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Guide to the NPS Women's Organization

This finding aid describes the National Park Service (NPS) Women's Organization Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl + F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Group of women in dresses posing out of doors. — A group of "park wives" at Yosemite, 1945. (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series IX.A)
Creator: NPS Women's Organization
Title: National Park Service Women's Organization Collection
Dates: 1925-1990 (bulk dates: 1952-1985)
Extent of Collection: 3.75 LF
Language of Materials: English

Digital Access: The collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use. See the NPS general copyright and restricted information here.
Provenance: Donated by Mary Elms, NPS Women's Organization historian, in the 1983. Ruth Becker donated newsletters in 1986. Other material was found in the NPS History Collection.
Processing Note: This material was processed and described by Lloyd Williams in October 2014. This finding aid was updated by Nancy Russell in March 2025.

Rights Statement for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: National Park Service Women's Organization Collection (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

National Park Service Oral History Collection (HFCA 1817), NPS History Collection
National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection (HFCA 1607), NPS History Collection

Administrative History Note

Wives of NPS employees traditionally attended superintendent conferences and other meetings as guests. While their husbands worked, they were entertained with area tours, teas, card games, dinners, and other parties. At the Area Operations Conference held at Glacier National Park in 1952, however, NPS Director Conrad Wirth, looking for support for his Mission 66 program to improve park infrastructure, raised the issue of park housing. Herma Albertson Baggley recalled the moment at the conference when a “challenge was thrown out to the women that there was something they could do” about it. When architect John Cabot said something that “piqued us all, [we] decided to do something about it.”

The women held an initial meeting on September 9, 1952, and formed the NPS Women’s Organization. Baggley became the chair the housing survey while Beatrice Freeland headed the organization. Over the course of the next year, the organization developed, documented, and compiled the results of the first systematic survey of existing employee housing. Women from almost every park responded to the survey, many providing photos of their living conditions.

Baggley was “astounded” by what the survey uncovered. Even as someone who had lived in park housing since the late 1920s, had it not been for the photos, she wouldn’t have believed how bad it was. Some of the “low lights” of the report include 16.3 percent of residences didn’t have running water, 19.7 percent didn’t have sewers, and 15.2 percent didn’t have electricity. Those figures aren’t surprising considering they also documented the range of NPS housing in use. In addition to various two- or three-bedroom houses and apartments or duplexes, employees lived in 157 tents, 19 trailers, 256 dormitories or barracks, backcountry cabins, and seven hogans. Almost half (42 percent) of these structures were over 20 years old. Forty-four percent of those surveyed considered their housing below the standards in the surrounding communities.

The NPS Women’s Organization compiled their data and images into the 1953 Report of NPS Housing Survey. In it, the women asked for the American postwar housing standard of two- or three-bedroom, single-family, detached homes. They also advocated for housing to be built within the park itself, as it was hard to create the atmosphere of the NPS family when employees and families didn’t socialize with one another. Baggley and her team presented the report to NPS Director Conrad Wirth. It was later sent to the Bureau of Budget to document the need for substantial funding to address the crisis.

The internal reaction to the survey was positive and Baggley received many letters of thanks and congratulations from NPS employees. The superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park at the time wrote, “The National Park Service Housing Survey is a masterpiece!” It was also instrumental in helping the NPS get funding for Wirth’s Mission 66 plan to improve facilities throughout the NPS. Later the NPS Women’s Organization was told that the “report did more to influence the Bureau of the Budget as to housing conditions in the National park Service than any one thing that had ever been done.”

Following the success of the housing survey, the women wanted to continue to make national change. At the 1955 National Park Conference held at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Baggley asked the director if this was a worthwhile endeavor. He responded positively to the idea of continuing the Women’s Organization so that the women could “be ready at any time when there was a project they could do.” In practice, although the NPS asked for ideas and input over time, it never gave the organization another project with the challenges and national scope of the housing survey.

During the 1950s the organization developed area handbooks and orientation booklets. It has also worked with the NPS Employees and Alumni Association (EAA), especially with their efforts to raise support for the group’s scholarship fund. Beginning in 1967 regional chapters began issuing newsletters, including Smoke Signals (Southwest Region), Pacific Northwest Breeze (Pacific West Region), Capital Comments (National Capital Region), Lava Flow (Hawaii), and Yankee Doodle (Northeast Region). In 1981 the regional newsletters were combined into a single national edition, Breeze-Northwinds, then shortened to the Breeze in 1986.

In 1969, the position of historian was created at the national level. During the 1970s the general chairperson position rotated throughout the regions. The NPS Women’s Organization mirrored the three-part structure of the NPS: area, region, and national. The national organization along with each region, was governed by a chairperson and a board of directors.

In 1972 the NPS Women were asked to assist in the centennial celebration of Yellowstone National Park. After some discussion, the group determined that a stronger organization was needed in the National Capital Region, and the Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the NPS Women’s Organization was formed. The by-laws were revised at the 1977 annual meeting and the organization changed its name to National Park Women (NPW) to better reflect both wives and an increasing number of women employees.

The NPW continued to be active in housing issues, EEA scholarships, welcome and orientation activities, information sharing, scientific concerns, energy conservation and recycling, community events, retirement issues, and hospitality. In 1992 Living in National Parks: Stories by National Park Women 1952-1992, edited by NPW historian Thelma Warnock, was published in celebration of the organization's 40th anniversary.

Scope and Content Note

Materials documenting the activities and accomplishments of the NPS Women’s Organization, including correspondence and memos; newsletters; news clippings; organizational bylaws; reports and plans; policies and guidelines; photographic images; conference-related documents; member directories and information; and reference files. Files related to the NPS housing survey and of various chairwomen and chapters are included. Newsletter titles found in this subseries include Capital Comments, Lava Flow, New Voice, Pacific Northwest Breeze, Roundup, Smoke Signal, Trade Winds, Trailblazer, and Yankee Doodle. Federal Women's Program (FWP) reports, directories, and other documents are also present.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject, and thereunder chronologically.

Container List

Box 01
Folder 01: Activities: Centennial Women’s Program, 1972
Folder 02: Activities: Employees and Alumni Association Educational Trust Fund, 1969-1991
Folder 03: Activities: International Women’s Year, 1975
Folder 04: Activities: National Women’s History Month, 1980-1990
Folder 05: Activities: Scholarship Programs, 1971-1975
Folder 06: Administrative Files: Bylaws, 1968-1977
Folder 07: Administrative Files: Organization History, 1955-1990
Folder 08: Federal Women’s Program: Administration, 1973
Folder 09: Federal Women’s Program: History of Women in the NPS, 1967-1984
Folder 10: Federal Women’s Program: NPS Women’s Conference, 1979
Folder 11: Federal Women’s Program: Reports-Monthly, 1974-1976
Folder 12: Federal Women’s Program: Reports-Statistical, 1973-1983
Folder 13: Federal Women’s Program: Women’s Directory, 1979-1991
Folder 14: Federal Women’s Program: Women’s Executive Leadership Program, 1988-1989
Folder 15: Housing: Floor Plans, 1956
Folder 16: Housing: Policies and Guidelines, 1967-1978
Folder 17: Housing: Reference: General, 1952-1956
Folder 18: Housing: Reference: Parks, 1958-1959

Box 02
Folder 01: Housing: Surveys/Reports, 1953
Folder 02: Housing: Surveys/Reports, 1955-1959
Folder 03: Housing: Surveys/Reports, 1961-1978
Folder 04: Metropolitan Washington Chapter: General, 1973-1998
Folder 05: Metropolitan Washington Chapter: Chairman (Phyllis Antosca), 1971-1973
Folder 06: Metropolitan Washington Chapter: Chairman (Jean Tobin), 1978-1980
Folder 07: Metropolitan Washington Chapter: Program Chairman (Sally Carryer/Colleen Spicka), 1972-1980
Folder 08: Metropolitan Washington Chapter: Secretary’s Binder, 1972-1976

Box 03
Folder 01: National Board, 1957-1981
Folder 02: National Board: Chairman – Midwest Region, 1963-1974
Folder 03: National Board: Chairman – Northeast Region, 1959-1980
Folder 04: National Board: Chairman – Southwest Region, 1963-1978
Folder 05: National Board: Chairman – West Region, 1963-1974
Folder 06: National Board: Public Relations Chairman, 1969-1974
Folder 07: National Chairman (Herma Baggley), 1952-1955
Folder 08: National Chairman (Rosemary Vinten), 1957-1959
Folder 09: National Chairman (Helen Abbott), 1961-1963
Folder 10: National Chairman (Nancy Dayton), 1969-1971
Folder 12: National Chairman (Dagmar Robinson), 1971-1973
Folder 13: National Chairman (Margot Haertel), 1973-1975
Folder 14: National Chairman (Linda Munson), 1977-1979 [1 of 2]

Box 04
Folder 01: National Chairman (Linda Munson), 1977-1979 [2 of 2]
Folder 02: Publications: Courier, 1973-1987
Folder 03: Publications: Naomi Hunt, 1975-1980
Folder 04: Publications: NPS Newsletter, 1967-1977
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters (General), 1969-1986
Folder 06: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze-Northwinds, 1981
Folder 07: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze-Northwinds, 1982
Folder 08: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze-Northwinds, 1983
Folder 09: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze-Northwinds, 1984
Folder 10: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze-Northwinds, 1985
Folder 11: Publications: Newsletters – The Breeze, 1986
Folder 12: Publications: Newsletters – Capital Comments, 1976
Folder 13: Publications: Newsletters – The Lava Flow, 1973
Folder 14: Publications: Newsletters – The Lava Flow, 1974
Folder 15: Publications: Newsletters – The Lava Flow, 1975
Folder 16: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1973
Folder 17: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1974
Folder 18: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1975

Box 05
Folder 01: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1976
Folder 02: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1977
Folder 03: Publications: Newsletters – New Voice, 1978
Folder 04: Publications: Newsletters – News Bulletin…of the [Women’s Organization of the National Park Service] Southwest Region, 1967
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters – Northeast Region, undated
Folder 06: Publications: Newsletters – Pacific Northwest Breeze, 1971
Folder 07: Publications: Newsletters – Pacific Northwest Breeze, 1972
Folder 08: Publications: Newsletters – Pacific Northwest Breeze, 1973-1974
Folder 09: Publications: Newsletters – Pacific Northwest Breeze, 1975
Folder 10: Publications: Newsletters – Pacific Northwest Breeze, 1976
Folder 11: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1969
Folder 12: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1970
Folder 13: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1971
Folder 14: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1972
Folder 15: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1973
Folder 16: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1974
Folder 17: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1975

Box 06
Folder 01: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1976
Folder 02: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1978
Folder 03: Publications: Newsletters – Roundup, 1979
Folder 04: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1967
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1968
Folder 06: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1969 [1 of 2]
Folder 07: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1969 [2 of 2]
Folder 08: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1970 [1 of 2]

Box 07
Folder 01: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1970 [1 of 2]
Folder 02: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1971 [1 of 2]
Folder 03: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1971 [2 of 2]
Folder 04: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1972
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1973
Folder 06: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1974

Box 08
Folder 01: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1975
Folder 02: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1976
Folder 03: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1977
Folder 04: Publications: Newsletters – Smoke Signal, 1978
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters – Trade Winds, 1974
Folder 06: Publications: Newsletters – Trade Winds, 1975
Folder 07: Publications: Newsletters – Trade Winds, 1976
Folder 08: Publications: Newsletters – Trade Winds, 1977
Folder 09: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1974
Folder 10: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1975
Folder 11: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1976
Folder 12: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1977
Folder 13: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1978

Box 09
Folder 01: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1980
Folder 02: Publications: Newsletters – Trailblazer, 1981
Folder 03: Publications: Newsletters – Yankee Doodles, 1975
Folder 04: Publications: Newsletters – Yankee Doodles, 1976
Folder 05: Publications: Newsletters – Yankee Doodles, 1977-1978
Folder 06: Publications: Non-NPS, 1935-1987
Folder 07: Publications: Orientation Booklet, c.1972
Folder 08: Publications: Photographs, 1925-1988 [1 of 2]
Folder 09: Publications: Photographs, 1925-1988 [2 of 2]
Folder 10: Publications: Women in the Department of Interior, 1990