The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has released a new installment of the interactive, online timeline “Blazing a Trail: A History of New York State Parks and Historic Sites” in celebration of New York State Parks’ Centennial.
This project employs photographs, illustrations, paintings, documents, archival footage, maps, and narrative to tell the story of the development of the New York State Parks System during the era of liberal Republican Nelson Rockefellerin thee 1960s.
This timeline segment, titled “Rockefellers’ World,” covers a significant shift in leadership at Parks as longtime chair Robert Moses exited the agency after a clash with Rockefeller, whose brother Laurance became the new chair of the State Council of Parks.
With a firm belief in the essential nature of outdoor recreation and the vital importance of environmental conservation guiding the brothers, they restructured the agency and expanded the system to meet an overwhelming demand for outdoor recreation.
They also introduced cultural offerings, returning state historic sites to the auspices of parks and opening Artpark in Western New York and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
You can see the latest era added to the timeline here.
In the first eras of the timeline, users learned about the drive to conserve natural spaces during the rapid development of the late 1800s and the shift in focus from preservation to recreation. They met leaders who were instrumental in creating the system of parks and historic sites we know today and guiding its development.
The third era took users into the Great Depression and New Deal years, exploring how this challenging time for the park system became a watershed moment with the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and examining the role of the park system during World War II.
In the fourth era, users got a look at the seismic societal shifts in the post-war period through the lens of the park system.
Additional eras launching throughout the next few months will cover the creation of the modern Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, efforts to expand the agency’s portfolio of parks, further codification of historic preservation, the rise of urban and linear parks, the shifting challenges of conservation, and the recovery from disinvestment induced by the Great Recession of 2008 under President George W. Bush.
The remaining eras are “1972-1999,” “2000-Today,” and “Tomorrow and Beyond.” Each era includes the individual histories of the parks and sites added in the timeline.
You can see the timeline here.
Illustration: Wayne Wilcox as Nelson Rockefeller (left) and Constantine Maroulis as Robert Moses in the play Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses.
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