National Capital Region Administrative History, 1952-2005
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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY, 1952-2005 Final Report Prepared by Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 National Capital Region Administrative History Final Report Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 Page 1 ______________________________________________________________________________________ NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 INTRODUCTION Purpose 9 Methodology 10 Executive Summary 12 CHAPTER I: ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION Administration 17 Planning 24 Design and Construction 26 Maintenance 30 Museum Collections Management 32 Illustrations 34 CHAPTER II: OUTSIDE THE SERVICE: PHILANTHROPY, PARTNERS, AND CONCESSIONS Philanthropy 43 Partners 44 Interagency Cooperation 49 Concessions 50 Illustrations 53 CHAPTER III: THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION AND THE POST-WORLD WAR II GROWTH OF METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON Growth of the Region 55 The Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission 56 NCR and Metropolitan Transportation Needs 58 Mission 66 65 The Bicentennial 73 Illustrations 77 CHAPTER IV: NATURAL RESOURCES Natural Resources Management in the National Park Service, 1952-2005 83 Natural Resources in the National Capital Region 87 The Potomac and Anacostia Rivers 91 Interpretation of Natural Resources 94 Lady Bird Johnson’s Beautification Program 99 Illustrations 104 National Capital Region Administrative History Final Report Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 Page 2 ______________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER V: HISTORIC PROPERTIES AND NATIONAL MEMORIALS The Evolution of Federal Preservation Policy 106 Historic Sites and Historical Parks 109 Protecting Civil War Battlefields 115 Interpretation of Historic Sites 117 The Mall, Monuments, and Memorials 121 Illustrations 128 CHAPTER VI: PARKS FOR THE ARTS Performing Arts Venues in the National Capital Region, 1952-1970 134 Wolf Trap and the Kennedy Center 136 Illustrations 139 CHAPTER VII: SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN NCR PARKS NCR Parks as Settings for First Amendment Activities 142 Special Events in the Monumental Core Parks 147 Summer in the Parks 152 Security 154 Illustrations 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 161 INDEX 176 APPENDICES Appendix A: Chronology of Superintendents, Directors, and Accomplishments Appendix B: List of New Park Units and Areas Appendix C: List of New Memorials and Statuary Appendix D: Summary of Legislation Appendix E: Transcripts of Oral Histories National Capital Region Administrative History Final Report Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 Page 3 ______________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – The National Capital Region includes 87,000 acres of parkland. (National Capital Region, National Park Service) Figure 2 – National Park Service organization as of December 10, 1951. (From Russell K. Olsen, Administrative History: Organizational Structures of the National Park Service. [Washington, D.C. ?]: National Park Service, 1985, 75.) Figure 3 – After the creation of Region V in 1955, National Capital Parks remained separated from the regional structure. (From Olsen, Administrative History, 79.) Figure 4 – By August 1957, National Capital Parks seem to have obtained parity with the regions in NPS administrative organization. (From Olsen, Administrative History, 81.) Figure 5 – Region VI, headquartered in Washington, appears on this December 4, 1961, organization chart. (From Olsen, Administrative History, 83.) Figure 6 – The initial organization of Region Six showed four assistant directors reporting to the regional director. (From Region Six News 1:5, January 1962, 2-3.) Figure 7 – Detail of a National Capital Region map showing the boundaries of East, Central, and North National Capital Parks. (From “Park System of the National Capital and Environs,” Map A, January 1962, history files, National Capital Region Headquarters, Washington, D.C.) Figure 8 – Organization chart of the 1995 reorganization of the National Capital Region. (National Capital Cluster Steering Committee, “National Capital Field Area Cluster Management Manual,” approved by the Field Director, December 15, 1995, files of Darwina Neal, Chief, Cultural Resource Preservation Services, National Capital Region.) Figure 9 - Organization chart, National Capital Region, approved by Terry R. Carlstrom, October 1, 1998. (Files of Darwina Neal, Chief, Cultural Resource Preservation Services, National Capital Region.) Figure 10 – Organization chart, National Capital Region, approved by Joseph M. Lawler, November 1, 2005. (History files, National Capital Region Headquarters, Washington, D.C.) Figure 11 – Piscataway Park, on the Maryland shore of the Potomac River opposite Mount Vernon, was established with the help of cooperative associations to protect the view from George Washington’s home. (National Park Service photo from The Possible Dream: Saving George Washington’s View) National Capital Region Administrative History Final Report Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 Page 4 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 12 – The Tourmobile, a concessioner for the National Capital Region, has been ferrying visitors around the Mall and nearby parks since 1969. (National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, 1981) Figure 13 – The George Washington Memorial Parkway between Spout Run and CIA Headquarters opened just days before this photograph was taken on November 9, 1959. (Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, November 9, 1959) Figure 14 – The Zoo Tunnel was a Mission 66-funded project that connected Rock Creek Parkway with Beach Drive, connecting commuters in the northern parts of Washington with downtown. (Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS DC, WASH, 686, no. 56) Figure 15 – The National Capital Region Headquarters opened in August 1963. (National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, n.d.) Figure 16 – The Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center is perhaps the best example of the Mission 66 visitor center type in the National Capital Region. (Robinson & Associates, November 6, 2007) Figure 17 – The Nature Center at Rock Creek Park, a Mission 66 project, adapted a 1936 residence to officer, visitor, and interpretation purposes in a style dubbed “Park Service Modern” by historian Sarah Allaback. (Bill Clark, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, February 14, 1981) Figure 18 – The ice skating rink at Fort Dupont Park was funded by appropriations for the Bicentennial celebration in Washington. Several National Capital Region parks received new facilities in preparation for the expected large crowds. (National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, June 1976) Figure 19 – The Hains Point Teahouse in East Potomac Park, constructed as a concessions building in 1924, served as NCR’s Ecological Services Laboratory from 1969 to 1984. (National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, July 27, 1979) Figure 20 – The Terraqua opened at the Rock Creek Nature Center on February 14, 1981. The exhibit used live animals and plants to illustrate the natural world along the water’s edge. (Bill Clark, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, February 14, 1981) Figure 21 – National Capital Parks employees undertook a restoration of the White House grounds after its 1948-1952 renovation. (Abbie Rowe, White House Conservation & Restoration Collection, National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center Library and Archives, March 18, 1952) National Capital Region Administrative History Final Report Robinson & Associates, Inc. June 6, 2008 Page 5 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 22 – Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas drew attention to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal with a much-publicized 1954 hike. In this circa 1959 photograph, visitors enjoy the canal’s scenic and historic resources. (Jack E. Boucher, National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection, Harpers Ferry Center Library and Archives, circa 1959) Figure 23 – Representatives of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association presented Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall with the deed for the Frederick Douglass home on June 25, 1964. (Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, June 25, 1964) Figure 24 – A planned interstate highway threatened the Stone House and other historic resources at Manassas National Battlefield in 1957. (Historic American Buildings Survey, Stone House, Manassas vicinity, HABS VA,76-GROV, 2-1, Library of Congress, n.d.) Figure 25 – A living history interpreter stands in front of an eighteenth-century tobacco barn at National Colonial Farm in Piscataway Park. (Bill Clark, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, September 16, 1983) Figure 26 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the original design of which was completed in 1982, set a precedent for large-scale memorials in West Potomac Park. (Bill Clark, National Park Service, National Capital Region, Museum Resource Center, October 15, 1984) Figure 27 – The Sylvan Theater, constructed in 1917 and renovated several times since, continues to be used