Last updated: November 2, 2026
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Guide to the Park Practice Program Collection
This finding aid describes the Park Practice Program Collection, 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.
Collection Overview
Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series IX.D)
Creator: National Park Service
Title: Park Practice Program
Dates: 1956-1998 (bulk dates: 1957-1980)
Extent: 4.17 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: Materials created by the NPS are public domain; however, this collection contains some material published by non-government entities that are protected by copyright. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ and the NPS general archives copyright & restrictions information.
Provenance: This collection was found in the NPS History Collection.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Mikaela Wilson in September 2026.
Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Park Practice Program Collection (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Related Materials:
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Assembled Historic Records of the NPS (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Administrative History Note
The Park Practice Program was a non-profit collaboration between the National Park Service (NPS), the National Conference on State Parks, and the National Recreation and Park Association to supply park and recreation organizations and professionals with up-to-date information about the field and to develop new talent. The idea for the Park Practice Program was introduced at the 1950 Annual Meeting of the National Conference of State Parks. The program was officially launched in 1951. A committee, led by Thomas W. Morse, superintendent of State Parks in North Carolina, gathered, screened, and published structural designs of interest to park planners. Within five years, 50 designs were available to 243 program participants, each of whom paid a membership fee to participate.
In September 1955, at the National Park Service Conference, committees recommend that the NPS take a leadership role in the program. Later that month, NPS Director Conrad L. Wirth finalized an agreement with the National Conference on State Parks, officially expanding the Park Practice Program to include the NPS.
In March 1956, the NPS established the Office of Park Practice with Ira B. Lykes as chief. A key feature of the Park Practice Program was its “living” reference library which began with its first three publications of Design, Guideline, and Grist on January 1, 1957.
Design features structural designs and architectural plans published for widespread use. It is organized into Administration, Protection, Basic Facilities, Recreation Facilities, Overnight Accommodations, Interpretation, and Maintenance categories. Each Design page had an index number which designates its position within member binders. Guideline provides policy, administrative, and operational information relating to parks and recreation. It is organized into Policy and Planning, Administration, Protection, Development, Interpretation, Maintenance, and Concessions sections. These pages were organized by article number and date of publication until they were later serialized into a journal format sometime after 1970. Guideline and Design were loose-leaf formats that allowed members to add new issues or replace superseded information. Both were issued periodically rather than on a set publication schedule. The final issue of Design was in Fall, 1999 while Guideline’s last known publication was in 1974.
Grist provides field level operating personnel with articles on maintenance, interpretation, protection, and operating techniques in parks and recreation environments, accompanied by detailed drawings and photographs. Grist often introduced new products related to park work, usually time-, labor-, or money-saving equipment and devices, in addition to general field advice. Supplements produced by commercial and industrial associations provide information about new products and processes. Originally published bimonthly, Grist became a quarterly publication in 1983. Plowback is an eight-page insert within Grist that appeared at least three times a year. Plowback reported on award-winning NPS employee techniques and devices. The last known issue of Plowback was published in 1970, while Grist continued until 1998.
Trends was added to the Park Practice library in July 1964. Trends content relates to the future of parks and recreation, reporting on research and new concepts in the field. The quarterly publication often contains topics regarding park management and programming. The final issue of Trends was published in 1999.
The Park Practice Program was phased out largely due to budget constraints, shifting federal priorities, and the rise of digital information sharing that rendered physical, subscription-based technical newsletters less sustainable.
Sources:
NPS History. “Park Practice Program.” Last modified March 2026. Accessed September 2026. https://www.npshistory.com/newsletters/park_practice/.
Park Practice Program Collection (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Scope and Content Note
Periodicals, handbooks, design plates, indexes, brochures, and correspondence regarding the Park Practice Program and its core publications: Grist, Guideline, Design, Trends, and Plowback. Publications include structural plans, administrative information and guidelines, commercial and industrial advertisements, NPS techniques and equipment, as well as research on management and programming in parks. An example of Park Practice Program designs reproduced in a non-governmental publication is also present, illustrating the impact of the program in the broader field. Some superseded sections of Design are included. A Park Practice book containing design plates that predate the earliest official NPS Design publication is also included. A complete run of Plowback is present, as well as a complete run of Trends up to volume 32, and Guideline up to 1969. There is an almost complete run of Grist up to volume 36, with one missing insert from volume 9.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically.
Container List
BOX 01
Folder 01: Administration: Background and History, undated
Folder 02: Administration: Brochures and Pamphlets, 1964-1968, undated
Folder 03: Administration: Correspondence, 1972
Folder 04: Administration: Draft and Final Proposal, 1967, undated
Folder 05: Administration: Indexes, Annual, 1974-1979
Folder 06: Administration: Indexes, Annual, 1982-1986
Folder 07: Administration: Indexes, Annual, 1987-1990
Folder 08: Administration: Indexes, Annual, 1991-1993
Folder 09: Administration: Indexes, Five Year, 1969, 1977
Folder 10: Administration: Indexes, Grist, Ten Year, 1966
Folder 11: Administration: Park Practice Book, 1956
Folder 12: Administration: Reprint, Boating Designs, 1965
Folder 13: Administration: Twenty-fifth Anniversary, 1982
Folder 14: Design: 1957-1982 [1 of 7]
Folder 15: Design: 1957-1982 [2 of 7]
Folder 16: Design: 1957-1982 [3 of 7]
BOX 02
Folder 01: Design: 1957-1982 [4 of 7]
Folder 02: Design: 1957-1982 [5 of 7]
Folder 03: Design: 1957-1982 [6 of 7]
Folder 04: Design: 1957-1982 [7 of 7]
Folder 05: Design: Issue, 1970-1971
Folder 06: Design: Issue, 1972-1974
BOX 03
Folder 01: Design: Issue, 1975-1977
Folder 02: Design: Issue, 1978-1980
Folder 03: Design: Issue, 1981-1983
Folder 04: Design: Issue, 1984-1986
Folder 05: Design: Issue, 1987-1989
Folder 06: Design: Issue, 1990-1993
Folder 07: Design: Issue, 1994-1998
BOX 04
Folder 01: Grist: Vol. 1-3, 1957-1959
Folder 02: Grist: Vol. 4-6, 1960-1962
Folder 03: Grist: Vol. 7-9, 1963-1965
Folder 04: Grist: Vol. 10, 1966
Folder 05: Grist: Vol. 11-13, 1967-1969
Folder 06: Grist: Vol. 14-16, 1970-1972
Folder 07: Grist: vol. 17-22, 1973-1978
BOX 05
Folder 01: Grist: Vol. 23-26, 1979-1982
Folder 02: Grist: Vol. 27-30, 1983-1986
Folder 03: Grist: Vol. 31-33, 1987-1989
Folder 04: Grist: Vol. 34-38, 1990-1994
Folder 05: Grist: Vol. 39-41, 1995-1997
Folder 06: Guideline: Administration, Articles 1-45, 1957-1970
Folder 07: Guideline: Concessions, Articles 1-4, 1958-1960
Folder 08: Guideline: Development, Articles 1-26, 1957-1969
BOX 06
Folder 01: Guideline: Interpretation, Articles 1-30, 1957-1969
Folder 02: Guideline: Maintenance, Articles 1-22, 1957-1969
Folder 03: Guideline: Policy and Planning, Articles 1-51, 1957-1970
Folder 04: Guideline: Protection, Articles 1-38, 1957-1970
Folder 05: Guideline: Vol. 2-4, 1972-1974, undated
Folder 06: Plowback: 1962-1966, undated
Folder 07: Plowback: 1967-1970
BOX 07
Folder 01: Trends: Vol. 1-3, 1964-1966
Folder 02: Trends: Vol. 4-5, 1967-1968
Folder 03: Trends: Vol. 6-8, 1969-1971
Folder 04: Trends: Vol. 9-10, 1972-1973
Folder 05: Trends: Vol. 11, 1974
Folder 06: Trends: Vol. 12, 1975
Folder 07: Trends: Vol. 13, 1976
BOX 08
Folder 01: Trends: Vol. 14, 1977
Folder 02: Trends: Vol. 15, 1978
Folder 03: Trends: Vol. 16, 1979
Folder 04: Trends: Vol. 17, 1980
Folder 05: Trends: Vol. 18, 1981
Folder 06: Trends: Vol. 19, 1982
Folder 07: Trends: Vol. 20, 1983
BOX 09
Folder 01: Trends: Vol. 21, 1984
Folder 02: Trends: Vol. 22, 1985
Folder 03: Trends: Vol. 23, 1986
Folder 04: Trends: Vol. 24, 1987
Folder 05: Trends: Vol. 25, 1988
Folder 06: Trends: Vol. 26, 1989
BOX 10
Folder 01: Trends: Vol. 27, 1990
Folder 02: Trends: Vol. 28, 1991
Folder 03: Trends: Vol. 29, 1992
Folder 04: Trends: Vol. 30, 1993
Folder 05: Trends: Vol. 31, 1994
Folder 06: Trends: Vol. 32, 1995
Folder 07: Trends: Vol. 34, 1997
OS BOX 01
Contains oversized material separated from the collection.
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