Exhibit Research and Label Writing

Today I continued my exhibit research, concentrating on the "Creation of the National Park Service" case. I identifed the reasons the Army administration of the park prior to 1916 was inadequate and took notes to use later in writing exhibit labels. After researching most of the morning, I was able to begin drafting exhibit labels for that case in the afternoon. Here is what I have so far (that I am satisfied with). It may be a little long, but it is still in draft form:

Unique challenges during military management of Yellowstone made the creation of a civilian administration desirable for park administrators and members of Congress. Poor discipline, lack of park knowledge, and frequent transfers in and out of Yellowstone made soldiers ineffective. Several government agencies – the Army Corps of Engineers, the Secretary of War, and the Department of Interior – were all responsible for separate areas of park management, resulting in expensive and unwieldy park administration. After thirty-two years of military management in Yellowstone, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act into law in August 1916, creating the National Park Service.

I also spent considerable time looking for copies of the original Lacey Act of 1894 and National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 for my cases. The Lacey Act allowed for prosecution of poachers in the park, while the Organic Act created the civilian-run National Park Service. I found related documents, as well as the text of the documents I was looking for, but was unable to find scans of the original documents.

The museum interns met this afternoon to discuss our progress on our cases and to determine where our topics (and objects) overlap. We want to make sure our cases compliment each other and are not overly repetitive.