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The Battles for the Indiana Dunes
The 1966 Legislation | 1967-1976 | 1977 to 1980 | 1981 to 1986
PART I: The 1966 Legislation
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore - 1966
The dunes are a symbol of the crisis that faces all Americans. It is as though we were standing on the last acre and were faced with a decision of how it should be used. In actuality, it is the last acre of its kind. In essence, it foreshadows the time not too far removed when we shall in all truth be standing on that last unused, unprotected acre and shall be wondering which way to go.
Senator Paul H. Douglas, May 7, 1958
Efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes began early in the 1900s. The first serious park proposal came in 1916, prompted by Indiana Senator Tom Taggart's request for a study of the Indiana Dunes. National Park Service Director Stephen Mather recommended the creation of a "Sand Dunes National Park" stretching 25 miles along Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline, and a hearing on the proposal was held in October of that year. But the proposal was shelved when America entered World War I.
Aerial view of Mt. Baldy/Crescent Dune area in 1927
The movement to preserve the Indiana Dunes for public use and enjoyment had its first success, thanks to continuing grass roots support, when the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation in 1923 creating the Indiana Dunes State Park. Consisting of 2,182 acres of dunes and wetlands, and stretching along three miles of Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline, it opened its gates to the people in 1926. Much of the area included in the Sand Dunes National Park proposal, while still unspoiled, remained unprotected.
The Save the Dunes Council was established in 1952 to preserve the Dunes between Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres circa 1960 remaining unspoiled Dunes areas from destruction, spurred by fears that heavy industry and electric generating stations would destroy them. Initially, the Council hoped to buy the dunes between Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres with funds raised from private sources. These efforts proved insufficient. Next, Council founder Dorothy Buell approached the state of Indiana to extend the Indiana Dunes State Park. This in turn proved fruitless because Indiana state government wanted the area for a proposed deep water port and industrial development. Appeals to Indiana's two U.S. Senators to help preserve the Dunes through federal action fell on deaf ears. So the Council turned to U.S. Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois.
Dunes preservation heroes:
Council founder Dorothy Buell and U.S. Senator Paul Douglas
In 1958, Senator Douglas introduced the first of many bills in the U.S. Senate to preserve the Indiana Dunes. A 1963 "compromise" between Port promoters and Dunes supporters was worked out at the federal level: most of the unspoiled area between Ogden dunes and Dune Acres would go to port (and steel mill development); and a 10,000 acre national park would be created.
Bulldozers destroy the dunes - part of a bitter compromise.
In 1966, Congress finally passed legislation authorizing the creation of an Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law on November 5, 1966. Efforts of industry and business to kill the Dunes park legislation proved unsuccessful, but the 10,000 acre park agreed to in the 1963 compromise had been reduced to 8,000 acres. The new Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore boundaries included the Indiana Dunes State Park and 5,800 acres of beach, dunes, and wetlands to the west (West Beach and the Ogden Dunes beach); beach, dunes, and wetlands in Dune Acres, Porter Beach, and Beverly Shores; and Mount Baldy and Pinhook Bog.
Mrs. Buell shows National Park Service team the Indiana Dunes
photo courtesty of Gary Post Tribune
In the beginning, Save the Dunes Council membership was composed of women. But being smart women, they soon recruited men. For the Council's first two decades, business was conducted out of people's homes: Dorothy Buell's desk, Sylvia Troy's basement, Ruth and Ed Osann's ping pong table, Irene Herlocker Meyer's dining room, supplemented by other dining rooms, living rooms, basements, and kitchen tables. Volunteers produced the Council's newsletter, which was sent to all who paid the $1 per year dues. Dubbed "The Mail Troop," the women typed, mimeographed, folded, stapled, labeled and sent out each and every newsletter.
Dunes Park proposals attract widespread political support.
The need for funding was a constant problem. Fundraising cocktail parties helped some. In 1961, women volunteers came up with a plan to produce Christmas cards and note cards graced with photos of the Indiana Dunes, with the proceeds going to the Council treasury. Each dunes photo on each card was attached by hand. Every package was assembled by hand. The cards accomplished two important goals: their sale raised much-needed cash and they stimulated public awareness of the beauty of the Indiana Dunes. Eventually, these activities led to the establishment of the Save the Dunes Shop, which volunteers still run today.
Courtesty of the Calumet Regional Archives
In order to generate support for a national park in the Dunes, the Save the Dunes Council produced a movie about the importance of saving the Dunes and coordinated it with a petition campaign that ultimately collected 250,000 signatures.
photo by Mike Gibbs
In the heady days after the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore finally became law in 1966, Council board members actually considered disbanding the organization. Very early in 1967, when we learned that park opponents had blocked federal funding for park staff and for land acquisition, it became clear that the battle to save the Indiana Dunes was not over. It had just begun.
--Charlotte J. Read
THE INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE ENDURES
photo by Tom Clements
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