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Preston P. Macy Papers, 1916-1979

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Macy, Preston P., 1891-1979
Title
Preston P. Macy Papers
Dates
1916-1979 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 cubic ft. (4 boxes)
Collection Number
(Accession No. 3211-001)
Summary
The Preston P. Macy Papers document Macy's work in preserving Washington's natural lands both as a National Park Service administrator and a private citizen
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Preston P. Macy, born in 1891, began his career with the National Park Service (NPS) in 1924 as a ranger-naturalist at Mount Rainier National Park. He remained at Mount Rainier until 1934, when he was appointed custodian of the Mount Olympus National Monument as it passed from the Forest Service to the National Park Service. Macy was in the middle of the battle over the future park's boundaries, and when Olympic National Park was created on June 29, 1938, he was named superintendent. He held this post until September 1951, at which time he returned to Mount Rainier as superintendent.

Throughout his career with the National Park Service, Macy was a moderator between opposing viewpoints on park lands. While at Olympic National Park, Macy not only took on the problems of organizing and building a new park, but he also tried to preserve as much roadless wilderness area in the park as possible. His return to Mount Rainier in 1951 coincided with a period of increasing user demand on the National Park system. In 1955, the NPS's response to the need for expanded access to the parks was a new ten-year master plan named "Mission 66" in honor of the NPS's fiftieth birthday in 1966. At Mount Rainier, Mission 66 brought completion of the Stevens Canyon Road and construction of the Nisqually Glacier Bridge, the Marmot Point-Barn Flat road to Paradise, the Box Canyon Picnic Area, and White River Campgrounds. At the same time as these improvements were made, Macy resisted other development schemes for the Park.

Macy's interest in the region's recreational lands continued after his retirement from the National Park Service in 1961. In that same year he was appointed a National Park Service collaborator. In 1962 Governor Rosellini appointed Macy to serve on the Washington Forest Area Use Council, a 21-member study and advisory group on the uses of the state's forested and mountainous lands chaired by Skagit County commissioner Scott Richards. Preston Macy died in 1979.

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Content Description

The Preston P. Macy Papers document Macy's work in preserving Washington's natural lands both as a National Park Service administrator and a private citizen The papers are subgrouped chronologically, according to the phases of Macy's career.

The Mount Rainier National Park, Ranger/Naturalist, subgroup documents Macy's first assignment at the park. Road construction activities can be followed in the correspondence and reports. The correspondence also contains memoranda written by Macy regarding his survey work of the area to become Olympic National Park prior to his assignment there. An additional account of the Olympic Mountains can be found in the speeches and writings series.

The battle to create Olympic National Park is documented in the Olympic National Park, Superintendent, subgroup. Macy was first assigned to the area as acting custodian of the Mount Olympus National Monument, which was under the administration of Mount Rainier National Park. Corresondence with his National Park Service superiors, including Mount Rainier Superintendent O.A. Tomlinson, sheds light on Macy's efforts to negotiate the proposed park's boundaries with conservationist and timber industry interests during the three-year legislative fight. Of special interest are Macy's and Tomlinson's impressions of a visit to the Olympic Peninsula by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the fall of 1937. Roosevelt's declaration of support for the proposed park helped turn the tide in favor its creation. Later correspondence, dating from the period after the creation of the park and his appointment as the park's first superintendent in 1938, documents Macy's opposition of efforts to release park lands to logging. The legislation files contain congressional hearings transcripts on proposals to alter the park's boundaries. A handwritten diary chronicles Macy's work on the proposed park from 1935-1937. While all the entries refer to Macy, the entries in the first half of the diary were made by someone other than Macy, possibly his young daughter. The speeches and writings include materials by Macy and others. The subgroup also contains maps, reports, clippings, and publications.

The Mount Rainier National Park, Superintendent, subgroup documents Macy's return to the park as superintendent. The correspondence is a mix of administrative and personal letters, discussing topics ranging from the installation of ski lifts and personnel matters to visits to the park from VIPs such as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. The Rainier National Park Company subject files document the park's dealings with the concessionaire. The speeches and writings include a 1952 history of the park written by Robert McIntyre.

Washington Forest Area Use Council subgroup includes correspondence and reports by the council's technical committee on the North Cascades and Cougar Lakes Limited Area. Macy's private papers shed light on Macy's continued interest in Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks following his retirement. He opposed a recommendation by his successor at Olympic National Park to concede park lands to logging interests and urged policy makers to take a strong stand against other such efforts.

Major correspondents include Horace M. Albright, C. Frank Brockman, Irving M. Clark, William O. Douglas, Henry M. Jackson, Scott O. Richards, and Owen A. Tomlinson.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The creator's literary rights were transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Preston P. Macy papers were donated to the University of Washington in 1981 by Mrs. Preston P. Macy.

Processing Note

This accession is a merger of accession nos. 3211-1 and 3211-2.

Separated Materials

Three albums of Asahel Curtis photographs of Mount Rainier were relocated to the Owen A. Tomlinson Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 29, in the division.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Logging--Washington (State)
  • National parks and reserves--Planning
  • National parks and reserves--Washington (State)
  • National parks and reserves--Washington (State)--Management
  • Park naturalists--Washington (State)--Archives
  • Park rangers--Washington (State)--Archives

Personal Names

  • Albright, Horace M. (Horace Marden), 1890-1987
  • Brockman, C. Frank (Christian Frank), 1902-
  • Clark, Irving M., 1883-1960
  • Douglas, William O. (William Orville), 1898-
  • Jackson, Henry M. (Henry Martin), 1912-1983
  • Macy, Preston P., 1891-1979--Archives
  • Richards, Scott O
  • Tomlinson, Owen A., b. 1882

Corporate Names

  • North Cascades Conservation Council
  • Rainier National Park Company
  • United States. National Park Service
  • Washington Forest Area Use Council

Geographical Names

  • Cougar Lakes Wilderness (Wash.)
  • Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.)
  • North Cascades National Park (Wash.)
  • Olympic National Park (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Diaries

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)


2004 (Last modified: 4/17/2018)

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