Guide to the Papers Related to Arthur E. Demaray

This finding aid describes the Papers Related to Arthur E. Demaray, 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.

Arthur E. Demaray (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series I.A.5)
Creator: Demaray, Arthur E. (1887-1958)
Title: Papers Related to Arthur E. Demaray
Dates: 1917, 1931, 1951-1982 (bulk dates: 1951)
Extent: 0.2 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 received from various NPS units and found in the NPS History Collection.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Emily L. Richardson in 2017. The finding aid was updated for the internet by Eleanore Kohorn in February 2026.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Papers Related to Arthur E. Demaray, 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)
• Arthur E. Demaray Papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming

Biographical Note

Arthur E. Demaray was born in Washinton, DC on February 16, 1887. His father was a secretary to a Minnesota senator. Demaray dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to help support the family when his parents separated. Finishing high school at night, he began his government career in 1903 as a messenger for the US Geological Survey (USGS). Two years later he became an apprentice draftsman with USGS. He transferred to the National Park Service (NPS) when its headquarters were first staffed in 1917.

From December 1924 to January 1929 he served as assistant to NPS Director Stephen T. Mather. Director Horace M. Albright appointed him assistant director for Operations in 1929. In 1933 he was appointed associate director. As second in command of the NPS during the tumultuous New Deal and the difficult wartime years (when he remained in Washington, DC while the NPS Washington Office relocated to Chicago), he proved an extremely effective administrator. He served as associate director until March 1951 under Arno B. Cammerer and Newton B. Drury.

He became the fifth NPS director in April 1951, serving just over eight months. That brief tenure, before his planned retirement, was a reward for his long and distinguished service. Although it is often stated that his greatest accomplishment was maintaining good working relations with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes during the infamous secretary's 13-year tenure (1933-1946), this overlooks his other accomplishments. For example, as the NPS man in Washington, DC during World War II he was the NPS primary contact with the US Congress. In addition, it was Demaray who recommended to Mather and Albright that the NPS establish parks in the eastern United States.

In 1927 he was decorated by the king of Sweden with the Order of Knight of Vasa. He also received the Pugsley Silver Medal (1942) and Gold Medal (1951). The Gold Medal award citation noted, “for more than a third of a century with the NPS, he has displayed leadership, wisdom and devotion to the public interest so distinguished as to earn the gratitude of the nation and recognition of the extraordinary quality of his service." Demaray died in Tucson, Arizona in 1958.

Sources

--. Undated. “Gold Medal – Arthur E. Demaray.” Accessed January 30, 2026, at https://aapra.org/Awards/Pugsley-Medal/Recipient-Biography/Id/155

Archives West. 2015. “Arthur E. Demaray Papers, 1830-1979.” Accessed February 3, 2026, at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv639685

National Park Service. “A.E. Demaray.” Region III Quarterly, Volume 2, Number 3. Accessed February 3, 2026, at https://npshistory.com/newsletters/region_iii_quarterly/vol2-3b.htm

Wilkinson, Chris. 2005. “Demaray — Short Tenure as Director, Long Record of Public Service.” Ranger, Volume 21, Number 3. Accessed February 3, 2026, at https://npshistory.com/newsletters/ranger/ranger-v21n3.pdf

Scope and Content Note

Demaray’s personal copies of the Annual Reports of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior. Articles and newspaper clippings, some correspondence, and official statements by the NPS regarding Demaray’s term as director are included. Also includes information regarding the whereabouts of other related Demaray material, as much of it was donated to the University of Wyoming

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Annual Report of the Director of the NPS to the Secretary of the Interior, 1917
Folder 02: Annual Report of the Director of the NPS to the Secretary of the Interior, 1931
Folder 03: Articles and News Clippings, 1951-1982
Folder 04: Awards, 1951
Folder 05: Correspondence, 1951-1975
Folder 06: Retirement Events, 1951
Folder 07: Statements, 1951
Folder 08: Whereabouts of Demaray Papers, 1975

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