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In my paper “Park and the Public: The National Parks and Their Purpose,” I want to examine how historians have thought about the National Parks system and what purpose they think it serves. A common misconception among the public is that the National Parks are for outdoors-men and nature lovers. However, many of the natural parks are cultural sites focusing on history, anthropology, and archaeology. For many visitors these parks serve as an educational experience. The National Parks are not only viewed as educational, but they often straddle some of the intersections of recreation, historical preservation, antiquarianism, and tourism. This paper with trace historical scholarship from the National Parks system’s conception to the present day to find out what was their primary service. I will focus on historians’ methodology and sources. What sources scholars use heavily indicates what they are trying to argue. Also, I need to focus on the context in which they were written. Someone writing on the National Parks now will have a completely different view than someone writing about it in the 1950s. During that decade many questioned the usefulness of the National Parks and often saw them as a drain on the national economy because they did not make money during World War II.
In order to track this historiography, I will need ask a few questions in order to get at what each author is saying. First, how was the inception of the National Parks system viewed? Was it good, bad, or something in between? Second, how has scholarship viewed the purpose of the parks? This relates back to my opening paragraph. Lastly, do the National Parks create a regional or national identity? This question might be difficult to answer. If current scholarship cannot provide one, then this can be how the field can grow.
Primary sources can be tricky with this topic. The obvious direction is to examine records in either federal or local government archives. These sources might be able to tell us the initial use of the land allocated for the National Parks. Conversely, findings sources that might attribute to purpose and local or national identity might be harder to find. Sources that might do this are park surveys, if they exist, or journals and memoirs of figures such as John Muir. Materials such as these might involve closer examination because of existing biases. Further research will be conducted on this.