MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

This paper will argue that the publicity surrounding the development of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the 1920s and 1930s shows a preference for modernity over the natural value of the caves. Many environmental historians have examined the tension between tourist developments in national parks and the desire for visibly untouched land, and while many parks presented a give and take on the issues of modernization, Carlsbad Caverns was developed in a way that expressly embraced modernity. From the earliest years of development of the caves in the early 1920s, the administrators of Carlsbad Caverns presented their alterations as illustrating the most modern technological innovations possible. The superintendent of the caverns constantly fought back against any press that would make the caves seem undeveloped or primitive.

The desire for modernity in the caverns culminated in the installation of a 750-foot elevator shaft into the scenic portions of the cave. The media surrounding this innovation makes it clear that the administrators of Carlsbad Caverns wanted the caverns presented as part of modernizing America, rather than purely a space of natural wonders. This case study shows that technological innovations and images of modernity had a significant amount of traction in the development of the national parks. The intentional movement towards modernity in Carlsbad Caverns, rather than preservation, shows a facet American environmental thought in the 1920s and 1930s that is not illuminated in discussions of other parks.

This paper relies on National Park Service records to show the correspondence between the administrators of the park and various media outlets, as well as news articles that show the triumph of the modern perspective of the caverns over the natural.