5th National Park Service Director Arthur E. Demaray

April 1, 1951 - December 8, 1951

Arthur E. Demaray

Formerly a draftsman with the U.S. Geological Survey, Arthur E. Demaray moved to the NPS when its headquarters was first staffed in 1917. His brief tenure as NPS director in 1951 before his planned retirement was a reward for his long and distinguished service, after 1933 as associate director. In the second spot during the tumultuous New Deal and the difficult wartime years (when he remained in Washington while the headquarters office relocated to Chicago), he proved an extremely effective administrator. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was to maintain good working relations with Harold Ickes during the irascible secretary's 13-year regime (1933-46). Demaray died in 1958.