Front matter for Principles, Policies, and Procedures: Domestic Geographic Names:
| Department of Agriculture | E. Vaughn Stokes, member Elizabeth K. Banas, deputy | |
| Department of Commerce | Curtis C. Loy, member Joseph L. Marinucci, deputy Nancy G. Schechtman, deputy | |
| Department of Defense | John T. Fahey,
member Edward F. Chabot, deputy Richard B. Nethercutt, deputy | |
| Department of the Interior | Barbara J. Ryan,
member Charles E. Harne, deputy Karen R. Wood, deputy Lee Fleming, deputy Bernard C. Fagan, deputy Bonnie J. Gallahan, deputy | |
| Department of State | Leo I. Dillon,
member Raymond Milefsky, deputy | |
| Central Intelligence Agency | R. David
Wert, member Gregory W. Boughton, deputy | |
| Government Printing Office | VACANT,
member William J. Milans, deputy | |
| Library of Congress | Ronald E. Grim,
member Robert M. Hiatt, deputy John R. Hébert, deputy | |
| Postal Service | Michael C. Garner,
member Susan Hawes, deputy |
Confusion and controversy about geographic names and their applications to places and features led President Benjamin Harrison to establish the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in 1890. That early Executive Order was based on a recognition that conflicts in naming geographic features were, in fact, a serious detriment to the orderly process of exploring and settling this country. A later decision, in 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt to extend the responsibilities of the Board to include standardization of all geographic names for Federal use was a wise and far-reaching decision that, coupled with the Harrison order, forms the foundation for the present organization of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names established in Public Law 80-242, signed by President Truman in 1947.
The existence of a body of standardized geographic names widely available on a national basis, but related strongly to local usage, makes a large contribution to savings and efficiency in the operation of government, business and industry, communications, and education. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is at the hub of a national network of State and academic geographic names authorities who are working hard and continuously to improve that body of names by approving new names in a responsible manner and changing or correcting existing names.
The names of geographic features in the United States are a valuable reflection of the history of our country and its changing face. Names of Native American origin are found sprinkled generously across the face of the land. Strong traces of the national languages spoken by the early explorers and settlers are visible in many sections of the country, often with an accommodation in pronunciation based on local usage. Frequently, geographic naming reveals the rough and brawling nature of the environment that greeted the westward expansion. It is in these ways and many others that geographic naming gives us a clear, exciting profile of the United States that is unmatched in any other medium.
| Robert M. Hiatt Chairman, Domestic Names Committee, U.S. Board on Geographic Names |
Leo I. Dillon Chairman, U.S. Board on Geographic Names |
| Executive Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| As it is desirable that uniform usage in regard to geographic nomenclature
and orthography obtain throughout the Executive Departments of the Government, and
particularly upon the maps and charts issued by the various departments and bureaus, I hereby
constitute a Board on Geographic Names and designate the following persons, who have
heretofore co-operated for a similar purpose under the authority of the several departments,
bureaus, and institutions with which they are connected, as members of said Board:
Prof. Thomas C. Mendenhall, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Chairman. To this Board shall be referred all unsettled questions concerning geographic names which arise in the Departments, and the decisions of the Board are to be accepted by these Departments as the standard authority in such matters. Department officers are instructed to afford such assistance as may be proper to carry on the work of this Board. The members of this Board shall serve without additional compensation, and its organization shall entail no expense on the Government. | ||
| BENJ. HARRISON. | ||
| EXECUTIVE MANSION, | ||
September 4, 1890. | ||
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