About Us

NPShistory.com has been created for those who are passionate about our National Parks and for the employees of the National Park Service. We hope this web site will help everyone to learn about and discuss the history and natural resources of the National Parks of the U.S. and the National Park Service.

Our National Parks present an American history textbook — a textbook that educates us about the people, events, buildings, objects, landscapes, and artifacts of the American past and about the aspirations and actions that produced those tangible survivors. NPShistory.com is intended to represent all aspects of this history. Our goal is to offer a window into the historical richness of the National Park System and the opportunities it presents for understanding who we are, where we have been, and how we as a society, might approach the future. This collection of special places also allows us to examine our past — the contested along with the comfortable, the complex along with the simple, the controversial along with the inspirational. We hope, in addition, that these pages will contribute to a national discussion of history and natural resources of our parks and their importance to contemporary society.

NPShistory.com was created by two individuals who have a passion for our National Park System. Dr. Harry A. Butowsky retired in 2012 from the National Park Service in Washington D.C. where he worked as an historian and manager for the National Park Service History e-Library web site (NPSHistory.com aims to build upon this legacy). He is the author of World War II in the Pacific National Historic Landmark Study, six other Landmark Studies as well as sixty articles on military, labor, science and constitutional history. Dr. Butowsky has also taught History of World War I and World War II at George Mason University. His Ph.D. is from Univ. of Illinois. Randall D. Payne is a long-time National Park Service volunteer who lives in the Pacific Northwest.

We welcome your input on how we can better deliver that message by . Updates are made on the first of each month, with minor corrections made throughout the month.

Please note: NPSHistory.com is an independent effort; we are not an official partner of the National Park Service (NPS), though a huge debt of gratitude is extended to all NPS employees (current and former) and other park supporters who have graciously contributed their personal collections, thus enabling us to present these rather scarce documents for free public use. Due diligence has been employed in scanning these documents in an attempt to ensure the accuracy of the materials presented. While most of the content contained herein is in the public domain, the Website also contains copyrighted works (permission to host this content has been obtained from the copyright-holders); please respect these copyright-holders by merely linking to this content and not re-posting. Use of this Website is done so at your own risk; we are not responsible for any loss or damage arising from information or links contained within this site.