SOW_HSTR_Admin_Hist.docx

S C O P E O F W O R K

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

HARRY S TRUMAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

INDEPENDENCE AND GRANDVIEW, JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR – NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

PMIS PROJECT NUMBER #38296

I. INTRODUCTION

The National Park Service (NPS), through the Midwest Regional Office, requires the performance of research and writing of an Administrative History for Harry S Truman National Historic Site, Missouri. The history will help complete basic historical documentation of the park’s story and resources related to the 33rd President of the United States. The information contained in the administrative history is essential for present and future interpretation and resource management.

This Administrative History is a comprehensive synthesis of primary and secondary source material that is pertinent specifically to Harry S Truman National Historic Site. The study shall conform to professional standards regarding methodology of historical research and writing. Stylistic, bibliographical, and report production standards shall conform to the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. The study will include an oral history project whereby 11 current and former National Park Service employees important to the history of this park unit will be interviewed in person, digitally recorded, and transcriptions prepared.

The Administrative History, including enumerated appendices, graphics, and index shall be completed within eighteen months from the date of contract award.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE RESOURCES

Despite serving as the “Summer White House” during the Truman Presidency (1945-1953), the beloved Truman family home at 219 North Delaware Street received no official designation of national significance until the year of former President Harry S Truman’s death. On February 23, 1972, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton designated the Harry S. Truman Historic District National Historic Landmark (NHL) with the Truman home as its centerpiece. President Truman died on December 26, 1972, and his widow continued living there for another decade.

Upon the death of former First Lady Bess Wallace Truman on October 18, 1982, provisions of her last will and testament dictated that her home and much of its contents were bequeathed to “the United States of America to be held and operated by it under the direction of the Archivist of The United States in conjunction with the Harry S. Truman Library.”

Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt, under authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935, designated the Truman home at 219 North Delaware Street in Independence, Missouri, as the “Harry S Truman National Historic Site” (NHS) on December 8, 1982. Soon after, on December 17, 1982, the executor of the estate of Bess Wallace Truman and the National Park Service entered into a cooperative agreement authorizing the National Park Service to administer the new national historic site until a memorandum of agreement signed on September 14, 1983, between the same parties plus daughter Margaret Truman Daniel formalized the arrangement. In the meantime, enabling legislation for Harry S Truman NHS as a unit of the National Park System passed Congress and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on May 23, 1983 (Public Law 98-32, 97 Stat. 193).

Legislation pertaining to Harry S Truman NHS continued. On November 30, 1983, Congress authorized (Public Law 98-181, 96 Stat. 1970) NPS to reimburse the Estate of Bess W. Truman for operation expenses, including maintenance and protection, of the Truman home from October 18 through December 27, 1982. Upon study and recommendation of the Department of the Interior, on October 2, 1989, Congress authorized the expansion of Harry S Truman NHS to include the neighboring Noland/Haukenberry house and the two Wallace houses (Public Law 101-105, 103 Stat. 675). When Jackson County, Missouri, proposed to donate the Truman Farm Home in Grandview, Congress responded on December 14, 1993, by passing Public Law 103-184 (107 Stat. 2243) to accept the donation. Execution of a quit claim deed by the Jackson County Legislature on March 29, 1994 officially transferred the historic Truman Farm to the NPS. On October 30, 2004, Congress passed the Truman Farm Expansion Act (Public Law 108-396; 118 Stat. 2250) adding five acres to the park. Through Public Law 111-11 passed March 30, 2009, Congress authorized NPS to conduct a special resource study of the Harry S Truman Birthplace State Historic Site in Barton County, Lamar, Missouri, to evaluate if it met criteria for addition to the national park system as an independent unit, or for addition to the Harry S Truman NHS. The April 2011 NPS study determined it was not suitable or feasible for federal acquisition and recommended management be retained by the State of Missouri.

Harry S Truman NHS preserves and interprets for the American People the life story of Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States, in the context of his family home, extended neighborhood, and family farm.

Research Project – Develop and Complete the Administrative History for Harry S Truman National Historic Site, Missouri.

The National Park Service is seeking to increase its understanding and document the history of its development and administration of Harry S Truman NHS. To accomplish this, an Administrative History must be compiled. A park Administrative History is a history of a park as an institutional entity. Its purpose is to present the history of the park since the time it was first proposed through Congressional authorization and subsequent NPS management. It provides NPS managers a historic context for making decisions on issues relevant to park management. This research project will include a legislative history of the park from 1982 to the present. It will also focus on all studies, plans, restoration/preservation activities, and management decisions regarding the operation, interpretation, and preservation of Harry S Truman NHS.

This project will require primary and secondary research into the Administrative History of Harry S Truman NHS. The completed study will include the following elements:

A. Introduction describing the park, its location, primary resources, values, purpose, and significance.

B. Comprehensive legislative history for park authorization and subsequent enlargement, to include: 1) critical statements or endorsements by congressional members that influenced authorization; 2) public testimony, (e.g. individual or group) statements and/or endorsements that contributed to the eventual designation and enlargement of the park; and 3) a chronology of legislative benchmark events leading to designation. It will explain the reasoning behind NPS not using a period after the “S” in Harry S Truman NHS. Seven months after contractor award, the contractor will supply a draft chapters for A. and B. to the National Park Service for review and approval.

C. The primary emphasis of the study will provide a description and analysis of the development and administration of the park as a unit of the National Park System. The origin and rationale for key management decisions shall be thoroughly discussed and reference made to planning documents, historic resource studies, and other historical, archeological, and scientific research reports that resulted in major management decisions.

The study will focus on such areas as arrival of the Ranger-In-Charge in 1983 followed by the first superintendent; first park headquarters at the Truman Library; planning and development of administrative and visitor facilities at the historic Independence Fire Station # 1; mobilization of the Midwest Regional Office (especially its Cultural Resources Management Division) to have the Truman Home open for visitors by the May 8, 1984, centennial of President Truman’s birth; performance of historical research and oral history interviews for use in the park’s interpretive program and visitor orientation film; resources management (natural and cultural), protection and preservation; and interpretation, and key management decisions. All planning efforts and the documents they produced should be discussed including, the initial planning efforts of the early 1980s and development of the 1987 General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment (revised in 1999); historic structures reports; historic resource studies; National Register and National Historic Landmark nominations; 1989 Cultural Landscape Report and its successor; 1996 Statement of Management; the 2000 Long Range Interpretative Plan, resources management plans, development concept plans, land protection plans; Operations Evaluations; Collections Management Plan; and 2009 Scope of Collections. Contents of all reports and plans are to be summarized and decisions explained.

The study will elaborate on goals and accomplishments of each park superintendent and division chief. It will document how and why the administrative operations of the park changed from the early 1980s to the present day. A special focus will be on how curation of the Truman Home’s historic furnishings and objects led to the operation of an off-site curatorial storage facility in Independence which evolved into a larger facility serving other NPS Midwest Region parks. Attention will be paid to the park’s annual budget growth and include closures in 2013 attributed to congressional sequestration.

Relationships with Margaret Truman Daniel and other Truman/Wallace/Noland family members will be analyzed, including the management decision not to expand daily tours of the Truman Home beyond the first floor. In addition, relationships and cooperative agreements between NPS and neighbors, local interest groups, Jackson County Historical Society, federal agencies, and cities of Independence and Grandview will be discussed. Establishment and expansion/contraction of the local heritage district and NHL district will be detailed.

Interpretive programs, special exhibits, volunteers, use of social media, law enforcement, maintenance, oral history program, archeological inventory work, Eastern National bookstore and gift shop, visitor center and Truman Home tour ticket operations, Truman Farm Home operations and programs, and development and use of Noland Home visitor contact station and two Wallace houses will all be discussed.

The contractor will provide within four months of contract award a detailed outline of the Administrative History for NPS review and approval.

The administrative history must place Harry S Truman NHS in context with the evolution of management policies, procedures, and practices of the National Park Service from the 1980's to the present day. This would include discussion of relationships and services provided by but not limited to inter-agency offices such as the Washington Office, Midwest Regional Office, Denver Service Center, Midwest Archeological Center, and Harpers Ferry Center. Contractor will utilize the files, library, and archives of the Harry S Truman NHS. Current records of the NPS Midwest Regional Office (NPS MWRO) in Omaha, Nebraska, will also be utilized , particularly the archives of the Cultural Resources Division. Park-related correspondence generated in years prior to the establishment of an actual park headquarters and NPS staff by the Midwest Regional Office is in the archival records of NPS MWRO which are physically located at National Archives and Records Administration-Federal Records Center (NARA-FRC) in Kansas City, Missouri. (Please note, these records are only at FRC, not in the Archives branch.)

D. Oral history interviews with key decision-making personnel. Because NPS documentation is not complete, oral history interviews will be especially useful in the administrative history. Eleven formal oral history interviews will be conducted in person according to professional standards with 11 current and/or retired National Park Service employees pertinent to the park’s history as follows (grouped geographically, names and contact information to be provided following contract award):

Kansas City, Missouri area:

1. C.D., Museum Curator, Gladstone, MO

2. J.W., Interpretive Ranger, Independence, MO

3. J.S., Administrative Officer, Blue Springs, MO

St. Louis, Missouri area:

4. J.W., Interpretive Ranger and Oral History Volunteer, Fulton, MO

5. A.O., Historical Architect, St. Louis, MO

6. J.S., Superintendent, Springfield, IL (retired)

Other:

7. M.H., Chief of Maintenance, Cornish, NH

8. S.H., Museum Curator, Hendersonville, NC

9. K.A., Superintendent, Hodgenville, KY

10. M.C., Chief of Maintenance, Roanoke, VA

11. R.C., Research Historian, Omaha, NE

Interviews will be conducted in person, digitally recorded, transcripts produced, a digital photograph of each interviewee taken, and assignment of interview rights forms signed, and will follow the format of transcriptions found online at http://www.nps.gov/hstr/learn/historyculture/oral-history-project.htm

Oral history interview transcripts found at the aforementioned Web site will also be utilized of for this study, particularly oral history interviews conducted with NPS and Harry S. Truman Library employees. Transcriptions of those interviews can be found at the same Web site. All interviewees will be given an opportunity to review and edit his/her interview transcript over a one-month period.

Within one year of contract award, contractor will provide transcriptions of all oral history interviews for NPS inspection and approval.

E. Bibliography of source materials, including all previous research, surveys, and reports dealing with the history of the Harry S Truman NHS.

F. Appendices: Information including, but not limited to, all pertinent legislation, maps and/or drawings, listing of annual budgets, and a comprehensive listing of past and present NPS personnel, will be included in the Administrative History's appendix. The study shall include appropriate maps and other figures within the narrative, including historic and modern photographs of the park. The photographs shall have captions and identify their source.

G. A preliminary draft of the Administrative History will be prepared and provided to the National Park Service for review and comment according to a planning schedule and matrix outlined between the National Park Service and contractor at the start of the project. Following final approval of the administrative history by the National Park Service, an index (generated by the latest version of Microsoft Word) will be prepared which incorporates all significant names, places, objects, activities, and programs referenced in the document. Used in conjunction with the Table of Contents, the Index will assist readers find particular topics of interest with ease. The final draft will then be reviewed by the COR to ensure all NPS comments have been incorporated, and then submitted for approval signatures.

III. ADDITIONAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

A. General provisions

1. Prospective contractors should note that the research design submitted by the contractor becomes a binding element of the contract and is expected to be carried out. The research performed and reported must meet the minimum requirements.

2. Within 30 days of award of contract, the contractor shall attend a post-award scoping meeting at Harry S Truman NHS headquarters to discuss technical aspects of the contract and to confirm the planning schedule for the submission of the deliverables.

3. The production of the Administrative History shall be completed within 18 months of contract award.

B. Report standards/format and submission schedule

The final report will be in the latest version of Microsoft Word and include the information required in the specifications listed in Section II, above. It must be typed on 8-1/2 by 11-inch white paper. All pages must be numbered. Copies of photographs (screened for reproduction clarity), maps, drawings, and text must be clean, clear, and legible. The format must comply with the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. In addition, all reports must contain the following:

1. Title/Cover page listing the name of the Principal Investigator. If the report is also authored by Project Historians, the title page must identify the author(s) and bear the inscription, "Prepared under the supervision of (name), Principal Investigator." The title/cover page shall also include signature and date lines for three approving officials in the following order: "Recommended/Associate Director of Cultural Resources, Midwest Region/Date; Concurred Superintendent, Harry S Truman National Historic Site/Date; and Approved/Regional Director, Midwest Region/Date."

2. Five (5) copies of the chapter outline will be submitted four months following contract award for National Park Service review and approval. Two copies of the chapter outline will be mailed to the park and three to the Midwest Regional Office. The outline shall include descriptions of each chapter containing sufficient detail to demonstrate the complete range of topics and themes to be discussed as well as chronological periods. The National Park Service will provide review comments on the chapter outline to the PI within 30 days of receipt of the document. The PI shall make necessary revisions and submit the final chapter outline to the National Park Service within 15 days of receipt by the contractor. The outline will provide the basis for the “Table of Contents” for the Administrative History.

3. Five (5) copies of the draft report will be submitted fourteen months following contract award to the National Park Service for review. Two of the copies will be mailed to the park and three to the Midwest Regional Office. The draft will be typed, double-spaced, with numbered reference lines in the left margins on each page of text and will include all maps, graphics, footnotes, and appendices to be included in the final report. The draft will be reviewed by the National Park Service for contract sufficiency and professional quality. Within 45 days of receipt by the National Park Service, the draft will be reviewed and the contractor will be notified when review comments will be transmitted. During the period of revision of the draft, the contractor will consult with the National Park Service to ensure the satisfactory resolution of review comments and submission of a final draft in a timely manner.

4. A final draft report addressing review comments transmitted to the contractor by the National Park Service will be submitted to the Service prior to printing of the final document. The contractor will design appropriate cover art/graphics including the NPS Arrowhead for the camera-ready final document. Printing on the document's spine will include title, author, NPS, and year of publication. Within 60 days of National Park Service acceptance of the final draft (indicated by the three required signatures specified above), the contractor will furnish one (1) camera-ready unbound final document printed on archival paper, 100 dry ink digital printed and separately bound copies of the report and a compact computer disk or disks containing the final document in the latest version of Microsoft Word.

5. All formal oral history interviews conducted will be digitally recorded and transcriptions prepared. All interview candidates must sign an interview rights release form (format to be supplied by the National Park Service). Any additional interviews which take place on an informal basis (i.e., telephonically) must be comprehensively documented in a memorandum of telephone call. All recordings, transcripts, interview rights release forms, photographs, and memoranda of telephone calls will be transmitted to the National Park Service with the final document.

C. Disposition of data

At the conclusion of research and within 60 days of written acceptance of the final draft of the study, all notes, records, maps, drawings, photographs, negatives, slides, digital images, tapes, digital recordings transcripts, and other data acquired during the course of this study will be submitted to the Contracting Officers Representative, to be deposited in the archives of the Harry S Truman NHS.

D. Progress reports

Quarterly progress reports during the performance of the research and writing phases of this contract are required. The initial due date will be 90 days after contract award. All quarterly reports will be submitted to Ron Cockrell , National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68102-4226; Attention: Contracting Officer Representative. Alternatively, reports may be delivered via email to ron_cockrell@nps.gov.