Small Park, Large Issues: De Soto National Memorial and the Commemoration of a Difficult History
Whisnant DE and Whisnant AM. 2007. Small Park, Large Issues: De Soto National Memorial and the Commemoration of a Difficult History. Park Administrative Histories. National Park Service,De Soto National Memorial. Bradenton, Florida
This Administrative History of De Soto National Memorial begins by tracing the establishment of the Memorial from the precursor effort at Weedon Island in the 1920s, to the formation of the De Soto Expedition Commission in the 1930s, the placement of the Colonial Dames monument at Shaw’s Point in 1939, and on through the second municipal De Soto Celebration a decade later. It pays particular attention to the politics of public ceremony, the difficult postwar circumstances of the National Park Service, the interplay of private and public interests in the acquisition of land for the Memorial, and the synergy between the national mandate to create the Memorial and the desire of local civic and business interests to boost the developmental curve of Bradenton and Manatee County. In following chapters, it addresses issues of park planning and development in the 1950’s and 60’s in the context of the national Mission 66 efforts, provides a brief overview of the De Soto expedition’s 4,000 mile route through the southeast, examines the historical interplay between the Memorial and local institutions, and then goes on to focus on issues regarding managing and conserving the natural resources of the Memorial, such as the fragile shoreline. It then presents a brief history of surrounding land use and increasing developmental pressures before delving into the issue of cultural resource management and preservation. It concludes by documenting ongoing efforts within the park to develop and maintain a diverse interpretive program, including efforts to build interpretive features and to maintain and update them as necessary.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Whisnant, David; Whisnant, Anne
- Date of Issue
- 2007-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service,De Soto National Memorial
- Units
- DESO , HIST
- Keywords
- Appleman Report, Archeology, Blake, Bradenton, Camp Uzita, Catholic Church, Celebration, Conquistador, De Soto Expedition, Docks, Drought, Emerson Point Park, Endangered Species, Environmentalism, Erosion, Establishing legislation, Film, Florida, Fogging, Gold, Gulf Coast, Hernando De Soto, Interpretive Efforts, Invasive species, Lace Cuffs, Land Clearing, Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Manatee County, Manatees, Mangrove, Memorial, Mission 66, Model marker of Stone, Mosquito, Muck Ponds, National Park Service, Native Americans, Natural Environment, Non-Traditional Exhibits, NPS, Oil, Pearls, Phosphate, Plumed hats, Pre-Contact, Rainfall, Red Tide, Reenactments, Removal, Runoff, Schwadron, Shaw’s Point, Shell Mounds, Shoreline, Snead island, Sugg, Sugg-Blake Land Donation, Swamp, Tide, Tourists, Tree Frogs, Turtles, Vertebrates, War Dogs, Wetlands, Winder Festival