William Howard Taft: An Administrative History
Lee AJ and National Park Service-Midwest Regional Office. 1986. William Howard Taft: An Administrative History. Park Administrative Histories. Contract No. CX6000-5-0033. Omaha, NE
The story of the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Cincinnati, Ohio, serves as a microcosm of the National Park Service during the years from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. The legislation providing for Federal stewardship of the site was passed in 1969, the conclusion of a decade marked by a great expansion in the National Park Service 's holdings and programs. In the following decade, the property evolved in an environment of retrenchment and intense competition for available funding. The changed circumstances took their toll on the property. It languished in the backwaters of National Park Service priorities. Not until fifteen years later, in the mid-1980s, was the restoration of the exterior completed. This administrative history was prepared under contract with the Midwest Regional Office of the National Park Service located in Omaha, Nebraska. The regional office has had direct administrative responsibility for the Taft National Historic Site since 1974. The time frame for this report spans the period from the 1840s when the house that later became the focus of the Taft National Historic Site was built to mid-1985. The report covers in a summary fashion the historical evolution of the property up to the 1960s when efforts were initiated to restore the property. The report's major purpose is to present the development of the property since 1969 when the property was designated the William Howard Taft National Historic Site and conveyed to the National Park Service. The report carries the story of the National Park Service stewardship up to the arrival of Superintendent Kesselman in mid-1985. His arrival marked the beginning of new planning initiatives and actions which have not reached a point of conclusion.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lee, Antoinette; National Park Service-Midwest Regional Office
- Date of Issue
- 1986-12
- Units
- HIST , WIHO
- Keywords
- Administration, Community, Cultural Resources, ehistory, Furnishings and Collections, History, interpretation and education, Land, Management, Master Plan, National Historic Site, NPS, Property Development and Historical Associations, setting, Stewardship, Structure's Exterior, Structure's Interior, William Howard Taft Memorial Association