The National Park Service Moves into Historical Interpretation

Abstract

activity was the focus at Mesa Verde National Park and some of the southwestern national monuments, and Indians received secondary attention in several of the large natural parks. But the National Park Service was concerned almost entirely with preserving and presenting to the public outstanding natural areas-Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and the like. Then Horace M. Albright, director of the National Park Service from 1929 to 1933, lobbied actively and successfully to make historical areas a major component of the park system. The system's expansion in this direction-beginning in 1930 with the addition of the Colonial (Jamestown and Yorktown) and George Washington Birthplace national monuments in Virginia and climaxing in 1933 by wholesale transfer of the War Department's historic forts and battlefields and the national capital parks-gave the service a vast new field of interpretive activity. Generally speaking, historical parks need interpretation more than natural and recreational parks do. Parks encompassing spectacular natural features may be enjoyed aesthetically by most visitors regardless of whether they understand the geologic or biologic phenomena underlying them. Relatively few visitors to parks established primarily for active recreation are receptive to interpretive programs. But although many historical parks have aesthetic appeal and some accommodate active recreation, few can be greatly appreciated without some explanation of who lived or what occurred there. At historical parks, too, altered or missing features are often restored or reconstructed to better tell the story. In far greater proportion than at parks established for other