Administrative History Guide
NPS administrative histories look at the history of federal parks and the National Park Service as public programs and as a public trust. They analyze individual parks and their establishment and administration, as well as NPS programs and policies. See the most recent lists.

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Brief History of the National Park Service
A short but comprehensive history of the NPS.

The Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An Administrative History
Publication
Celebrations throughout the country in 1983 commemorated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. In cities and national parks, speakers gave talks on the local and national history of the CCC. This study tells how the NPS and the CCC worked together during this period of our history.

Directors of the National Park Service
A complete listing of all of the Directors of the NPS since 1916.

Diversity in the National Park Service
The NPS illustrates the diversity of America in many ways. Read about the diversity of the NPS here.

Former National Park Service Units: An Analysis
A comprehensive listing of all former units of the National Park System.

Interpretation In the National Park Service: A Historical Narrative
Publication
Although the NPS did not invent interpretation, it was largely responsible for the broad public recognition of its values in developing understanding and appreciation of nature and history. This 1986 history of interpretation in the NPS by former bureau historian Barry Mackintosh tells just how this happened.

Lying Lightly on the Land: Building America's National Park Roads and Parkways
An overview and six themes from a museum exhibit by the same name are summarized as an introduction to this feature highlighting colorful period postcards of Yellowstone before the automobile, and eight other parks during the golden age of park road development.

Midwest Archeological Center History: A Glance Back in Time
Learn about the connection between the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution's Missouri Basin Project with this review of the history of the Midwest Archeological Center, located in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The National Parks and Emergency Conservation, 1933
Publication
This short publication outlines various options under consideration by the NPS in 1933 to work with the CCC to employ the youth of the nation and conserve the natural and historic resources of the national parks.

The Origin and Evolution of the National Military Park Idea
Publication
This publication discusses how the NPS came to administer our military parks.

Shaping the System
Publication
When did the National Park System begin? The usual response is 1872, when an act of Congress created Yellowstone National Park, the first place so titled. Like a river formed from several branches, however, the system cannot be traced to a single source. Shaping the System tells the whole story.

The United States Park Police: A History
Publication
The U.S. Park Police is a unique organization within the NPS. It is the oldest NPS component, predating its adoptive parent by half a century (or more, some would argue). Its personnel wear distinctive uniforms, perform specialized functions, and are regularly assigned to a small minority of national parklands. This history tells the whole story.

Visitor Fees in the National Park System: A Legislative and Administrative History (1983)
Publication
The national parklands are not free. They represent major financial investments by the federal government. The older parks were established on public or donated lands, but they still required and continue to need expensive development for visitor access and accommodation; staffing for general administration, protection, and interpretation; and maintenance of facilities and other improvements.

Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Establishment
Publication
The steady growth of the literature on Yellowstone, our nation's first national park, reflects the continuing fascination for the park itself and the concept of national parks as developed in the U.S. In this book, Aubrey L. Haines draws on his extensive personal and professional knowledge of Yellowstone, "The Mother of National Parks," to tell us just how this reserve came to be one of our most priceless heritages.

Military History

Administrative History Guide
A listing of all National Park Service Administrative History Studies.

Administrative History: Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s
Publication
This scholarly study deals with a bewildering but exciting time approximately a sixty years ago when an extraordinary combination of circumstances occurred. These events had a profound and lasting effect upon the NPS and led to sweeping changes in the nation's ways of conserving and using its important historic places.

Chief Historians of the National Park Service
A complete listing of all of the Chief Historians of the NPS since 1933.

Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: A Preliminary Survey of Faunal Relationships in the National Parks (1932)
Publication
This is the first of a series of reports dealing with the vertebrate fauna of the national parks. It was prepared in the Branch of Education and Research, NPS, Department of the Interior, in 1932.

Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: Wildlife Management in the National Parks (1934)
Publication
This second volume in the fauna series presents the developments in this field which came about since the first report in 1932.

Historic Listing of National Park Service Officials
Publication
This historic listing of NPS officials (Directors, Regional Directors, Regional Office staff, Park Superintendents), was last updated in 1991. However, some minor updates to the list of the NPS Directors have been made since 1991. The History program of the NPS will further update this list to the year 2000 as time permits.

National Academy of Sciences Advisory Committee on Research in the National Parks: The Robbins Report
Publication
The Robbins Report completed in 1963 is a study of national park research accomplishments, needs, resources, values, and opportunities in the natural sciences and related fields.

National Park Service Archives and Research
A listing of NPS's archives and research materials.

Organizational Structure of the National Park Service-1917 to 1985
Publication
Read how the NPS has organized its people and offices from 1917 to 1985.

Philanthropy and the National Parks
A short discussion of private philanthropy and its major role in advancing the national parks and the NPS.

Records of the National Park Service and Related Agencies in the National Archives
A listing of NPS's archives and research materials in the National Archives.

Revision of the National Park Service's Thematic Framework for History
Publication
This revised thematic framework responds to a Congressional mandate to ensure that the full diversity of American history and prehistory is expressed in the NPS's identification and interpretation of historic properties.

Wildlife Management in the National Parks: The Leopold Report
Publication
This report, published in 1963, changed the face of Natural Resources Management in the NPS.

Military History