National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings/National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1937-1997

This series includes correspondence, writings, publications, reports, clippings, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to Rath's period of employment with the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings (NCHSB) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). As the first executive secretary of the NCHSB and first director of the NTHP, Rath produced and gathered a wealth of documentation of the origins and evolution of the organization, its activities, and its mission in this series.

Following Rath's index and summary are daily logs that brief daily entries made by Rath from his entire period with the NCHSB/NTHP. Administrative files contain quarterly reports, charter and by-laws, organizational charts, and budget information. , the series is arranged alphabetically under seven headings: Administration, Chronological Files, People, Personal, Subject Files, and Talks. Chronological Files consist of correspondence, monthly reports, memos, clippings, notes, publications, and ephemera produced and/or collected by Rath and his staff and arranged by the year to which the documents relate. People files contain images, correspondence, publications, clippings, and ephemera relating to significant individuals in the two organizations. Personal Files include correspondence and official documents. Publications consist of pamphlets and other printed matter produced by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The subject files contain writings, memos, by-laws, publications, notes, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to fundraising and development, the National Trust of England and Scotland, and NTHP-owned properties.

Prominent correspondents include General Ulysses S. Grant III, David E. Finley, Louise du Pont Crowninshield, Weeks Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt, Horace Albright, Newton Drury, Charles Peterson, Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, and Helen Clay Frick.