National Park Service Archival Collections

National Park Service archives are as varied as the parks they document, but all share the same mission to preserve historic records and make them available for research and use. Collections most often include donated personal papers and organizational or business records. Park archives also hold documentary evidence such as field data related to specimens housed in the museum collections as well as records related to the ongoing management of park cultural and natural resources. Many parks also contain records documenting the historical personages, sites, or events which the park was established to memorialize. Historical NPS administrative records, however, are housed at the National Archives like all other federal records considered of permanent archival value.

Conducting research in NPS archives may vary depending on staff availability, space available, and the condition and type of collection. Please consult the individual park archives web page to learn more.

Finding Aids

Finding aids contain information on the contents and significance of an archival collection. The finding aid may include descriptive information; repository information; collection history; biographical or historical information on creators of the collection; and in some cases a container or folder list of everything in the collection.

The links below will lead to a selection of National Park Service finding aids.

• Arches National Park
• Cane River Creole National Historical Park
• Chaco Culture National Historical Park
• Death Valley National Park
• Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
• Gateway Arch National Park
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area
• Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
• Hot Springs National Park
• Kalaupapa National Historical Park
• Keweenaw National Historical Park
• Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
• Lowell National Historical Park
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
• Manzanar National Historic Site
• Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
• National Park Service History Collection Finding Aids
• Point Reyes National Seashore
• Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
• Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
• San Juan National Historic Site
• Sequoia and Kings Canyons National Parks
• Yellowstone National Park
• Yosemite National Park

National Park Service History Resources

NPS Archives Copyright & Restrictions Information

Explore Archival Collections

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  Longfellow House Collections

  Explore archival collections from Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

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  Maggie L. Walker Collections

  Examine historic photographs, Maggie L. Walker Family Papers, and records related to the Independent Order of St. Luke.

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  Harry S Truman Collections

  Explore objects, historic images, and archives from the Harry S Truman museum collections.