Archive Record

Metadata

Title

Richard Lawrence papers

Collection

ADKX Library: Manuscript Collection

Object Name

Manuscript

Scope & Content

This collection is comprised of materials created and compiled by Richard Lawrence, a resident of the Adirondack Park for over 50 years, who dedicated much of his life to working to promote environmental conservation and improvements in the quality of life for people in the Adirondack Park. The bulk of the collection pertains to Lawrence's activities regarding conservation and development in the Adirondack Park through his work with the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks, the Adirondack Park Agency, and the Adirondack Highway Council.

Personal Papers. Organized into the following series:
1. Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks, 1968-1971
2. Adirondack Park Agency, 1971-1994
3. Adirondack Highway Council, 1974-1985
4. Adirondack Visitor Interpretive Center, 1984-1986
5. Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century, 1989-1991
6. Personal, 1955-2002.

This collection does not include significant materials regarding Lawrence's law or business practice, much of his work regarding education and libraries, or a great deal of Lawrence's personal correspondence.

Call Number

MS 09-001

Catalog Number

11547

Creator

Lawrence, Richard Wesley, 1909-

Year Range from

1955

Year Range to

2002

Dates of Accumulation

1955-2002 (bulk dates 1968-1985)

Extent of Description

8.13 linear ft. (21 boxes); 35 maps (various sizes); 8 architectural drawings

Admin/Biographical History

"A false issue has grown up - an issue that looks upon people and the environment as adversaries. The implication is that if environment takes priority, people will somehow be deprived. That's nonsense. It's possible to have both." - Richard Lawrence, quoted in The Ancient Adirondacks by Lincoln Barnett (1974).

Richard Lawrence, a resident of the Adirondack Park for over 50 years, dedicated much of his life to working to promote environmental conservation and improvements in the quality of life for people in the Adirondack Park.

Richard Wesley Lawrence, Jr. was born January 16, 1909, in Bronx, New York. He attended Riverdale School, Princeton University, and Columbia Law School. He married Marjorie Fitch in 1933, who preceded him in death in 1945. Before moving to the Adirondacks, Lawrence served in Army Air Corps from 1942-1945, practiced law in New York City, and was chairman of Printers Ink Publishing and Bankers Commercial Corporation. In 1946, Lawrence married Elizabeth Hand Wadhams (1909-1987), and in 1947 the couple moved to Elizabethtown. Lawrence died on February 6, 2002, at Elizabethtown Community Hospital.

Lawrence quickly became involved in conservation issues in the Adirondacks after moving to Elizabethtown in 1947, through Conservation Management, Inc., of which he was President, and through membership in the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks. When New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller created the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks in September 1968, Lawrence was appointed to serve on the commission. The Commission was charged with reviewing problems in the area and presenting options for preserving the character of the Adirondack Park. Frank Graham, in his book The Adirondack Park: A Political History, credits Lawrence with the idea that "the state should create an independent park commission to deal with the area's private lands" (p. 240). Lawrence's concept came to fruition as the core recommendation of the Commission - to create the Adirondack Park Agency.

Lawrence is perhaps best known for his work from 1971-1975 as the first head of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). G. Gordon Davis, who served as General Counsel to the Adirondack Park Agency during the 1970s, characterizes the priorities of the APA during Lawrence's tenure of leadership as permitting, park planning, and local planning. As the face of the APA, Lawrence interpreted the Adirondack Park Private Land Use and Development Plan at public meetings. Opposition to the plan was widespread among full-time residents of the Adirondack Park, and the hearings were sometimes heated. Peter Van de Water, President of Citizens to Save the Adirondack Park and Vice President of Saint Lawrence University, credited the "tact and patience" of Lawrence in keeping "the often stormy sessions orderly."

The Adirondack Highway Council was created by the New York State Department of Transportation as an advisory body in 1974. Lawrence first took a role in the Adirondack Highway Council as a representative of the Adirondack Park Agency, and continued as a member of the Council until the mid-1980s. As a long-time advocate for conservation in the Adirondacks, Lawrence was appointed by New York Governor Mario Cuomo to the Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century.

In addition to Lawrence's work for the protection of the Adirondacks documented in this collection, he also worked with a number of other organizations concerned with conservation and environmental issues in the Adirondacks, including the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, New York Parks and Conservation Association, Adirondack Council, and the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Lawrence was also involved with educational and quality of life issues in the Adirondack Park. He founded the Essex County Historical Association, helped to create the Hand-Hale Historic District, and served on the boards of the Elizabethtown Public Library, the Elizabethtown-Lewis School Board, the Elizabethtown Social Center, North Country Community College, New York State Historical Association, and the College Council of SUNY Plattsburgh. Lawrence also helped to incorporate the Bruce L. Crary Foundation, and served as the Foundation's Chairman and President from 1973 to 2000. He was also the founding Vice President of Adirondack Life magazine.

Over his lifetime, Lawrence was also granted a number of awards for his service to the Adirondack Park and its people, including the Velma Moore Award from the New York State Library Association, a North Country citation from the Garden Club of America, a Distinguished Service Award from Potsdam College, a Founder's Award from the Adirondack Museum, and an award from the New York-Vermont Interstate Commission on Lake Champlain.

System of arrangement

Chronological and alphabetical arrangement.

Notes

Series 1: Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks, 1968-1971

Series Note:
This series is comprised of materials created and compiled by Richard Lawrence as part of his work with the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks (TSC). Pre-Commission materials in this series include a number of assorted publications and reports about the history of the Forest Preserve, conservation, and the Adirondack Park, along with correspondence and materials related to pre-Commission organizations concerned with environmental preservation in the Adirondacks. The materials regarding the Commission reflect concerns with development in the Adirondacks and its impact on conservation, and research materials and draft reports leading to the final recommendations of the Commission. The significant amount of newspaper clippings in this series document support of and opposition to the TSC and environmental concerns in the Adirondacks, both nationally and among residents of the Park.

The series is generally arranged chronologically. Folders contain an assortment of materials, including correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, draft materials, reports and publications, newspaper clippings, slides, and Lawrence's handwritten notes.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
1//1//Pre-TSC through 1968 [1959-1962]
1//2//Pre-TSC through 1968 [1963-1966]
1//3//Pre-TSC through 1968 [1967-1968]
1//4//Pre-TSC through 1968 - Adirondack Forest Preserve: A Chronology by N. VanValkenbugh, 1968 [typescript]
2//1//December 1968-April 1969
2//2//May-October 1969
2//3//November-December 1969
2//4//[November 1969] - Adirondack Chopper Flight Slides
2//5//1969 - Letters Received Upon Appointment, Early Meetings, Clippings, Etc. [1 of 2]
2//6//1969 - Letters Received Upon Appointment, Early Meetings, Clippings, Etc. [2 of 2]
3//1//January 1970
3//2//February 1970 [1 of 4]
3//3//February 1970 [2 of 4]
3//4//February 1970 [3 of 4]
3//5//February 1970 [4 of 4]
3//6//Water Resources of the Adirondack Region [Feb. 1970 report]
3//7//Water Resources, Potentials, Needs and Opportunities [Feb. 1970 report]
4//1//March 1970 [1 of 2]
4//2//March 1970 [2 of 2]
4//3//Management Guidelines of the Adirondack Park Forest Preserve [ASC study 7B, March 1970]
4//4//April 1970 [1 of 2]
4//5//April 1970 [2 of 2]
4//6//Creation of an Adirondack Park Agency for the Control of Land Use and Development [April 1970]
5//1//May 1970 [1 of 3]
5//2//May 1970 [2 of 3]
5//3//May 1970 [3 of 3]
5//4//June-August 1970 [1 of 2]
5//5//June-August 1970 [2 of 2]
6//1//September-December 1970
6//2//September-December 1970 - Reports and Study Materials
6//3//The Future of the Adirondack Park [Dec. 1970 report]
6//4//Essex County Supervisor Position on Taxation [n.d., ca. 1970]
6//5//January-February 1971 [1 of 2]
6//6//January-February 1971 [2 of 2]
6//7//Sample Forest Preserve Management Plans [January 1971]
6//8//[March 1971]
6//9//[April-August 1971]
7//1//[September-November 1971]
7//2//1971 Miscellaneous and Clips [1 of 2]
7//3//1971 Miscellaneous and Clips [1 of 2]
7//4//1971 Miscellaneous and Clips - Future of the Adirondacks Clippings

Series 2: Adirondack Park Agency, 1971-1994

Series Note:
The materials in the collection reflect the major concerns of the Adirondack Park Agency in its early years, including the creation and implementation of the APA's State Land Master Plan and the Private Land Use and Development Plan, Rules and Regulations, and the preservation of scenic and wild rivers. The series also includes significant amounts of newspaper clippings and correspondence that highlight local preservation and development issues, and local support of and challenges to the APA. The bulk of materials in this series document the years 1971-1975, reflecting Lawrence's Chairmanship of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) during those years, although he continued to collect material related to the APA through the 1990s.

The first part of this series is generally arranged chronologically. Chronologically-organized folders contain an assortment of materials, including correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, draft materials, reports and publications, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, and Lawrence's handwritten notes. The series also includes a number of subject files. These subject files are arranged alphabetically after the chronologically-arranged folders. The bulk of the subject files consist primarily of newspaper clippings.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
8//1//1971 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [1 of 2]
8//2//1971 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [2 of 2]
8//3//1972
8//4//1972 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [January 1972]
8//5//1972 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [February 1972]
8//6//1972 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [March-June 1972]
8//7//State Land Master Plan [Agency Draft for Hearing Purposes, June 1972][Annotated]
8//8//State Land Master Plan [typescript ca. June 1972]
8//9//State Land Master Plan [published version, June 1972]
9//1//1972 - Miscellaneous Correspondence [July-December 1972]
9//2//Adirondack Park Private Land Use and Development Plan - Preliminary Draft, Nov. 1972 [Annotated]
9//3//Adirondack Park Private Land Use and Development Plan - Preliminary Draft, Nov. 1972 [typescript][1 of 2]
9//4//Adirondack Park Private Land Use and Development Plan - Preliminary Draft, Nov. 1972 [typescript][2 of 2]
9//5//Preliminary Private Land Use and Development Plan for the Adirondack Park: Draft for Hearing Purposes [published version, December 1972]
9//6//[January-May 1973]
9//7//Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan and Recommendations for Implementation [published version, March 1973]
9//8//[June-October 1973]
10//1//[November-December 1973]
10//2//Rules and Regulations for Public Hearing Purposes [draft, Nov. 1973]
10//3//[January-February 1974]
10//4//[March 1974]
10//5//[April 1974]
10//6//[May 1974][1 of 2]
10//7//[May 1974][2 of 2]
11//1//[June 1974]
11//2//[July 1974]
11//3//August-December 1974 [1 of 2]
11//4//August-December 1974 [2 of 2]
11//5//[1975-1976]
11//6//[1977-1979]
12//1//[1980-1986]
12//2//[1993-1994]
12//3//Adirondack Studies [Education] [1974-1976]
12//4//Agency and Adirondack Mountain Club [1972]
12//5//Agency Budget [1971-1972]
12//6//APA Photos [1975 and n.d.]
12//7//Boats/Canoeists [1972]
12//8//Bond Issue [1972]
12//9//Books and Resource Materials, No Dates
13//1//Cannon Point [1971-1972]
13//2//Cartoons [n.d.]
13//3//Catskills Commission - Members Appointed [1972]
13//4//[Citizen's Guide Publications][1985]
13//5//Conservancy [1971-1973]
13//6//Deer Forum [1972]
13//7//Editorials [1971-1972]
13//8//Forest Owners, Trees, Misc. [1971-1972 and n.d.]
13//9//Harris, Glenn [1972, 1974]
13//10//Harris Hearings - 11/30/71, 12/1/71
13//11//Historical [1971-1975]
13//12//Horizon Clippings [1972-1973]
13//13//Horizon - Form Letter, Fact Sheet, Standard and Poor Report [1972]
13//14//Horizon Letters [1972]
13//15//Local Hearings - Legal Notices, Public Notices [1972]
13//16//Maps
13//17//[Miscellaneous APA Publications and Brochures]
13//18//Olympics [1974-1975]
14//1//Paine, Peter S. Correspondence [1972]
14//2//Park Bills [1972]
14//3//Park Data [1977]
14//4//Planning Boards, Zoning [1971-1972]
14//5//Private Land Use [1973]
14//6//Private Land Use Plans [1973]
14//7//Public Hearings, State - Lake Placid, Lake George, Old Forge, Rochester - May 1972
14//8//Realty [1971-1972]
14//9//Rockefeller Signs Bills [1972]
14//10//Rules and Regulations [drafts and comments][1971-1972]
14//11//Ryan, Andrew [1971-1972]
14//12//Saint Lawrence University Conference [Summer Conference on the Adirondacks] 1971-1972
14//13//Search for Executive Director and Mapnotes Info. [1971]
15//1//Snowmobiles [1971-1972]
15//2//Staff Members [1971-1972]
15//3//State Land Purchases [1972]
15//4//State Master Plan [1972]
15//5//State Parks - Aldrich [1972]
15//6//Statement by Chairman R.W. Lawrence, Jr. - Newspaper List, 9/23/71
15//7//[Stationery][ca. 1971]
15//8//Telephone and Expense Receipts [1974-1976]
15//9//Tent Platforms [1972]
15//10//Ton-Da-Lay [1972-1973]
15//11//U.S. Department of Interior National Park Service, APA Types [publications]
15//12//Vouchers and Receipts, 1971-1972
15//13//Wilderness [1972]

Series 3: Adirondack Highway Council, 1974-1985

Series Note:
The materials in this series document the major projects of the Adirondack Highway Council, including distinctive signs for highways in the Adirondack Park, trailhead parking areas, bicycle trails, railroad projects, rest areas, and early conceptual materials for a Visitor Interpretive Center.

The series is generally arranged chronologically, and folders of materials contain an assortment of materials, including correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, draft materials, reports and publications, and newspaper clippings.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
16//1//[December 1974-January 1975]
16//2//[February-April 1975]
16//3//[May-December 1975]
16//4//1976
16//5//1977 [1 of 2]
16//6//1977 [2 of 2]
16//7//1977 - Proposed Master Plan for the Adirondack Park Visitor Contact System [report]
16//8//1977 - Lawrence Rest Area, 1-87, South Glens Falls [architectural drawings]
16//9//1978
17//1//Signs [1978-1980]
17//2//[1980-1982]
17//3//[Adirondack Railroad D.O.T. project][1981-1982]
17//4//May 24, 1982 trip Along Routes 3 and 30 Travel Corridor [report]
17//5//Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan for Routes 3 and 30 in the Adirondack Park (1982)
17//6//[1983]
17//7//[1984-1985]
17//8//[1964 Conservation Department Maps and 1985 Reprints][1985]

Series 4: Adirondack Visitor Interpretive Center, 1984-1986

Series Note:
This series contains materials compiled and created by Richard Lawrence regarding planning and press coverage for a proposed Visitor Interpretive Center. These materials reflect Lawrence's personal interest in the construction of a Visitor Interpretive Center at a site he owned in Elizabethtown (Split Rock Falls). Other early planning and conceptual materials related to the creation of a Visitor Interpretive Center can be found beginning in 1977 in Series 3: Adirondack Highway Council. Please note that the materials in this series were created or compiled before either of the current APA-administered Visitor Interpretive Centers was established.

The series is generally arranged alphabetically by folder title. Materials in this series include correspondence, drafts and reports, publications, and press clippings.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
18//1//[APA Proposal and Drafts, 1984]
18//2//Clippings [1985-1986][1 of 3]
18//3//Clippings [1985-1986][2 of 3]
18//4//Clippings [1985-1986][3 of 3]
18//5//Copies of News Clippings [1985]
18//6//[Correspondence and Miscellaneous][1984-1985 and n.d.]
18//7//Keene Proposal [1985]
18//8//Management Plan for the Development and Operation of the Proposed Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center (1985) [APA Report]
18//9//[Split Rock Falls Site][1984-1985]

Series 5: Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century, 1989-1991

Series Note:
Materials in this series include reports made to the Commission and produced by the Commission, draft materials, and correspondence. Reports produced and received by the Commission make up a bulk of the series. The series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
19//1//Adirondack Health and Education Problems [1989-1990]
19//2//Adirondack Park Agency Act (1991)
19//3//Issue Paper 51: Towards the Development of a Comprehensive Interpretive System for the Adirondack Park (1989)
19//4//[Reports and Miscellaneous][1989-1990]
19//5//Transportation in the Adirondacks [Report][1989]

Series 6: Personal, 1955-2002

Series Note:
This small series is comprised of miscellaneous personal materials created and compiled by Richard Lawrence, including correspondence, copies of a memorial booklet created in his honor, and a small amount of materials concerning Lawrence's engagement with environmental and social issues in the Adirondacks that were not clearly part of his work documented in the organizations broadly represented in this collection.

Box and Folder Listing:

Box//Folder//Folder Title
20//1//Adirondack Council [1980-1992]
20//2//Adirondack Land Club, 1959 - Description and Map
20//3//Appointments and Invitations [1965-1980]
20//4//[Archives][1975-1992]
20//5//Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks [1955-1990]
20//6//Clippings [1965-1990]
20//7//Congratulations [Letters re: APA appointment][1971]
20//8//[Hochschild, Harold][1964-1979]
20//9//[Maps]
20//10//[Memorial][2002]
20//11//Miscellaneous Correspondence [1959-1997][1 of 2]
20//12//Miscellaneous Correspondence [1959-1997][2 of 2]
20//13//[Miscellaneous Publications re: Adirondacks][1978-1988 and n.d.][1 of 2]
21//1//[Miscellaneous Publications re: Adirondacks][1978-1988 and n.d.][2 of 2]
21//2//[New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources][Reports, 1984-1986]
21//3//Opposition to "Redevelopment" of John Brown Farm, 1978
21//4//Saint Lawrence University Summer Conference on the Adirondacks [1973-1981]

Search Terms

Adirondack Park Agency (N.Y.);
Lawrence, Richard Wesley, 1909-;
New York (State). Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century.;
New York (State). Dept. of Transportation. Adirondack Highway Council.;
New York (State). Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks.;

Access Conditions

Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Archivist's Notes

The original organization structure of the papers has been preserved as the papers arrived in the Museum Library. Original folder titles have been preserved whenever possible. When folder titles have been created or appended, they are enclosed in brackets in the folder title. Oversized maps and architectural drawings have been removed from folders and are stored separately. Notes indicating identifying information about the oversized material and storage location have been placed in folders originally containing oversized materials.

Related units of description

See the Richard Lawrence papers of the Adirondack Park Agency (MS 76-100) for additional materials pertaining to Mr. Lawrence's role in the APA. Some of the materials in this collection may overlap with materials in MS 76-010.

Archival History

Donated by: Elizabeth Lawrence, October 2006