Park dedication: invited guests

Park dedication: invited guests

This photograph of invited guests at the park dedication is by National Park Service engineer, Robert P. White. Left to right are: Mrs. Newton B. Drury, Congressman Scrugham, Mrs. E. H. Saunders, Col. W. I. Lee, Mrs. D. C. Chapman, Mrs. J. R. Eakin, Mrs. Robert P. White, and unidentified person. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was dedicated on Labor Day, September 2, 1940. A crowd of 10,000 came to Newfound Gap to hear President Franklin D. Roosevelt speak with 500 members of the Civilian Conservation Corps on hand to direct and manage the crowd. A podium was set up on the North Carolina and Tennessee state lines, so that speakers stood with one foot in each state. The event was presided over by the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes.

White, Robert P.

1940-09-02

jpg;

2015-04-16

8" x 10"(dimension)

Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America