An Old and Reliable Authority: An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities, by Raymond Harris Thompson, with contributions by Ronald Freeman Lee and George Alexander Grant, 2000

Jonathan E Reyman

doi:10.5334/bha.11106

Abstract

An old and reliable is how George Benjamin Hartzog, Director of the National Park Service (1964-1972), characterized the Antiquities Act of 1906. And it has been quite a reliable authority - and a remarkable one. Since its inception presidents have used it to establish 36 historic areas as national monuments and 51 natural areas; special acts of Congress have authorized another 28 national monuments (pp.251-253). President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act Bill into law on June 8, 1906 (p. 241). Just 22 days later, on June 30 1906, Roosevelt signed the bill to establish Mesa Verde National Park, the first national park specifically created to protect antiquities (p. 243). The Antiquities Act of 1906 also served as the basis for later federal legislation, e.g., Historic Sites Act of 1935, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the creation of National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings in 1957 (pp. 193, 3 1 6).

Highlights

Lehmann, who published 1 7 major works, is not well known for his Central American writings
Franz Termer published nearly a dozen major works on Central America including a history of Guatemala to 1821, Quauhtemallan und Cuzcatlan (Hamburg: Heitmann, 1948), a study of mariner John Cockburn
The reader may assume that these are representative pUblications of the work of these scholars but it reflects the research interests of the translator, editors and commentators. These are valuable to scholars of Mesoamerican and Central American prehistory and culture. and a tribute to the efforts of Ted Gutman

Summary

Introduction

Lehmann, who published 1 7 major works, is not well known for his Central American writings. In 1904, the Records of the Past Exploration Society and the Smithsonian proposed competing bills, and each obtained strong congressional support for its version from such powerful politicians as Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and Iowa Representative John Fletcher Lacey, chairman of the House Committee on Public Lands.

Results

Conclusion