Horace Marden Albright (January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1987) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conservationistConservationists are proponents or advocates of the ethic of conservation and may be part of the conservation movement.Conservationists advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
.
Horace Albright was born 1890 in
Bishop, CaliforniaBishop is a city in Inyo County, California, USA. is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet . The population was 3,575 at the 2000 census...
, the son of George Albright a
minerA miner is a person whose work or business it is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. It is considered one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners often do not have social guarantees and in case of destruction or mutilations they are left to the mercy of...
. He graduated from
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
in 1912 , and earned a law degree from
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
. Albright married his college classmate Grace Noble and they had two children.
After graduation he worked for the Department of Interior in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
Albright became a legal assistant to Stephen Mather when Mather became Assistant Secretary in charge of National Parks, and later assisted Mather when the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
(NPS) was established in 1916.
Horace Marden Albright (January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1987) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conservationistConservationists are proponents or advocates of the ethic of conservation and may be part of the conservation movement.Conservationists advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
.
Biography
Horace Albright was born 1890 in
Bishop, CaliforniaBishop is a city in Inyo County, California, USA. is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet . The population was 3,575 at the 2000 census...
, the son of George Albright a
minerA miner is a person whose work or business it is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. It is considered one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners often do not have social guarantees and in case of destruction or mutilations they are left to the mercy of...
. He graduated from
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
in 1912 , and earned a law degree from
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
. Albright married his college classmate Grace Noble and they had two children.
After graduation he worked for the Department of Interior in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
Albright became a legal assistant to Stephen Mather when Mather became Assistant Secretary in charge of National Parks, and later assisted Mather when the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
(NPS) was established in 1916. As legal assistant he helped acquire land for several new national parks in the east. When Mather became ill, Albright managed the NPS as acting director. He later served as superintendent of
Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872 , is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. The park was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features,...
and, for a short time,
Yosemite National ParkYosemite National Park is a national park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
.
On January 12, 1929 Albright succeeded Mather as the second director of the NPS and held the post until August 9, 1933. In 1933 Albright resigned to work for the U. S. Potash Corporation and U. S. Borax and Chemical Corporation, serving variously as director, Vice President, and General Manager. During this time they lived in
New Rochelle, New YorkNew Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing Catholic pogroms in France...
. In 1937, his portrait was painted by artist
Herbert A. CollinsHerbert Alexander Collins, Sr., was a Canadian-born American artist. He was known nationally in the United States as a landscape and portrait painter.-Early years:...
.
The nation's highest civilian award, the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is, along with theequivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress, the highest civilian award in the U.S...
, was awarded to Mr. Albright by President
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
on the 64th Anniversary of the National Park Service. President Carter announced the award in August of 1980, and the medal was presented on December 8 by Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Robert L. Herbst, in a ceremony at Van Nuys, California.
Albright died in Van Nuys, California in 1987.
See also
- National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
- Stephen Mather - 1st Director
- Arno B. Cammerer
Arno Berthold Cammerer was the third director of the U.S. National Park Service.-Early years and education:Arno B. Cammerer was born in Arapahoe, Nebraska in 1883. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor.. He went to Washington, D.C in 1904 and worked as a civil service bookkeeper. He earned a...
- 3rd Director
External links
- National Park Service Biography
- "Oh, Ranger!" by Horace M. Albright and Frank J. Taylor (1928, 1929, 1934, 1972). Whimsical look at managing the National parks
- Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years by Horace M. Albright and Marian Albright Schenck (Univ. of OK Press, 1999) Memoirs about creating the NPS written with the assistance of Albright's daughter
- Albright, Horace M. as told to Robert Cahn; The Birth of the National Park Service; The Founding Years, 1913-33; Howe Brothers, Salt Lake City, Utah; 1985.
- College of Natural Resources / University of California, Berkeley