Massachusetts State Federation of Women’s Clubs
Original: two-page resolution adopted at Whitman Town Hall, November 25, 1913. National Archives item 7268076. The text describes a federation representing 262 clubs.
Paraphrase of page 1: The federation opposes changing Hetch Hetchy into a reservoir and urges more transportation and lodging so people can enjoy the national parks. Page 2 petitions the President and urges its senators to defeat bills authorizing the proposed use of Hetch Hetchy or transfers of public lands to private use unless public-welfare necessity is established beyond reasonable doubt. The club resolution does not record either official’s response.
Exact excerpt, page 2: “we do petition the President”. Do not turn the federation’s opposition to this reservoir into opposition to all development.
Maine Central Labor Union
Original: one-page resolution with no printed date. National Archives item 7268079 identifies 1913; no month or day is supplied. The typed name reads Augusta, Hallowell, & Gardner Central Labor Union.
Paraphrase: The union endorses San Francisco’s petition to Congress for rights in the Hetch Hetchy region. It claims a reservoir would meet human water needs without impairing the scenery. Its final resolution petitions the U.S. Senate to grant the rights embodied in the Raker bill, which the writer says had already passed the House of Representatives. This endorsement and request are not themselves enactment.
Exact excerpt: “we petition the Senate of the United States”. The resolution’s account of House passage is a source statement; the selected image supplies no exact House-vote date.
Whose views can we hear
The supplied National Park Service context explains that Indigenous peoples lived in Hetch Hetchy for thousands of years and used its resources. None of these six selected requests gives an Indigenous-authored position on the 1913 bill. Their absence leaves a limit in this packet, not evidence of agreement or absence from the valley. See Source credits for the context source.