An Old and Reliable Authority: An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities, by Raymond Harris Thompson, with contributions by Ronald Freeman Lee and George Alexander Grant, 2000

Abstract

"An old and reliable authority" is how George Benjamin Hartzog, Director of the National Park Service (1964-1972), characterized the Antiquities Act of 1906. And it has been quite a reliable authority - and a remarkable one. Since its inception presidents have used it to establish 36 historic areas as national monuments and 51 natural areas; special acts of Congress have authorized another 28 national monuments (pp.251-253). President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act Bill into law on June 8, 1906 (p. 241). Just 22 days later, on June 30 1906, Roosevelt signed the bill to establish Mesa Verde National Park, the first national park specifically created to protect antiquities (p. 243). The Antiquities Act of 1906 also served as the basis for later federal legislation, e.g., Historic Sites Act of 1935, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the 1979 Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the creation of National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings in 1957 (pp. 193, 3 1 6).