ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

In 1954, representatives from several groups, including the Boy Scouts of America, the District of Columbia Audubon Society, the Soil Conservation Society of American, the National Capital Parks Association, and the National Capital Garden Club League, met to organize the Rock Creek Watershed Commission. In 1955 the Commission established a steering committee to formulate an effective program to promote local interest in and support for Rock Creek Park and watershed restoration. Bernard Frank, a Montgomery County resident and Assistant Chief, Division of Forest and Range Influences, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, had spent many years laying the groundwork for the organization. Mr. Frank conducted studies and recorded data, wrote magazine articles and letters to local officials, took photographs, set up exhibits, and gave illustrated lectures on his observations and findings relating to conditions in Rock Creek Park. He noted damaged soil, unstable banks, sedimentation and water pollution, and attributed these conditions primarily to poor agricultural practices, unregulated commercial and residential development, and extensive road construction. His tireless efforts galvanized local citizens and civic organizations, who responded with interest and enthusiasm to the new Commission. In 1956, the renamed Rock Creek Watershed Association (RCWA) was incorporated and held its first public meeting.

Members of the Association met with local and state government officials and urged the Montgomery County Council to forbid bottomland construction, acquire and conserve land for parks, mandate adequate stormwater drainage, require builders to repair damage, ban the discharge of inadequately treated sewage into the Potomac or its tributaries, conduct studies, and take legal action against violators.

The Association, in cooperation with other civic organizations and educational institutions, undertook field studies and surveys and conducted campaigns of public education regarding Rock Creek watershed issues and the Association's goals and activities. RCWA officers gave statements before governing bodies proposing and supporting legislation to restrict real estate development, provide open space areas for recreation and wildlife, and eliminate wasteful construction practices.

The RCWA helped to pass a zoning provision against construction in high-risk bottomland areas. In 1958, the County approved a flood control project which entailed the building of two dams and the relocation of sewer lines. The Association believed that local officials, who had been unaware of their authority and responsibilities, had been educated through the efforts of the Association and had assumed their responsibilities, and that the public, too, had been awakened to the problems of the watershed and their necessary solutions. Citing these measures of success, the RCWA decided to conduct fewer meetings and to take up instead ad hoc assignments as the need arose. The departure of Mr. Frank for an overseas assignment in 1959 led to the Association's disbanding.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder

PROVENANCE

Not applicable.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the Rock Creek Watershed Association comprise 6 folders of material ranging in date from 1949 to 1959, with bulk dates from 1954 to 1959. Materials include correspondence, minutes, newsletters, reports, drafts, reprints of articles, membership and mailing lists, notices, brochures, and statements. Significant topics include Rock Creek and its watershed, agricultural methods and building- and roadway-construction practices, stormwater runoff, soil destruction and erosion, flooding and flood control projects, sewage treatment, park conservation and expansion, pollution control, sedimentation, the Soil Conservation Society of America, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC).

The records have been arranged in two series:

Series I: Alphabetical Files

Series II: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I: Alphabetical Files, 1950-1959 (5 folders)

This series contains correspondence, minutes, newsletters, reports, drafts, reprints of articles, membership and mailing lists, brochures, notices and statements. Folder 1 contains drafts of the articles of incorporation and by-laws and correspondence relating to their formulation and filing. Of special significance are Folders 2, 3 and 5. Folder 2 consists of a correspondence file maintained by Bernard Frank, the motivating force of the organization. It documents his growing and urgent concern for the deterioration of Rock Creek and his efforts and those of other RCWA members to arouse public and official attention to its plight and support for its improvement. Folder 3 includes RCWA newsletters and those of other related organizations, drafts and reprints of articles, a list of educational materials relating to conservation, several reports of technical surveys, and a draft of a 1957 master's thesis on the Rock Creek Watershed. Folder 5 contains minutes which document the activities of the Rock Creek Watershed Commission steering committee as well as the RCWA itself.

The folders are arranged in alphabetical order, and each folder is then arranged in chronological order.

Series II: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 1949-1953 (1 folder)

This file seems to have been maintained by J. Douglas Bradshaw, a representative from Montgomery County who was the chairman of the Montgomery-Prince George's Counties Joint Delegation in Annapolis. The records document the attempt by Montgomery County officials, civic organizations, and residents to reorganize the MNCPPC by splitting it up into a Bi-County Planning Coordination Authority. Under this plan, the Montgomery County Council would appoint members of a Montgomery County Planning Agency whose functions would be combined with those of the Upper Montgomery County Planning Commission to allow coordinated planning for the whole county and give taxpayers a voice in how their taxes were being spent. The Montgomery County Planning Agency would also be empowered to coordinate planning with all other jurisdictions instead of Prince George's County alone. The file contains letters of support and opposition from citizens and civic organizations, correspondence relating to legislative details, and copies of testimony given before the House of Delegates. The bill was defeated in 1953.

Box 1

Series I: Alphabetical Files

Articles of Incorporation, 1955-1957

Correspondence, 1950-1958

General, 1954-1958

Membership, 1956-1959

Minutes, 1955-1959

Series II: Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission

Reorganization, 1949-1953