congressional_record: CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1940
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| CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgE1940 | 1996-10-21 | 104 | 2 | TRIBUTE TO THE LATE THEODORE R. (TEDD) McCANN | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | TRIBUTETO | E1940 | E1940 | [{"name": "Ralph Regula", "role": "speaking"}] | 142 Cong. Rec. E1940 | Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996) [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. ____________________ |