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NPS Expansion: 1930s
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Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s: Administrative History Chapter Five: New Initiatives in the Fields of History, Historic Preservation and Historical Park Development and Interpretation |
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J. Establishment of Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings
Using some preliminary data that Schneider gathered before his European trip, Interior and Park Service officials began discussions leading toward the organization of a separate branch of historic sites and buildings as early as the summer of 1934. The purpose of the branch was to direct the comprehensive planning and development needs posed by the expanding Service historical program as a result of the reorganization of 1933. Accordingly, the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings of the Washington office was authorized by the Department of the Interior appropriation act for fiscal year 1936. The memorandum announcing the formation of the new branch, which began functioning nearly two months before passage of the Historic Sites Act on July 1, 1935, described the responsibilities of the organization
to supervise and coordinate administrative, policy, educational, and research matters pertaining to historic and archeologic sites, including the survey, classification, and preservation of historic and archeologic sites and buildings and the remains thereof; supervise and collect drawings, photographs, sketches, and other data relating to prehistoric and historic American sites and buildings; and collect and preserve historical and archeological records.
Dr. Chatelain was designated as acting assistant director of the branch. [64]
Because the Civil Service provisions for personnel in the new branch included only three additional employees, it was necessary to supplement the staff with ECW personnel. At the same time steps were taken to initiate civil service examinations for historian and archeology positions for the purpose of establishing a more permanent staff. [65]
After the regionalization plan for the National Park Service was adopted in 1936, changes were made in the duties and responsibilities of the branch vis-a-vis those of the historians in the regional offices and at the park level. On July 30 Chatelain issued a memorandum outlining the functions of the Washington office of the branch:
1. The preparation of final recommendations to the Director of the National Park Service for submission to the Secretary's Office on all historical and archeological personnel.
2. The final historical technical review of recommendations for camp locations, Master Plans, work programs, and individual projects for historical and archeological areas, both national and State.
3. The formulation of historical research policies and final review of all research reports.
4. The formulation of historical technical policies, including restoration policy, and dissemination to the field of technical information on problems involved in preservation, restoration or development of historical or archeological sites, and final review of historical technical recommendations on historical and archeological projects.
5. The formulation of historical-educational policies affecting the national and State park areas of historical and archeological interest, including markers, museum planning, literature and ranger-historian service.
6. The final recommendation as to the national or State importance of historical or archeological sites proposed for development through ECW, or other programs of the National Park Service.
7. The general leadership in, and guidance of, the park educational program for all historical and archeological areas.
8. The organization and direction of the Historic Sites Survey and assignment of priority in lists of proposed areas for field investigation.
9. The coordination of national park historical work on a nationwide scale, including the coordination of national park with State park work, and the respective historical programs of the four regions.
10. The coordination of the work of the regional historians with the work of the superintendents of national historical and archeological areas. [66]
After some five years as head of the historical program of the National Park Service, Chatelain resigned from his position as acting assistant director of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings effective September 15, 1936, to take employment with the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Branch Spalding, superintendent of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park, was designated to serve as the acting assistant director on that date until further notice. [67]
A complete statement on the organization and functions of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings was prepared on August 27, 1937. The statement noted:
Wherever a National Park Service area embraces a site of significant historical or archeological import, this Branch attends to the proper treatment, preservative and interpretative, of that feature. This involves professional research to ascertain accurately the historical or archeological facts, study and selection of condign methods of physical treatment of the sites, and establishment of effective technique for interpretation of the history or archeology represented there. . . .
The Assistant Director, Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings, advises the Director in regard to matters pertaining to historic sites. In the general administration of historical areas he acts as coordinator of all the Service Branches.
As the coordinator of all the branches in the general administration of historical areas, it was the duty of the assistant director "to advise with the Branch of Land Acquisition and Regulation in approving historic lands for acquisition, determining methods of regulation, drafting legislation for establishment and protection of historical areas." He was to consult "with the Branches of Engineering and Plans and Design on problems of location and type of roads and trails, buildings, public use areas, and other physical developments in historical areas" and to confer "with the Branch of Operations regarding budget and personnel matters affecting historical areas." Master plans and individual project plans were subject to his review and approval.
The assistant director was directly responsible to the director for the administration and implementation of an interpretive and museum program in the historical areas. He was responsible for the relationship of the National Park Service to learned societies, educational institutions, and civic and other organizations devoted to history and archeology. It was his duty to see that the Park Service initiated and put into effect a national policy of historic preservation, including the Historic Sites Survey, under the guidelines set forth in the Historic Sites Act.
The Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings consisted of two divisions--the Research and Survey and the Coordinating divisions. The Deputy Assistant Director in charge of the Research and Survey Division had direct responsibility for conducting the Historic Sites Survey and the research program connected with the survey as well as that required to administer the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System. It was his duty to provide for the coordinated historical and archeological research program of the Park Service, both in Washington and the field, to supervise the formulation of basic historical plans for each area in the National Park System, and to produce research products geared toward the Servicewide interpretive and educational programs. The Research and Survey Division collected and analyzed data and acted as a clearing house of information in the specialized spheres of historical and archeological activity, thus providing aid in the solution of administrative and technical problems in the field.
The division was composed of three sections, each supervised by a section chief: historical research, archeological research, and Historic Sites Survey.
The Historical Research Section organized the Park Service research program as a whole, interpreted its objectives and methods to the field, and followed the execution of the planned program for each area to insure its sound and adequate basis. The chief of this section was responsible for the development and execution of three principal research activities in Washington and at each historic site in the National Park System: (1) the systematic accumulation of basic historical source material of all types applicable to each area; (2) the preparation and maintenance of proper bibliographies, catalogues, indexes, lists, and guides to these materials; and (3) the interpretation of these materials so as to insure an historically-sound physical development for each park and to obtain an historically accurate interpretation of the area for educational uses. The program of this section was carried forward through historians attached to the individual parks with the aid of a small research staff in Washington.
The chief of the Archeological Section planned and directed, through the field technicians, all archeological study and investigation necessary to the preservation and development for public use of archeological areas in the National Park System. The chief planned and supervised archeological surveys of all national areas containing prehistoric remains to identify and evaluate for preservation all important prehistoric sites and objects within the boundaries of each park. His duties included planning and direction for the systematic accumulation of all archeological reports and other data pertinent to an area and responsibility for the introduction and maintenance of appropriate scientific archeological records. A major task of the field personnel of this section was to translate the scientific conclusions of their studies and that of other archeologists who had worked in an area into sound park development. Among his other responsibilities the chief of this section assembled data on techniques of preservation and the latest scientific methods for transmittal to the field, contributed to the interpretive program for archeological areas, directed the archeological side of the Historic Sites Survey, and coordinated the archeological activities of the Park Service with those of the Smithsonian Institution and other scientific organizations.
The chief of the Historic Sites Survey Section was charged with general responsibility for the conduct of the survey authorized by the Historic Sites Act. He planned and supervised through the survey historians in the regional offices the study and investigation on a nationwide basis of historic sites and structures and organized the material from such studies for the purpose of developing long-term plans for their acquisition, preservation, interpretation, and utilization.
The deputy assistant director in charge of the Coordinating Division was responsible for the educational and general administrative functioning of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings. He formulated and directed the interpretive program for historical and archeological areas in the National Park System and aided the assistant director in the handling of administrative routine such as personnel, fiscal affairs, and correspondence pertaining to interpretation and miscellaneous matters.
The deputy assistant director in charge of the Coordinating Division was assisted by two field coordinators--the chiefs of the General Historical and Civil War sections. As specialists in educational methodology, public relations, and the history embodied in their respective groups of areas, the field coordinators visited each area frequently, advised park superintendents and historians relative to the program of historical interpretation and research, and provided the liaison between the field and the Washington office regarding such matters.
The deputy assistant director in charge of the Coordinating Division was also aided by the ECW coordinator who maintained close touch with all ECW activity in historical areas and represented the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings in its dealings with the Branch of Recreational Planning and State Cooperation. He reviewed all ECW and other emergency projects proposed for historical and archeological areas and attended to their proper clearance within the branch.
The ultimate expression of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings was expressed through the field historical staff. The personnel of that staff performed directly the historical interpretive function and carried out a large portion of the research program. Representing the branch in the office of the park superintendent or the regional office, they advised their supervisors in all matters pertaining to history and archeology, including interpretation and physical planning and development. [68]
Several months later Director Cammerer issued a memorandum clarifying the attitude of the National Park Service as to the functions of the members of the field historical staff. The memorandum read:
Their first and most important duty is interpretation of the history represented in their respective areas. It should be kept in mind that the ultimate objective of the Service in its administration of historical areas is the teaching of history to the public through the physical sites of its enactment. Research is important and essential, but it is undertaken to make possible the realization of the ultimate purpose which is interpretation. Any tendency to disparge the importance of handling park visitors as a duty of a highly trained historian should be discouraged. Park Superintendents should do their utmost to place public contact work in the hands of their best personnel and to utilize all personnel resources for conducting an effective, sound interpretative service. [69]
Branch Spalding continued to serve as the acting assistant director of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings until May 16, 1938. On that date Ronald F. Lee entered on duty as the assistant director in charge of the branch (a title that would soon be formally changed to chief, Branch of Historic Sites). [70]
An administrative reorganization of the Washington office (effective August 1, 1938) provided for certain changes in the organization of the Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings. The name of the branch was shortened to the Branch of Historic Sites and Lee's title as head of the branch was changed to that of Supervisor of Historic Sites. The branch had two divisions: Historic Sites Division, under Francis S. Ronalds, assistant chief; and Archeologic Sites Division, under Dr. Arthur R. Kelly, acting assistant chief (permanent appointment received on October 3, 1938). The Historic Sites Division had two sections under the new office realignment: Research and Survey Section under Alvin P. Stauffer, supervisor; and Planning and Interpretative Section, under Charles W. Porter, supervisor. The functions' statement of the branch as outlined on an organizational chart of the "Branch of Historic Sites," approved on August 1, 1938, was:
BRANCH OF HISTORIC SITES Ronald F. Lee, Chief
Functions: Coordination of administrative matters pertaining to historic and archeologic sites; supervision over and coordination of the historical and archeological research, planning, and interpretative programs pertaining to historic and archeologic sites; responsibility for performing the duties prescribed in the Historic Sites Act, and the Code of Procedure of February 28, 1936, including the study and investigation of historic and archeologic sites and buildings throughout the United States for the purpose of developing a comprehensive long-time plan for their acquisition, preservation, and use; and coordination of the historic and archeologic sites conservation program with scientific and learned institutions, state and local authorities, and semi-public organizations and associations.
HISTORIC SITES DIVISION
Francis S. Ronalds, Assistant ChiefFunctions: Coordination of administrative matters relating to historic sites; supervision over and coordination of the historical research, planning, and interpretative programs relating to historic sites; direction of the survey of historic sites; and rendition of assistance in liaison work with agencies outside the Service concerned with the conservation of historic sites.
RESEARCH AND SURVEY SECTION
Alvin P. Stauffer, SupervisorFunctions: Supervision over the survey of historic sites, including the listing, description, tabulation, classification, and evaluation of such areas; historical research basic to the development of historic sites in the National Park System; and historical publications; responsibility for direct execution of special studies of specific sites and groups of sites; and rendition of assistance in liaison work with other historical research and survey agencies in the District of Columbia, including the Historic American Buildings Survey, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress.
PLANNING AND INTERPRETATIVE SECTION
Charles W. Porter (CCC), SupervisorFunctions: Supervision over the historical aspects of the development of historic sites, including the preparation of data for historical sheets in the Master Plans, and the application of historical data to the developed area and project program for each historic site; review of master plans and projects; supervision over the interpretative programs carried on at each historic site; and rendition of assistance in liaison work with the Branch of Plans and Design and the Museum Division, Branch of Research and Education.
ARCHEOLOGIC SITES DIVISION
___________ , Assistant Chief
Arthur R. Kelly, ActingFunctions: Coordination of administrative matters relating to archeologic sites; supervision over and coordination of the archeological research, planning, and interpretative programs relating to archeologic sites; direction of the survey of archeologic sites; and rendition of assistance in liaison work with agencies outside the Service concerned with conservation of archeologic sites. [71]
In 1939 Herbert E. Kahler, who had been superintendent at Morristown for about a year, traded jobs with Francis Ronalds and became in effect Lee's assistant. Thus, in the final productive years before the outbreak of World War II, Lee became in effect chief historian and Kahler assistant chief historian in the operation of the organization. [72]
Chapter Five continues with...
Adoption of Code of Procedure for Implementation
of Historic Sites Act
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Last Modified: Tues, Mar 14 2000 07:08:48 am PDT
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