NARA - National Archives and Records Administration

10/31/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/31/2024 10:19

The Mysteries Contained a Donated Record Group at NARA

Today's post is by John C. Harris, Archives Specialist at National Archives at Philadelphia

"Calmed by the motionless air the surface of Lake Drummond is like a vast mirror reflecting the shoreline with such absolute definition that the world seems fissioned into twin dimensions each of which beckons my approach. The metallic brown surface of the water extends for an infinity, hypnotic and enticing…There is a penetrating loneliness about this place that sets the mental pace and mood of all who visit here. A peculiar sense of melancholy takes hold of the spirit and is felt as if it were reaching out from some alien and phantasmal being in residence wishing to share its unworldly sorrow with all who might venture close enough. Search as you will across this vast open arena for whatever might be the source of this overwhelming influence-it will yet remain hidden to your vision and comprehension. But come now, join me if you will, the mysteries of the swamp are waiting for you…"[1]

The above excerpt is an entry in one of the scrapbooks donated to the National Archives and Records Administration as part of the Papers of Alvah C. Duke. The collection largely chronicles Alvah C. Duke's campaign to protect the Great Dismal Swamp, which contains Lake Drummond. While the majority of records preserved by the National Archives lack this style of prose it is also rare for the regional facilities of the NARA to retain donated collections. Exactly what the Papers of Alvah C. Duke are and how they made their way to the National Archives is somewhat of a mystery in its own right.

This entry will decipher the process by which donated materials are accessioned into the National Archives collection. It will do so through a closer examination of the Duke Papers which will determine its fulfillment of NARA's donation policy and highlight the contents of the collection, ultimately, justifying its presence as a collection preserved here at NARA Philadelphia. It is relatively rare, though not without precedent, that the National Archives accessions donated materials. According to Holdings Summaries and Collection Explorers made available online, donated materials make up .002% of NARA's holdings. Put another way, of the 13.5 billion pages of textual records possessed by NARA,[2] an estimated 27.1 million textual pages are donated materials.[3] These donated collections are markedly diverse in their content and size. For example, the Records of the American National Red Cross are among the largest of the donated materials, measuring an estimated 12.7 million pages.[4] Whereas the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection comprises 4.2 million pages.[5] However, the majority of donated materials are much smaller than these two examples. The Papers of Alvah C. Duke, for instance, which are the only donated materials here at NARA Philadelphia, top out at just 5.482 cubic feet, or an estimated 10,964 pages. That equals roughly .0000542% of the total volume of records at this facility.[6] It's clear that these records represent an anomaly among our stacks. However, a review of NARA's donation policy and an assessment of the Duke Papers illustrates why these records were selected for retention and preservation by the National Archives.

According to the Donations Policy on the NARA website, NARA will accept non-federal records "when those records fill a gap in NARA's existing holdings, are closely related to federal records already in the custody of the National Archives, or otherwise document the national experience in a way not adequately captured in federal records."[7] Each proposed donation is reviewed on an individual basis and takes the following factors into consideration:

  1. The relationship between the proposed donation and NARA's current holdings, including whether the records could fill gaps or supplement existing NARA collections.
  2. Whether the records include essential evidence documenting the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, or the national experience in a way not otherwise captured in permanent federal records.
  3. Whether the records document events that attracted great public, Congressional, or judicial attention.
  4. Past decisions regarding similar records.

According to the 1991 appraisal of the Alvah C. Duke Papers, the collection was donated to NARA Philadelphia by the staff of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge who believed the collection was of "fundamental evidential importance to the refuge." The archivist conducting the review inventoried the collection, which consisted of correspondence related to the 1973 legislation that established the refuge, 19th-century prints, reference materials, and press clippings. Ultimately, the decision was made to keep a little more than half of the records proposed for donation. Those selected were described as being made up of "2 small file drawers" consisting of communications, reference material, and news clippings; one box with a scrapbook documenting the environmental degradation of the swamp; and five scrapbooks documenting the campaign to save the swamp from "Pile 1" of the two piles present.[8]

While the following assessment does not represent the formal review process which determined the Papers of Alvah C. Duke eligibility for donation, it will consider the collection's fulfillment of Factor 1, then Factors 2 and 3 together, to justify permanent preservation of the collection here at NARA Philadelphia. Factor 4 cannot be evaluated as the Duke Papers are such a stand alone record group.

Factor 1: The relationship between the proposed donation and NARA's current holdings, including whether the records could fill gaps or supplement existing NARA collections.

The Papers of Alvah C. Duke fills a substantial gap in the holdings of NARA Philadelphia. In addition to being the only records here that deal with the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the Duke Papers are one of the only six National Wildlife Refuges represented in the records at this facility despite there being nearly thirty different National Wildlife Refuge units within the five state region from which the facility retains federal records. The fulfillment of Factor 1 is rather straightforward. Perhaps clear enough to warrant the accessioning of these records on their own. However, the fulfillment of Factors 2 and 3 better indicate the value of the contents of the collection.

Factor 2: Whether the records include essential evidence documenting the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, or the national experience in a way not otherwise captured in permanent federal records.

Factor 3: Whether the records document events that attracted great public, Congressional, or judicial attention.

The second and third factors provide the strongest reasoning to permanently preserve the Duke Papers at NARA Philadelphia. In regards to Factor 2, in addition to this collection satisfying each of its three components by documenting the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience, the records are particularly dynamic in that they represent the synthesis of action where these three components converge. Preserved in the documents are examples of a citizen's right to protest and appeal to lawmakers, the responses by individual law makers, federal agencies, and congressional bodies to those appeals, and the newly defined national experience that resulted from that interaction. As a result, the fulfillment of Factor 3 is derived from the Duke Papers thorough documentation of the transformation of Duke's campaign for federal preservation of Great Dismal Swamp into a regional effort, and its further growth into a national struggle, as well as the congressional action to establish a new wildlife refuge.

The Duke Papers represent a case study of a grassroots campaign that was elevated to the highest levels of government and succeeded in the establishment of a federal wildlife refuge which ensured the continued conservation of a critical ecosystem. The records provide a figurative roadmap for future efforts by demonstrating a group of stakeholders effective and successful effort to protest, organize, and appeal to the government and to determine a future more beneficial to all.

Among the earliest documents in the collection that were created by Duke and pertain to federal protection for the at risk ecosystem are correspondences between he and his representatives in US Congress. These letters depict the conservationist's earliest appeals to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Great Dismal Swamp. Later communications contain his varying critiques of how the wildlife refuge was operated in the first several years of its existence. Communications about the swamp lasted decades. Such as those with Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (descendant of Colonel William E. Byrd, a colonial surveyor who named the swamp after his 1728 expedition to inspect the Virginia-North Carolina border) which spanned from 1968 to 1982[9]; those with U.S. House Representative W.M. Abbitt from 1969 to 1972[10]; and Representative Robert W. Daniel Jr. from years 1973 to 1976[11] which make up a core component of the Duke Papers.

New types of records were generated as the movement to conserve the Great Dismal Swamp bloomed. After a failed attempt to secure protections of the landscape at the state level failed in the sixties, the formal campaign for federal protections began in earnest on January 26, 1970 when 83 concerned individuals from 25 different conservation groups from throughout the region convened to review the history of the swamp and determine new ways to preserve the ecosystem and restore it to its natural state.[12][13] Newsletters, meeting updates, and summaries of various actions by the Dismal Swamp Preservation Committee from as early as 1970 illustrate the crystallization of this movement.

The collection also contains communications with regional and national organizations such as the Conservation Council of Virginia,[14] the National Parks and Conservation Association,[15][16] and several other stakeholder groups depict the growth and transformation of one man's appeals into a national movement.

That growth led to an era of lobbying and appeals made directly to federal agencies and their beneficiaries. Members of the swamp's preservation committee capitalized on the increasing momentum of their movement and began to deliver statements to legislative committees. The May 9, 1972 "Statement by A. T. Wright representing the Wilderness Society Before the Parks and Recreation Subcommittee of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee" and the August 8, 1972 appeal by Alvah Duke to Roy Taylor, Chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee both in support of the Great Dismal Swamp Study Bill that would produce a document meant to advise the federal protections for the landscape are critical resources within the Duke Papers. Appeals lectures, and testimonies like these throughout the collection represent the dynamic relationship between the flourishing conservation movement and the federal government.[17][18]

Also contained in the Alvah C. Duke Papers are the first proposals, and eventually laws, made by legislators in direct response to the movement. Copies of bills that document the legislative process-which included both failed proposals and successful initiatives-to codify federal conservation of the swamp are also preserved in the donated materials. On August 5, 1971, H.R. 11369 introduced a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to evaluate how to preserve the Great Dismal Swamp. That bill was passed and made into Public Law No. 92-478 on October 9th, 1972. The following year on February 5, 1973 H.R. 3620 was introduced to establish the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

After the passing of H.R. 3620, the Department of the Interior produced a number of publications chronicling their actions to establish the new refuge. Among the Duke Papers is a news release from the DOI from February 22, 1973, titled "Interior Department Accepts Land Donation For Dismal Swamp." The publication summarized the transactions of the land set aside for the refuge. The original donation of the 49,000 acre property, which comprised roughly 70 square miles and was worth $12.6 million, was made by Union Camp Corporation to the Nature Conservancy which in turn transferred the gift to the Department of the Interior to be managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service.[19]
Later that year, on July 28, 1973, the DOI produced a memo titled Great Dismal Swamp Study Identified which indicated the purpose of study was to determine the best way to protect and preserve the "ecological, scenic, recreation, historical, and other resource values" of the newly acquired property. Stapled to the back of the memo is a series observations and critiques typed up by Duke in response. Together, these documents, as they are preserved in the Duke Papers, reveal the relationship between an individual citizen and a federal agency in pursuit of the same mission.[20]
A year later on June 4, 1974, the USFWS produced the "Summary Report and Tentative Recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior Regarding the Preservation and Management of the Great Dismal Swamp and Dismal Swamp Canal" and an accompanying statement of Robert H. Shields, Dismal Swamp Study Coordinator, delivered later that month at a local public hearing regarding the management of the wildlife refuge.[21] Finally, on Aug 30, 1974 H.R. 3620 was signed by the President and enacted as Public Law 93-402 on Aug 30, 1974 which formally created the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.[22] However, that date is not the end of this collection. As mentioned earlier, Duke maintained correspondences with senators and federal officials about the new National Wildlife Refuge for nearly decade after it was established. Once again, the Duke Papers capture the relationship between a federal agency and a stakeholder citizen. These communications and documentation from the later years provide a candid understanding of the performance of the fledgling refuge and the formalization of its operations and programs, as well as its efficacy as a newly protected habitat and public space for education and conservation minded recreation.

The Papers of Alvah C. Duke occupy a mystifying place in the Philadelphia facility of the National Archives. As the only donated materials, they make up much less than a single percent of the total volume of records at this facility. However, upon further review, the ability of the Duke Papers to fulfill Factors 1 through 3 of the donation policy justifies their preservation. To reiterate, the collection fulfills Factor 1 as a unique record group and the only documentation of the Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge preserved by NARA Philadelphia. Additionally, Factor 2 is fulfilled because the collection captures a citizen's right to campaign for environmental justice, the responses by federal officials to the campaign, and the newly defined national experience that resulted from that interaction. The great public and congressional attention to the campaign fulfills Factor 3. Lastly, as the only donated materials in the facility, there are no past decisions regarding similar records to refer to in order to determine the fulfillment of Factor 4. However, their inclusion in the holdings may inform the decision-making process and appraisal of future records proposed for donation here at the National Archives and Records Administration at Philadelphia.

In addition to the critical access to interactions between a concerned citizen, stakeholder groups, and the federal government contained in these records, the Duke Papers were a personal collection, and as such, they contain glimpses into the man behind the campaign to save the Great Dismal Swamp. Duke's preserved research, musings, and correspondence regarding the pressing national issues of the 1960s are perhaps most detrimental to his legacy. Without them, Duke might be simply considered an environmentalist on the vanguard of ecological conservation in southeast Virginia. However, these documents, which betray our would-be egalitarian conservationist as a problematic individualist with perspectives on the desegregation of schools and the promotion of civil rights bolstered by the bigoted and racist ideology of white supremacist groups and speeches made by Jefferson Davis, serve to complicate the civic record and personal ethics of Alvah C. Duke.[23] And, in doing so, this vitriol perhaps adds to the value of the collection by representing the dynamics between our citizen and his government that justified the reprehensible status quo of Separate but Equal, Jim Crow, and other racist policies.

The Alvah C. Duke Papers are available for research. If you are interested in the collection and want to learn more about the grassroots campaign and federal process to establish the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, feel free to email [email protected] to discuss your research or make an appointment. Other related record entries can be located in Record Group 22: Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[1] Entry from Scrapbook Owned by Bill Grigg. File Unit: Scrapbook, Undated (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6519); Papers of Alvah C. Duke, Scrapbooks and Other Records, Undated Scrapbook Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[2] National Archives. 2018. "About the National Archives of the United States." National Archives. April 5, 2018. https://www.archives.gov/publications/general-info-leaflets/1-about-archives.html.

[3] "Donated Collection Explorer." n.d. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/findingaid/donated-collection-explorer.

[4] "Records of the American National Red Cross." n.d. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/findingaid/donated-collection-explorer/list/anrc.

[5] "John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection." 2024. National Archives. 2024. https://www.archives.gov/findingaid/donated-collection-explorer/list/jfkco.

[6] "Guide to Archival Holdings at the National Archives at Philadelphia." 2022. National Archives. April 27, 2022. https://www.archives.gov/philadelphia/holdings

[7] "Donations." 2017. National Archives. February 24, 2017. https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/accessioning/donations.

[8] "Appraisal of Alvah Duke papers donated to Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge", Washington National Records Center May 15, 1991. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6519); Papers of Alvah C. Duke, Scrapbooks and Other Records, Miscellaneous Correspondence and Papers, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[9] Communications with Senator Harry F. Byrd, File Units: Byrd, Harry F. - U.S. Senator (1) through Byrd, Harry F. - U.S. Senator (3), (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515); General Subject Files: Abbit - Byrd, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[10] Communications with Representative Watkins M. Abbit, File Units: Abbit, Watkins M. - U.S. Representative, (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515); General Subject Files: Abbit - Byrd, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[11] Communications with Representative Robert W. Daniel, File Unit: Daniel, Robert W. Jr - U.S. Representative, (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515); General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[12] A campaign to conserve the Great Dismal Swamp as a State park of Virginia was put forward by the Department of Conservation and Economic Development of Virginia in 1965. See The Great Dismal Swamp, File Unit: Publications (5) (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6517), Publications 5-10, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[13] W.E. Ashley, Current Drive to Preserve and Restore the Great Dismal Swamp, Delivered to the US Senate File Unit: Dismal Swamp Appeals, Speeches, Etc. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[14] File Unit: Conservation Council of Virginia, Inc, (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[15] File Unit: National Parks and Conservation Association, (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515); General Subject Files: Great Dismal Swamp Notes - News Clips, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[16] Alvah C. Duke, N.P.C. Association - Smithsonian Institute Color-Slide Lecture, March 17, 1972, File Unit: Dismal Swamp Appeals, Speeches, Etc. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[17] A.T. Wright, Statement by A. T. Wright representing the Wilderness Society Before the Parks and Recreation Subcommittee of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, May 9, 1972, File Unit: Dismal Swamp Appeals, Speeches, Etc. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[18] Alvah C. Duke, Untitled Speech Delivered to National Parts Subcommittee, August 8, 1972, File Unit: Dismal Swamp Appeals, Speeches, Etc. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[19] Kallman, "Interior Department Accepts Land Donation for Dismal Swamp," Department of the Interior News Release, February 22,1973, File Unit: Great Dismal Swamp - Legislation. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Friends of the Earth - Great Dis. Misc., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[20] Robert H. Shields, Great Dismal Swamp Study Identified, July 28, 1973, File Unit: Great Dismal Swamp - Legislation. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Friends of the Earth - Great Dis. Misc., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[21] Robert H. Shields, Summary Report and Tentative Recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior Regarding the Preservation and Management of the Great Dismal Swamp and Dismal Swamp Canal, June 4, 1974, File Unit: Dismal Swamp Reports/Studies - Miscellaneous. (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

[22] 93rd Congress, 2nd Session, Public Law 94-302, August 30, 1974. https://www.congress.gov/93/statute/STATUTE-88/STATUTE-88-Pg801.pdf

[23] See: File Unit: Davis, Jefferson - Writings, (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Chesapeake Post - Dunnington, Mrs., Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

File Unit: Race Info (1966), (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Norfolk - Thompson, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.

File Unit: Slavery and Lincoln - Writings (NAID: n/a, HMS Entry ID: PH-6515), General Subject Files: Norfolk - Thompson, Record Group 0200; National Archives and Records Administration, Philadelphia, PA.