Today in History: National Park Service

Last Updated on September 25, 2020

Today in History–April 5–the Library of Congress features the National Park Service (NPS), which was established in 1916 thanks to testimonies in support submitted to Congress on April 5 and 6. The NPS started by supervising 40 national parks and monuments and now supervises nearly 500. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access primary sources and teaching resources related to the NPS and America’s national parks.

Teaching resources

• Collection Connections: Mapping the National Parks activity ideas
• The Conservation Movement at a Crossroads: The Hetch Hetchy Controversy lesson plan
• Guided Primary Source Analysis: Grand Canyon Tourist Map

PSN curated resource sets

Today in History

• Acadia National Park
• Denali National Park
• Grand Canyon
• Mount Rainier National Park
• Yosemite
• Thomas Moran

Conservation & Environment primary source collections & teaching resources

Featured Sources

• Camping at Mt. Rainier
• Glacier National Park
• Grand Teton National Park

Special collections

• Mapping the National Parks (collection)
• Acadia maps (special presentation)
• Grand Canyon maps (special presentation)
• Great Smoky Mountain maps (special presentation)
• Yellowstone maps (special presentation)
• National park image set
• National park virtual tours National Park Foundation

Primary source sets

• National Park Service
• National park images
• National Park posters
• See America posters
• National park maps
• National park books
• National park texts
• National park legislation

Films

• Coaches arriving at Mammoth Hot Springs (1899)
• Lower falls, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park (1899)
• Tourists going round Yellowstone Park (1899)

Oral histories

• Establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and famous visitors to the park
• Junglebrook Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Scarcity of national parks and forests on the Allegheny Plateau

Historical newspaper coverage

• National Park Service
• National Parks

Library blog posts

• Celebrating the National Park Service Centennial with Music In the Muse August 25, 2016
• Content Matters: An Interview with Staff from the National Park Service The Signal July 12, 2013
• Everglades National Park Established In Custodia Legis May 30, 2019
• Exploring the National Parks in the Geography and Map Division Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps August 10, 2016
• The National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years In Custodia Legis August 25, 2016
• National Parks versus Monuments versus Preserves In Custodia Legis March 27, 2018
• Radar Imaging Yellowstone National Park in 1968 Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps October 26, 2016