NPS urgently needs more historians, report says

By Rob Hotakainen | 04/15/2024 01:32 PM EDT

Only 138 of the agency’s more than 20,000 employees are full-time historians, the National Parks Conservation Association found.

Former NPS historian Douglas Murphy points to the battlefield where the first major conflict of the U.S.-Mexican War began on May 8, 1846, at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site.

Former National Park Service historian Douglas Murphy, who retired several years ago, points in 2004 to the battlefield where the first major conflict of the U.S.-Mexican War began May 8, 1846, at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park near Brownsville, Texas. Joe Hermosa/AP

While the National Park Service takes pride in its work to preserve the nation’s history, a new report indicates the agency is doing the job with fewer historians than in the past.

Overall, the number of historians has declined by nearly 25 percent since 2011, according to the report from the National Parks Conservation Association.

Of the agency’s more than 20,000 employees, only 138 are now full-time historians, the report said.

“It is a low number and we don’t want it to get any lower,” Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources for the NPCA, said in an interview.

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