[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page E1940]]



             TRIBUTE TO THE LATE THEODORE R. (TEDD) McCANN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH REGULA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 21, 1996

  Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, on September 12, 1996, a former employee of 
the National Park Service, Theodore R. (Tedd) McCann passed away. 
Tedd's passing is mourned by his many friends and family, but his 
legacy lives on and is reflected in many of our Nation's National Parks 
across the country.
  Tedd was a park planner, but he was also a poet and an artist. His 
park plans were touched with his gift of words and his vision. One park 
that Tedd helped plan and that Congress subsequently established in 
1974, is the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in northeast 
Ohio. He began studying the area in 1971. When Tedd was first given the 
assignment, he was skeptical. The Cuyahoga River was, after all, the 
river that caught fire in 1969 and was an icon for environmental 
pollution. Yet later, in Tedd's report back to Interior Secretary 
Rogers C.B. Morton, he called it ``a green shrouded miracle.'' He saw 
in the Cuyahoga Valley the potential of being what it has become today, 
a great urban national park that now serves over 3 million people a 
year who hike its trails and marvel at its scenery and enjoy its rich 
history.
  Tedd also had dreams for a much larger area, one that would extend 
further down the Ohio & Erie Canal and serve even more people 
throughout the region. But good things often need to start with smaller 
steps and he recognized that fact. Fortunately, at the end of the 104th 
Congress we were able to take that next big step, and establish the 
Ohio & Erie Canal Heritage Corridor which encompasses the Cuyahoga 
Valley National Recreation Area but extends north and south from 
Cleveland to Zoar Ohio and will truly create a ribbon of wilderness in 
urbanized northeast Ohio. The heritage corridor is a relatively new 
concept, which allows for more flexibility in how the area is managed 
and provides for increased local participation. It is a concept which I 
believe Tedd would be proud of and the Ohio and Erie Canal Heritage 
Area will further enhance the ``green-shrouded miracle'' he so aptly 
described more than 2 decades ago.
  But Tedd's legacy extends beyond northeast Ohio as he had a hand in 
many other parks across the country. Because of that and especially for 
the legacy he left us in Ohio I want to share some of the details of 
his life.
  Tedd was born on May 29, 1929, in Jeannette, PA to Lawrence Vernon 
McCann and Lois Mumma McCann. His family later moved to Pontiac, MI. At 
the age of 18, Tedd caught a train and went to Chicago to study art. He 
joined the Air force during the Korean War and was stationed at Langley 
Air Force Base in Hampton, VA. He later attended the Corcoran Art 
School in Washington, D.C. and received a degree in art history and 
painting from George Washington University. He was a graphics designer 
for the Bureau of Reclamation from 1957 to 1960, and later headed his 
own house restoration business.
  In 1963, Tedd joined the National Park Service as art director. He 
helped put together a graphics and cartography unit in the publications 
office; it received a gold medal from the First Federal Design Assembly 
as the best in government. Many of the maps and brochures he designed 
are still in use. In 1967 Park Service Director George Hartzog set up 
the Office of Urban Affairs, and Tedd worked on initial plans for the 
then-proposed Wolf Trap Park, VA; Georgetown Waterfront and Fort 
Lincoln, Washington, DC; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; Delaware 
Water Gap National Recreation Area; and Jefferson National Expansion 
Memorial, St. Louis, MO.
  In 1968 in the wake of the riots in Washington, DC, he and designer 
Russell Wright conceived of and developed the ``Summer in the Parks'' 
program, which provided cultural and recreation activities in parks 
throughout the region and became the model for similar programs 
throughout the Nation.
  Tedd's park planning days began in 1969, when he served on the 
planning team that came up with the plan and legislation to establish 
the Gateway National Recreation Area in New York/New Jersey. He 
subsequently served as head of planning for other new urban national 
parks, including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San 
Francisco and of course, the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area 
between Akron and Cleveland, OH. He also did the early studies of the 
Lowell National Historic Park, MA; Chattahoochee River National 
Recreation Area, Atlanta; Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation 
Area, near Los Angeles; and Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty, NY. He 
conducted a study of President Roosevelt's summer home in Warm Springs, 
GA and a study of the Rockefeller estate in Pocantico Hills, NY. He 
also led a study of potential African-American historic sites 
throughout the country, several of which including the Maggie Walker 
home in Richmond, VA, Congress subsequently included in the National 
Park System. As his last project before retiring in 1984, he served on 
the management planning team for the Women's Rights National Historical 
Park, Seneca Falls, NY.
  Tedd lived with his wife Loretta Neumann in Washington, DC. Tedd was 
one of the founders of Plan Takoma, a neighborhood organization for 
which he helped develop a comprehensive plan for the area surrounding 
the proposed Metrorail station. He was also active in Neighbors Inc. He 
was one of the founders in the late 1970s of the Takoma Park Folk 
Festival, and for many years was a member of its coordinating 
committee. He was for many years treasurer of the Committee of 100 on 
the Federal City and Takoma Park Horticultural Club.
  Tedd's first marriage was to Marilyn Hudson, with whom he had three 
children: Christopher, Carol Lynn, and Clair (Behrens). He has one 
grandson, Charles Behrens. He also has a sister, Patricia (Rososky), 
and brother, Lawrence.
  Just over a week ago, I participated in a ceremony to mark the 
reopening and completion of the renovation of the historic ``Boston 
Store'' in the Cuyahoga Valley. It was a great day and all of us who 
were present including John Seiberling, the author of the legislation 
creating the Cuyahoga Valley noted how bi-partisan the creation and 
continued operation of the park has been. The ``green-shrouded 
miracle'' Tedd knew would one day be a park has brought much joy to 
millions in our region of the country and his vision has left an 
indelible mark throughout the country.

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