Guide to the Papers Related to Conrad L. Wirth

This finding aid describes the Papers Related to Conrad L. Wirth, 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.

Conrad L. Wirth (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series I.A.6)
Creator: Wirth, Conrad L. (1899-1993)
Title: Papers Related to Conrad L. Wirth
Dates: 1936-2001, 2023 (bulk dates: 1956-1975)
Extent: 0.4 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 Conrad L. Wirth, 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
• Carlos Whiting Papers (HFCA 3535), NPS History Collection
• Records of NPS Directors, National Archives and Records Administration (RG 79.3.2)
• Oral history interview with Conrad Louis Wirth, 1966, Columbia Center for Oral History, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries
• Conrad L. Wirth’s wooden desk nameplate is in the NPS History Collection (HFCA-00090)

Biographical Note

Conrad Louis Wirth, known as “Connie” by many of his friends and colleagues, was born in 1899 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father, Theodore Wirth, was the superintendent of the Hartford park system but moved the family to Minnesota in 1906 for a position with the Minneapolis parks. Wirth attended a military academy in Wisconsin and then went on to the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now University of Massachusetts, Amherst). Studying under the direction of Frank A. Waugh, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in landscape gardening in 1923.

After graduation, Wirth spent several years following opportunities around the United States, including two years in San Francisco as an apprentice to a nurseryman and three years in New Orleans where he started his own landscape architecture firm with a partner. He relocated to Washington, DC in 1928, where, with the help of Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., he secured a job at the National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

In 1931 Wirth joined the National Park Service (NPS) as an assistant director in charge of the Branch of Lands, working under Director Horace M. Albright. In this role he studied potential additions to the National Park System.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of the New Deal in 1933, as an assistant director under Director Arno B. Cammerer, Wirth supervised the planning, design and construction by the NPS-CCC program in the state parks. In 1936 the NPS consolidated its CCC programs, bringing together the state park program and national park CCC camps under Wirth. He distinguished himself with his implementation of CCC programs in support of federal, state, and local parks, gaining an excellent reputation as an administrator. He developed proposals for creating new state parks, and oversaw the planning, design, and construction of the facilities necessary for parks to accommodate public use. Under his direction, the NPS employed hundreds of thousands of CCC workers to construct roads, trails, cabins, museums, campgrounds, picnic grounds, administration offices, and other state park facilities. Wirth was also a member of the committee that founded and established “Shangri La,” now known as Camp David. With the outbreak of World War II, Wirth oversaw the disbanding of the NPS-CCC program. Wirth submitted his final report on the Interior CCC camps in January 1944.

In 1942 Wirth moved to Chicago when the NPS Washington Office was relocated to make room for the war effort in Washington, DC. In October 1945 he was selected by the secretary of the Interior to serve as a policy advisor to the United States Allied Council, and was stationed in Vienna, Austria. Wirth was assigned to assist with land matters and conservation of natural resources. He wore a uniform but had no military rank during his time in Europe. His payroll was briefly transferred to the State Department before it was transferred to the War Department, but he retained his civil service status and grade. In April 1946 he was called back to Washington, DC by newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman.

In June 1950 he was again appointed an assistant director, this time under Director Newton B. Drury. In April 1951 he was promoted to associate director under Director Arthur E. Demaray. Demaray’s brief tenure as NPS director before his planned retirement was a reward for his long and distinguished service. Wirth became the sixth NPS director in December 1951.

Wirth's crowning achievement as director was Mission 66, a 10-year, billion-dollar program to upgrade park facilities and services by the 50th anniversary of the NPS in 1966. Wirth personally convinced President Eisenhower of the merits of the plan, cultivated people in Congress, and ensured there was something in the program for every member of the House and Senate who had a park in their district. No legislation authorizing Mission 66 was passed; it relied on annual appropriations. Congress followed through with these appropriations and Mission 66 resulted in the major upgrading of visitor centers, roads, trails, and other park amenities. The success of the program stimulated the creation of the Outdoor Recreation Resource Review Commission in 1958.

After the 1961 change of administrations, Wirth fell out of favor with Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. He retired in January 1964. He has the distinction of being the longest serving NPS director.

Wirth served as president of the American Institute of Park Executives, was a trustee of the National Geographic Society and a consultant to the American Conservation Association. His awards included the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award; American Forestry Association’s Conservation Award; two Pugsley Gold Medals from the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society; Theodore Roosevelt Medal; Rockefeller Public Service Award; and the Everly Gold Medal of the American Institute of Park Executives. He was particularly proud of the Wirth Environmental Award, which the National Park Foundation named for him and his father. He was the first recipient of that award for his efforts to preserve the nation’s open land and waters. He also received several honorary doctorates. In 1972 the American Society of Landscape Architects gave him its highest honor, the ASLA Medal.

His 1980 memoir, Parks, Politics, and the People, gives an in-depth window into his long career. Wirth died in 1993, in Minneapolis.

Sources

Cultural Landscape Foundation. 2024. “Conrad Wirth Biography.” Accessed January 28, 2026, at https://www.tclf.org/conrad-wirth-biography

National Recreation and Park Association. Undated. “Conrad L. Wirth.” Accessed January 30, 2026, at https://aapra-goldmedal.secure-platform.com/a/page/HallofFame/Inductees/Conrad_Wirth

Wirth, Conrad. 1980. Parks, Politics and the People. University of Oklahoma Press.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, press releases, articles and news clippings about Wirth’s time as director. Speeches include those made by Wirth and his staff, including Daniel B. Beard and Howard Stagner. Mission 66 materials include a 1975 speech by Wirth, artwork (painting on paper) of an NPS ranger at a park entrance station used in a Mission 66 and Petrol 66 joint brochure, and a video of a comical skit (Conrad Wirth Had a Mission in Mind) performed at Wirth's retirement party. Congratulatory letters and the transcript of his testimonial dinner are included. Awards Wirth or the NPS received under his directorship and photocopies of plaques received are also present.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Articles and News Clippings, 1954-1975
Folder 02: Awards, 1956-1961, 2023
Folder 03: Biographical Data, undated
Folder 04: Congress Public Law 88-29, 1963
Folder 05: Conrad Wirth Had a Mission in Mind Retirement Spoof Video, undated
Folder 06: Correspondence, 1936-1979, 2001
Folder 07: Department of Interior Press Releases, 1958-1993
Folder 08: Garden Club of America Forum Itinerary, 1953
Folder 09: Mission 66, 1955-1959
Folder 10: National Civil Service League Career Services Awards Dinner Program, 1959
Folder 11: National Park Service Official Statements and Memoranda, 1963-1990
Folder 12: NPS Ranger at Park Entrance Station Artwork, undated
Folder 13: Speeches, 1953-1959
Folder 14: Speeches, 1960-1962
Folder 15: Speeches, 1963
Folder 16: Speeches, Mission 66, 1975
Folder 17: Testimonial Dinner Letters and Transcripts, 1964

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