The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission consented to exploratory testing to determine the suitability of the park's soil for veterans gravesites. Malloy objected strongly and sought an injunction as a private citizen. [81] After a commonwealth judge overturned the injunction, Valley Forge park staff members, some of them attired in Revolutionary garb, watched helplessly as Veterans Administration engineers dug sample graves on park soil.
Most of those opposed to the cemetery at Valley Forge shared the argument that a modern cemetery would "superimpose" one national shrine on another, The U. S. House Committee on Appropriations made this point as it too entered the fray, noting, "There is no justification for developing national shrines as cemeteries or overly concentrating activities in such locations." The committee then denied funds and thereby thwarted plans for a veterans cemetery in the park. [82] The dead, at least, would not be allowed to move in on Valley Forge.
As the publicity over the cemetery had mentioned, America's Bicentennial was quickly approaching, bringing up the critical issue of whether Valley Forge would have sufficient funds to receive all the Americans who were expected to spend some time there in 1976. An editorial in the Philadelphia Bulletin stated: "The park also has suffered from a lack of funds for preservation of historic sites and construction of adequate visitors' facilities. Some 1.7 million people now visit the park annually. An estimated 5 to 15 million are expected in 1976." [83] On July 4,1975, Valley Forge was officially granted the honor of flying the American flag twenty-four hours a day, but later that year the park commissioners lamented that they did not even have enough money to purchase an adequate flagpole. [84]
State Representative Peter Vroon introduced legislation for emergency bicentennial relief money for Valley Forge. He attended a park commission meeting and explained how two house bills would allocate $600,000 for the fiscal year ending June 1976, and $500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 1977. The park commission immediately passed a resolution urging the PHMC to support a campaign for the passage of this legislation that would provide the funding needed so desperately to handle the expected bicentennial crowds. [85]
All the trouble Valley Forge had endured from the beginning of intensive commercial development in the area again raised the issue of whether the cause of historic preservation at Valley Forge would be better served if the state park became a national park. Following the bad press of the early 1970s, many local residents and groups began writing letters to their congressmen, seeking creation of a National Park at Valley Forge. The executive director of the PHMC, S. K. Stevens, announced his support for this grassroots movement, yet progress remained slow because the Nixon administration had adopted a policy against federalizing state parks, instead advocating a return of excess federal lands to local control. [86] A turning point was finally reached in late 1974 and early 1975 when several key political leaders including Pennsylvania's Governor Milton Shapp, took up the issue. Governor Shapp approached the secretary of the interior and Congressman Dick Schulze, who together with various co-sponsors introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing the interior secretary to establish Valley Forge National Historical Park. While Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott introduced an identical bill in the Senate, Pennsylvania state legislators worked on bills that would allow the transfer of Valley Forge from the commonwealth to the federal government. [87]
The position of the park commissioners had gradually changed from opposition to endorsement. In June 1974, a park commission resolution recorded in the minutes read: "Let [Pennsylvania] meet its obligations by making adequate provisions for [the park's] operation instead of relinquishing to the Federal Government." [88] A vote taken in the fall of 1975 showed that at that time nine commissioners favored the transfer while only four still opposed it. One member of the remaining opposition questioned whether the federal government had done so well at Gettysburg. Valley Forge already had an absentee landlord in the PHMC, he maintained. Would the park now become the "stepchild" of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia? [89]
A hearing was convened on Monday, September 29, 1975, in Washington, D. C., to consider legislation that would finally create a national park at Valley Forge. The Honorable Roy A. Taylor, who presided at the meeting, opened with the remark that the Valley Forge experience was a story "known by every school child, and the ordeal endured by Washington and his army is seen as one of the key turning points in our struggle for independence." [90] Dick Schulze, in whose district Valley Forge was located, spoke of the hallowed ground being under siege, surrounded by commercial development, its landmarks sorely in need of attention. [91] Vroon also mentioned urban sprawl, lamenting that lack of vision years before had allowed the Pennsylvania Turnpike to come too close to Valley Forge. [92] Malloy commented on the park commission's difficulties in dealing with the PHMC, calling the parent body "an ineffectual commission." [93]
Malloy and several other speakers raised the issue of proposed development on the neighboring Chesterbrook tract, Malloy identified the Chesterbrook property as an "integral part" of Valley Forge and called on the federal government to acquire it and make it part of Valley Forge National Historical Park. [94] Developer Richard Fox, who did not oppose the creation of a national park, did insist that the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the planned community of Chesterbrook would not be as dire as predicted. [95] Nathaniel Reed, the assistant secretary of the interior, questioned whether the acquisition of Chesterbrook would be worth the expenditure of an estimated $22 million for land with limited historical importance that would essentially serve the park as a buffer zone. [96]
Chesterbrook continued to he an issue as the bill made its way toward becoming law. The Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs also considered the bill, and Senator Hugh Scott continued to press for the inclusion of the Chesterbrook tract in the proposed park, suggesting that the National Park Service chip in $12 million, the remaining cost to be borne by township, county, and private contributors. When the committee voted in the spring of 1976, however, it approved an amendment precluding the acquisition of Chesterbrook, stating that this issue should not interfere with the goal of nationalizing the park, and soon afterward the bill making Valley Forge a national park was passed. [97]
President Gerald Ford signed the bill into law at a special ceremony held at Valley Forge on July 4, 1976. He congratulated the legislators who had worked long and hard to get their legislation through. He thanked Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp, pledging, "And so, Governor, we are delighted to take over and make certain that the good work of the State of Pennsylvania is carried out and that this historic site will become another in the complex of national historic sites for the preservation of these things that mean so much to us—those sites that contributed so significantly to our national history and our national progress." [98]
Within another month, the transition was well under way. H. Gilbert Lusk, a New Jersey native who had been with the National Park Service since 1962, was appointed the first National Park Service superintendent at Valley Forge. [99] Meetings were conducted with Valley Forge's other associations, such as the Valley Forge Historical Society. National Park Service officials admitted there would be changes, generally emphasizing historic preservation and discouraging some recreational uses of the park, but these would be gradual and would be made after discussions with interested groups and individuals. [100] Annamaria Malloy made it clear that her interest in the affairs of Valley Forge would not cease with the demise of the park commission. [101] Special ceremonies were held at the National Memorial Arch on March 30, 1977, to formally transfer the administration of Valley Forge to the National Park Service. [102]
The talk of change was all rather vague, making it clear that no one was certain exactly what the new era opening at Valley Forge would bring. In the meantime, another struggle and another transition was taking place among the successors to the Rev. Dr. W. Herbert Burk.
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