Robert L. Hart collection
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0257
Scope and Content
Information contained in the Custer Battlefield internship project papers span the years of 1902-1986, with the bulk of the information pertaining to the recent period from 1947-1986. The Collection has been organized into a single series. The tapes are most important for the detail they convey concerning day to day public interpretive operations, the gradual implementation of the concept of interpretive balance, the tensions and controversy associated with the Centennial observance of 1976, and the increasingly important interpretive role of the Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association. Additional topics covered are relations between the National Park Service and Native American Groups, relations between the National Park Service and the Little Big Horn Associates, relations between the Custer Battlefield administrations and local critics, interpretive drift within the National Park Service, the development of living history programs, the 1984-85 archaeological project, and the interpretive effect of the varied managers charged with administering Custer battlefield and its interpretive program. The internship report, "Administrative History Research on the Changing Interpretive Program: Custer Battlefield, 1940-1986," is a lengthy analysis of the larger part. The internship report details the background, development, and conduct of the project, as well as making suggestions for future research. Interviews were conducted with seventeen present or past National park Service employees involved with Custer Battlefield interpretation. They include two superintendents, five historians, seven seasonal and permanent rangers, two chiefs of maintenance, and one archaeologist. Four members, officers, and employees of the Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association were interviewed. They include one president, one member of the board, one Centennial Committee member, and one interpreter. Also interviewed were the chairman of the Custer Battlefield Preservation Committee, Inc. and one local amateur historian and battlefield critic. Significant interviewees include Western historians Robert M. Utley, Donald G. Rickey, Jerome A. Greene, Merrill J. Mattes, Robert A. Murray, and anthropologist Margot Liberty. Other interviewees include: Clifford R. Arbogast, James F. Bowers, Allan J. Clark, James V. Court, Michael H. Downing, Robert W. Hartung, Albert F. Jacobson, Michael J. Koury, Neil C. Mangum, Clifford L. Nelson, Mardell I. Plainfeather, Eldon G. Reyer, Carolyn R. Riebeth, Heyward D. Schrock, Douglas D. Scott, Harold Stanton, and Henry Weibert.
Dates
- 1986
Access and Use Restrictions
This material may be examined by researchers under supervised conditions in the Search Room.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with copyright and other applicable statutes.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Extent
49 items (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Public history program internship project research conducted by graduate student Robert L. Hart on "Changing Interpretation: Custer Battlefield, 1940-1986." The 48 original tapes total 39 hours of interviews recorded between June and November 1986. Twenty-three individuals were interviewed: 17 present or past National Park Service battlefield staff members, a Park Service archaeologist, a former Park Service regional historian, a former battlefield museum association officer, a member of the 1976 Centennial Committee, member of the battlefield preservation committee, and a former local interpretive critic. Interviewees include Western historians Robert M. Utley, Donald G. Rickey, Jerome A. Greene, Merrill J. Mattes, Robert A. Murray, and anthropologist Margot Liberty. Hart's public history internship report, "Administrative History Research on the Changing Interpretive Program: Custer Battlefield, 1940-1986," detailing the background and conduct of the internship project, is also included in the collection.
- Title
- Guide to the Robert L. Hart collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Robert L. Hart.
- Date
- May, 1987.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository