Series 1 of record group 97-295 consists of typed transcripts of the proceedings of the Michigan State Park Commission for the years 1920-1921. The Commission, authorized by Governor Albert A. Sleeper on May 12, 1919, conducted business for two years before being abolished with the creation of the Michigan Department of Conservation in 1921. The Commssion established policy for the management and use of state parks, and placed almost two dozen sites into the public domain. D.H. Day served as the first chairman of the Commission. Day preceded to donate land he owned on Glen Arbor Bay, Leelanau County (in 1975 this land would become part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore). From the beginning session on January 20, until the last on March 29, 1921, the Commssion activity focused primarily on acceptance of gifts of land for state parks.
