NPS History Collection Finding Aids

The National Park Service (NPS) History Collection includes over three million documents, photographs, video and sound recordings, scrapbooks and photo albums, and other materials. Available finding aids are below. Please check back frequently as new material is regularly added. Email the archivist for more information about these or other collections.

gray labeled boxes on shelving units
NPS History Collection archives storage (NPS History Collection photo)

NPS Collection Guides

Assembled Historic Records of the NPS (9159 KB, PDF).

Updated! National Park Service Oral History Collection: Interview recordings, transcripts, notes, and reports created as part of various oral history interviews with ca. 1,200 NPS employees, cooperators, and partners.

New! National Park Service Paleontology Program Records: Records created or assembled by the NPS Senior Paleontologist Vincent Santucci and others regarding paleontology resources in the NPS.

Guides Related to NPS Directors

New! George B. and Helen C. Hartzog Papers: Correspondence, documents, photographs, publications, and other materials related to the career of NPS Director George B. Hartzog, Jr. Other materials which demonstrate Helen Hartzog's support of her husband's career and NPS families is included.

Stephen Tyng Mather Film Collection: 16mm films taken by NPS Director Stephen T. Mather with his personal movie camera as he traveled throughout national parks, ca. 1924-1929. Also includes a small number of commercial productions related to national parks.

Guides to Working Files of NPS Employees

List of NPS Employee Papers and Working Files (135.27 KB, PDF).


Verne E. Chatelain: Although Chatelain’s NPS career (1931-1936) was short, as the first chief historian he prepared the first criteria for historical additions to the National Park System. The creation of the Historic Sites Survey (now the National Historic Landmarks Program) in 1935 also expanded the role of the chief historian in new directions.

Ernest A. Connally: Over a 13-year period, first as director of the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) and later as an NPS associate director, Connelly was the highest federal officer specifically charged with direction of the nation’s historic preservation programs.

Vera B. Craig: Craig began her NPS career (1947-1977) as a museum aide at Morristown National Historical Park. She went on to become an important figure in the NPS museum program and an expert in historic furnishings.

S. Herbert Evison: Although Evison began his NPS career (1933-1958) with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), by 1945 he had become the first NPS chief of information. In retirement Evison worked as an unpaid collaborator, conducting extensive oral history projects in the early 1960s and again in the 1970s, and writing several versions of an unpublished manuscript.

Ronald F. Lee: Lee began his NPS career (1933-1966) with the CCC, but went on to serve as chief historian, an assistant director, and director of the NPS Northeast Region. From 1966-1972 he worked as a special assistant to NPS Director George B. Hartzog, Jr. Throughout his career, Lee was an important leader in the historic preservation movement.

New! Mary Jane McDowell: In 1973 McDowell became the first woman law enforcement ranger at Mesa Verde National Park. She also worked as a ranger at Yellowstone.

Jesse L. Nusbaum: Throughout his NPS career (1921-1957), while working as superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park and senior NPS archeologist, Nusbaum advanced the study of archeology and NPS preservation practices. His influence was also felt outside the NPS, particularly in the Southwest.

Harold L. Peterson: During his career (1947-1978) Peterson rose from staff historian to NPS chief curator. He was also an internationally recognized scholar in the history of arms and armament.

Theodor R. Swem: Most of Swem’s NPS career (1957-1976) focused on planning activities, including for proposed areas. Although he served as both a regional director and an assistant director, it was his involvement with the Alaska Task Force and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) that has the largest impact for the NPS.

Robert M. Utley: After six years (1947-1954) as a seasonal ranger at Custer National Battlefield (now Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument), Utley returned to the NPS as the Southwest Region historian (1956-1964) before becoming NPS chief historian (1964-1980). He played a key role in the development and implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Guides to Papers Related to the National Park System Advisory Board

New! Harold P. Fabian: A lawyer and conservationist, Fabian served on the Advisory Board of National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments (now called the National Park System Advisory Board) from July 1, 1958, to June 30, 1964, including a term as chairman (1962-1964).

Guides to Records from Related Organizations

New! Guide to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southeast Region Collection: A selection of NPCA, NPS, and other planning documents, reports, and studies related to advocacy work completed by Don Barger and staff at the NPCA Southeast Regional Office.

New! National Park Service Employee & Alumni Association Collection: Organizational and employee biographical records created by the E&AA. Includes newspaper and magazine format NPS newsletters published by the E&AA: National Park Courier, Newsletter: Employees & Alumni Association of the National Park Service, and Arrowhead.

Guides Related to Publications about the NPS

Robert Cahn Papers: Correspondence, research notes, recordings, and transcripts related to development of the 1985 book The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913-1933 by Horace M. Albright as told to Robert Cahn.

New! Judy Hart Papers: Research compiled by Hart for her book A National Park for Women’s Rights: The Campaign That Made It Happen. Includes drafts of the books and documentation of her difficult relationship with the book's male editor, as well as copies of photographs and magnetic media from the creation of Women's Rights National Historical Site and her role as the park's first superintendent.

Polly Welts Kaufman Papers: Research (including oral history interviews) compiled by Kaufman for her book National Parks and the Woman's Voice: A History. Also includes additional research about "early savers" (Kaufman's term for women who were involved in getting national parks and monuments established) for a planned book that was never written.

Guides to Still Image Collections

Thomas J. Allen Photograph Collection: Allen's photographs documenting his career in the NPS from 1920-1965.

Howard H. Chapman Slide Collection: Chapman's color transparencies (slides) documenting his career and travels to national parks and monuments. Chapman's personal diaries, which document significant events and conversations from 1971-1986, are included.

Natt N. Dodge Photograph Collection: Dodge's photographs, slides, and negatives documenting his career with the NPS from 1932-1963. Although images from Mount Rainier National Park are present, most of the images are from his work at national parks and monuments in the American Southwest. Includes a dozen hand-colored images of Native American artist Legoria Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) demonstrating pottery making in June 1939.

New! Charles A. Heath Lantern Slide Collection: Hand-colored lantern slides from Heath's many visits to Yellowstone (1905-1909) and Glacier (1911) national parks. A small number of slides from the Teton range are also included.

Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection: Peabody's lantern slides and guides published as illustrated lectures for national parks.

E.B. Thompson Negative Collection: Ezra B. Thompson's images of national parks and other locations or subjects. NPS sites include C&O Canal, Harpers Ferry, Great Falls, Arlington House: the Robert E. Lee Memorial, Glen Echo, Mount Rainier, National Mall (particularly the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial), Rock Creek Park, Shenandoah, Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone, and the White House.

Other Collection Guides

General Milton F. Davis Papers: Maps of Yosemite, General Grant, and Sequoia national parks created by Davis in the 1890s during his service with the 4th US Calvary. Correspondence with Yosemite superintendent Lawrence C. Merriam and members of a July 1919 auto tour are included.

Dorothy Boyle Huyck Papers: Records created by or assembled by Huyck for freelance articles and other products related to the NPS, particularly camping and conservation issues. Includes correspondence, research notebooks, brochures and pamphlets regarding NPS sites, NPS management plans, and news clippings.

Thematic Guides

Guide to NPS History Resources in Other Repositories: Guide to aid researchers interested in NPS history in locating NPS-related records in other repositories (besides the NPS History Collection).

New! NPS Superintendent Annual Reports: Listing of NPS superintendent annual reports (SARs) found in various archival collections within the NPS History Collection (in progress).

NPS Copyright & Restrictions Information

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The various state privacy acts govern the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

  • non-commercial and non-profit study, scholarship, or research, or teaching
  • criticism, commentary, or news reporting
  • as a NPS preservation or security copy
  • as a research copy for deposit in another institution

If a user later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the user may be personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement. This institution's permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document doesn't indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from this document without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained by the user separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g., employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright isn't necessarily the National Park Service. The National Park Service is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use."

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy or publicity law.

Last updated: February 11, 2025