| Colonel
Richard Lieber
Founder of the Indiana State Parks System
by Ginger Murphy, NAI Region 4
 Colonel
Richard Lieber founded Indiana’s state
park system and supported “nature guiding” in
that system. His vision remains a key element in the
operation of Indiana’s state parks and reservoirs
today.
He was born on September 5, 1969 and came to Indianapolis
from Germany in 1891. He owned a chemical company,
served as a music and art critic for the local newspaper
and started a bottling company for soft drinks and
medicinal waters. He was a civic and legislative leader.
His first major role in natural resources came as chair
in planning the Fourth National Conservation Congress,
held in Indianapolis in 1912.
He supported early efforts to purchase a unique area
of the state known then as Turkey Run and, when enough
funds weren't available, helped to ensure the purchase
of McCormick's Creek as Indiana's first state park
in 1916. He continued to support local resident and
nationally-recognized author Juliet Strauss in her
efforts to ensure the preservation of Turkey Run, which
became Indiana’s second state park. In that same
year, he proposed the development of a Department of
Conservation to consolidate agencies concerned with
natural resources. The bill failed in the 1917 General
Assembly, but passed in 1919. He served as the Department's
first director until 1932 and as the Director of State
Parks at the same time until 1933. During his term,
nine parks and several state memorials (historic sites)
were acquired.
Such innovations as admission charges for entry (users
bearing costs of maintaining sites) and park hotels
(year round usage) placed him in the forefront of park
development nationwide. He earned national leadership
roles. He helped to found the National Conference on
State Parks in association with the first Director
of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, in 1921.
One of his guiding principles for park operations was
that each site should have a “nature guiding
program.” Indiana’s first nature guide,
Lucy Pitschler, worked as a volunteer and then as a
paid staff member at McCormick’s Creek State
Park beginning in 1923. Her success inspired Indiana’s
present-day interpretive services, which have operated
almost continuously for over 80 years to carry out
Lieber’s stated vision that “Our parks
and preserves are not mere picnicking places. They
are rich storehouses of memories and reveries. They
are guides and counsels to the weary and faltering
in spirit. They are bearers of wonderful tales to him
who will listen; a solace to the aged and an inspiration
to the young.”
Lieber’s interest in both history and nature
are visible in the Lieber Cabin, a fixture for visitors
to Turkey Run State Park. The cabin, originally constructed
in 1848 by Daniel Gay in Howard Township, was discovered
and ultimately moved to the park in 1918 under Lieber’s
guidance. Using period tools and techniques available
at the time, he researched and guided the restoration
of the cabin into a pioneer home and museum.
The system he created drew attention from private citizens
and media in other states. Robert Allen Frederick whose
Ph.D. thesis documented Lieber’s work, says "As
early as 1921.....Indiana was a pioneer in park work……By
1928 the state has the enviable distinction of being
pointed out as a model by other states."
After leaving state government, Lieber continued his
work on behalf of our natural resources as a consultant
to the National Park Service. He was appointed as a
member of the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic
Sites, Buildings and Monuments. He served until his
death (11 years), and participated in the selection
of sites for several national parks.
Richard Lieber died on April 15, 1944, while staying
at one of Indiana’s state parks that he so cherished.
He was visiting Canyon Inn, the hotel at McCormick’s
Creek State Park. His ashes, along with those of his
wife Emma, are buried at his beloved Turkey Run State
Park.
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