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. It is hoped that this web site will help everyone
to learn about and discuss the cultural history and natural resources of
the National Park System of the United States and the agency entrusted
to manage that System 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 (which debuted in October 2013) was
created by two individuals who shared a passion for our National Park
System. Dr. Harry A. Butowsky (who passed away in May
2023) had a 35 year career with the National Park Service in Washington
D.C. where he worked as an historian and manager for the NPS History
e-Library web site (NPSHistory.com aims to build upon this
legacy). Dr. Butowsky authored seven National Historic Landmark Studies,
sixty articles on military, labor, science and constitutional history,
as well as the books An American Family in World War II, I Survived:
My Name is Yitzkhak and Leopold von Ranke and the Jewish
Question. Harry also taught History of World War I and World War II
at George Mason University. The site is managed by a long-time National
Park Service volunteer who lives in the Pacific Northwest.
NPSHistory.com is a hobby; we are not affiliated
with the National Park Service (NPS) nor an official partner, though a
huge debt of gratitude is extended to all NPS employees (past and
present) 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.
Your input is welcomed on how that message can
delivered better by contacting us at
info@npshistory.com (please note, guest articles
are not accepted). Updates are made on the first of each month,
with minor revisions made throughout the month.
Site Map
Our apologies if the drop-down menus do not work with your Web browser; hopefully this Site Map
will give you an alternate method for accessing our materials.
DIGITAL LIBRARY
NPS ARCHIVES
PARK ARCHIVES
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