Arthur E. Newkirk papers

Arthur E. Newkirk (1914-2006) was an environmental conservationist and longtime member of both the Adirondack Mountain Club and the Nature Conservancy. He served as president of the Adirondack Mountain Club and chairman of the Dome Island Memorial Sanctuary Committee from 1956 until 1982. Born August 7, 1914 in Jersey City, New Jersey, he graduated from Glens Falls High School in 1931. He received a B.S. degree in 1936 and a doctorate in chemistry in 1940 from Cornell University. He worked as a research chemist for General Electric and was the holder of eight patents. Outside of his work for General Electric, he participated in numerous environmental causes including significant work with John S. Apperson on monitoring water levels and preventing erosion on Lake George. He was also involved in numerous other campaigns in the New York's Forest Preserve including fighting the proposed Panther Mountain Dam as well as projects with the Niskayuna Conservation Advisory Council and the Schenectady Museum Nature Preserve. He was a trustee of the Schenectady Museum and Mohawk Valley Library Association. In 1980, Newkirk received the Oak Leaf Award form the Nature Conservancy for his work. He lived in Schenectady, New York, for 49 years and also owned a camp on Lake George. In 1993 he and his wife relocated to Blue Hill, Maine, where he died in 2006.

In 1936, John S. Apperson purchased Dome Island on Lake George to protect it from development and to preserve its wilderness character. He agreed to donate the Island to the Nature Conservancy provided an endowment fund could be raised. The idea was initiated by Dr. Alvin G. Whitney, retired from the New York State Museum and founder of the New York Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. On December 13, 1956, John S. Apperson executed the deed conveying Dome Island to the Nature Conservancy. A maintenance fund of $20,000 accompanied this gift with the stipulation that it be used expressly for the Island’s protection, scientific study, and education. This act created the Dome Island Memorial Sanctuary Committee whose main goals were to implement the wishes of Apperson’s will. At the time of its inception, the committee also focused on protection, surveillance, vehicle and visitor control, education, recreational use, shoreline restoration and scientific research.