Reflections on the Birth and Life of Cape Cod National Seashore with Bill Burke

In the depths of the Great Depression, the National Park Service first floated the concept of a national seashore from Duxbury to Provincetown.  By the time Congress put forth legislation in the late 1950s, Cape Codders hotly debated the concept, with one prominent citizen predicting “tyrannical destruction of inalienable rights of citizens". Bill’s presentation includes the genesis of the idea, philosophy behind new parks, the master plan for the seashore, growing pains, big compromises, lingering controversies, what's historic and what's not, successes and challenges and what the future might hold.  No one said this would be easy.  

A wash-ashore from Western Massachusetts, Bill Burke is a National Park Service employee who serves as the Historian and Cultural Resources Program Manager for the National Seashore.  He has worked there in a number of roles over the past 30 years. He assists researchers and educators by providing access to the park's collection of archives, historic photographs and objects. The National Seashore contains a treasure trove of historic things, including homes, archeological sites and landscapes. Bill enjoys pondering the meaning of it all, and teaching as well as learning from others about our small universe of the Outer Cape.