Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center, Photo: Colleen Curry

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Label Writing for Creation of NPS Case

Today I concentrated on label writing for the "Creation of the National Park Service" exhibit case. I also picked out a few new objects for that case. Here are some of the objects and labels I worked on today:

Group Label for case:

In the first decade of the twentieth century, internal and external forces pushed Congress to transfer power in Yellowstone from military to civilian administration:

  • Poor discipline and morale among the ranks at Fort Yellowstone
  • Soldiers’ general lack of park knowledge due to frequent transfers
  • Numerous government agencies were responsible for separate areas of park management, which was expensive and unwieldy
  • As WWI approached, it became hard to justify a military presence in the park when soldiers would be needed overseas
  • The problem of poaching was being replaced with the need to guide and police tourists

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act into law. This began the two-year transfer of power from military to civilian governance under the newly formed National Park Service. The Army and the park service administered Yellowstone together until the last soldiers left in 1918.

Object Labels:

Ranger Boots, Circa 1925
YELL 106496

Revolver, Circa 1915
Smith and Wesson .38 – Special
YELL 134032a

Two Automobiles with Rangers and Visitors, Circa 1920
M.P. Skinner, Photographer
YELL 87186 (Reproduction)

Beginning in 1915, the new popularity of the automobile brought record numbers of visitors into Yellowstone. Updating the park’s infrastructure would be a major challenge during the early years of National Park Service administration.

Vehicle Decal, 1923
YELL 129070 (Reproduction)

Megaphone, Circa 1920
YELL 14124

Early park rangers in Yellowstone used megaphones to speak to large audiences during interpretive programs.

Ranger Petting Deer, Circa 1920
M.P. Skinner, Photographer
YELL 87091-1 (Reproduction)

Stephen Mather, Circa 1920
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7713 (Reproduction)

Working as assistant to the secretary of the interior beginning in 1915, Stephen Mather led a campaign to establish a federal agency to manage all of the national parks. When the National Park Service was established in 1916, Mather became the agency’s first director.

Horace Albright, 1925
Photographer Unknown
YELL 7634 (Reproduction)

As Stephen Mather’s secretary, Horace Albright attended meetings and discussions throughout the summer of 1916 about the National Park Service bill until its enactment in August. Named assistant director when the National Park Service was created, Albright served as acting director when Mather fell ill later that year. In that role, from 1917 to 1919, Albright set up the organizational structure and procedures for the National Park Service and urged Congress to appropriate money to run the new agency. Albright later served as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park (and of Yosemite briefly) from 1919-1929 and as director of the National Park Service from 1929-1933.

Rangers on Horseback, Early 1920’s
Photographer Unknown
YELL 10116 (Reproduction)
“I am convinced that with a properly organized civil guard the administration of this park could be brought to a higher and better standard, in two or three years, than could ever be attained by the successive changes of troops detailed by the roster from the Army... Cost of protection by a civil guard would be less than one-third of the cost by the present method.”
–Superintendent Young, Superintendent’s Annual Report for Yellowstone National Park, 1907

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating as always. I wish I could see the exhibit when it's done.

    ReplyDelete