bulk dates: 1940-1950)
Extent: 0.6 LF
Language of Materials: English

Digitized Copies: This collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use.
Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction: Some of the reports and other reference materials in this collection were not produced by the NPS and may not be in the public domain. See https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en. See also the NPS general copyright & restrictions information.

Provenance: This collection was assembled from materials donated by Newton B. Drury in 1976, his daughter in 1984, and documents from NPS sources.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Emily L. Richardson in 2017. The finding aid was updated for the internet by Eleanore Kohorn in January 2026.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Newton B. Drury Papers, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1645)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

• Assembled Historic Records of the National Park Service (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
• National Park Service Oral History Collection (HFCA 1817), NPS History Collection
• Records of NPS Directors, National Archives and Records Administration (RG 79.3.2)
• Newton Bishop Drury Papers, Save the Redwoods League Records, and other related materials, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
• Newton Bishop Drury Papers, Denver Public Library
• Recording of a 1946 Radio Broadcast by Newton B. Drury is part of the NPS History Collection

Biographical Note

Newton Bishop Drury was born in San Francisco, California in 1889 to newspaperman and politician Wells Drury and his wife, Elvira Lorraine Bishop. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley, in 1912, Drury served in the Army Balloon Corps during World War I. He later said that the destruction from the war was what had pushed him toward conservation.

In 1918 Drury married Elizabeth Schilling. The next year he and his brother Aubrey formed the Drury Brother's Company, an advertising and public relations agency. One of their clients was the Save-the-Redwoods League, a California organization dedicated to preserving redwood forests. Newton Drury became the League’s first Executive Director in 1919.

He was offered the position of NPS director in 1933 when Horace M. Albright retired. Although he declined then, he accepted when the job was offered again in 1940. He was the first director without prior national park responsibilities but came with strong conservationist credentials from his time with the Save-the-Redwoods League.

During World War II, he successfully resisted most demands for consumptive uses of park resources. Less eager than his predecessors to expand the park system, he opposed NPS involvement with areas he judged not to meet national park standards. Differences with Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman over Chapman's support for dams in Dinosaur National Monument contributed to Drury's resignation in 1951.

Drury became head of California State Parks and Beaches. In 1959 he retired and returned to the Save-the-Redwoods League, eventually becoming president and chairman. He died in 1978.

Sources

--. 1978, December. “Newton Drury, Conservationist Who Led Redwood Drive, Dies,” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/16/archives/newton-drury-conservationist-who-led-redwood-drive-dies-park-named.html

National Park Service. 2018, February. “Newton B. Drury.” Accessed January 2026 at https://www.nps.gov/articles/director-newton-drury.htm

University of California, Berkeley. Undated. “Newton Bishop Drury papers.” Accessed January 2026 at https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8sn0fpj/

Scope and Content Note

Drury's personal copies of some NPS Annual Reports to the Secretary of the Interior. Newspaper clippings, various articles by and about Drury, correspondence, speeches, and records from his time with Save-the-Redwoods are included. Documents related to the move of the NPS headquarters from Washington, DC to Chicago during World War II are also included.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1940
Folder 02: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1941
Folder 03: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1943
Folder 04: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1945

BOX 02
Folder 01: Articles and Publications, 1943-1999
Folder 02: Awards, 1940-1975
Folder 03: Clippings, 1971
Folder 04: Committee on the Public Lands Hearings, 1914
Folder 05: Congressional Record, 1951
Folder 06: Correspondence, 1955
Folder 07: Courier and Alumni News, 1973-1978
Folder 08: Dedications and Tributes, 1948-1980
Folder 09: Memorial Service for Elizabeth Drury, 1977
Folder 10: Merchandise Mart Chicago Relocation, 1942
Folder 11: National Park Service War Work Report, 1941-1944
Folder 12: Obituaries and Condolences, 1978, 1979
Folder 13: Photographs, 1940
Folder 14: Save-The-Redwoods League, 1967-1979
Folder 15: Speeches, 1941-1947
Folder 16: Speeches, Half a Century and The National Parks, 1940
Folder 17: Speeches, National Parks Preserve the American Scene, 1941

Explore More!

Looking for something else? Our NPS History Collection finding aids are available to help with your research.