So the Future Will Have a Place: The First Century of Oregon State Parks
As part of its centennial anniversary, Oregon Parks and Recreation is pleased to announce the publication of So the Future Will Have a Place: The First Century of Oregon State Parks. The book, an administrative history of the Oregon state park system, was written by historians Marin Aurand and Marc Carpenter for OPRD. It chronicles the story of Oregon’s state park system from the perspective of Oregon political policy, government decision-making and influential recreational leaders of the time.
Administrative histories are part of a narrow, unique genre of the parks and recreation world. This 2022 work is the third written about Oregon’s state park system. The first was written in 1965 by former Park Superintendent Chet Armstrong, entitled Oregon State Parks: History, 1917-1963. The second is from 1992, written by Lawrence C. Merriam, Jr. entitled Oregon’s Highway Park System: 1921-1989, An Administrative History.
About the Authors
Marin Aurand
Marin Aurand is a public historian with nearly a decade of museum experience. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree from Portland State University and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Oregon. She has worked with multiple small museums on exhibit research and writing, interpretive planning, and organizing unruly object and archive collections. Marin has a soft spot for Thompson’s Mills State Heritage Site, Collier Memorial State Park, and Heceta Head Lighthouse, all incredible parks that embrace both the history and the beauty of Oregon.
Marc Carpenter
Marc James Carpenter is an assistant professor of history at the University of Jamestown. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Oregon, a Master’s degree from Penn State University, and a couple of Bachelor’s degrees from Portland State University. His academic work has appeared among other places in the American Indian Quarterly, the Oregon Historical Quarterly, and the Pacific Historical Review. He is a lifelong lover of Oregon parks; some of his happiest memories from childhood are of trips to the Oregon coast and picnics at Rooster Rock.