Horace M. Albright

Horace Marden Albright (January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1987) was an American conservationist and the second director of the National Park Service.

Horace M. Albright
2nd Director of the National Park Service
In office January 12, 1929 – August 9, 1933
President	Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Stephen Mather
Succeeded by	Arno B. Cammerer
Personal details
Born	(1890-01-06)January 6, 1890 Bishop, California, U.S.
Died	March 28, 1987(1987-03-28) (aged 97) Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Spouse	Grace Noble
Children	2
Occupation	Conservationist
Awards	Audubon Medal Berkeley Citation[1] Presidential Medal of Freedom

Albright enjoys a "bear dinner", Yellowstone National Park, 1922

Early life and education

Horace Albright was born in 1890 in Bishop, California, the son of George Albright, a miner. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1912, and earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1914.^[2] Albright married his college classmate Grace Noble and they had two children.

Early career

After graduation, he worked for the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. Albright worked as a lawyer until being introduced to Stephen Mather who took him on as an assistant.^[3][4] When Mather became Assistant Secretary in charge of the national parks, Albright assisted Mather when the National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916.^[3] As legal assistant, he helped acquire land for several new national parks in the east. After the first year and a half of being a part of the newly created park service, Albright created a list of management polices that were looked over by a wide group of people including conservationists which was sent to NPS director Mather by Franklin Lane in what is called the "Lane Letter".When Mather became ill, Albright managed the NPS as acting director.^[5]

In the early years of the national parks idea, Horace Albright and Stephen Mather focused on getting people to come to the parks which influenced Albright's policies related to the preservation and use of the parks.^[6][3] Together, they also pushed for expanded park boundaries to accommodate more wildlife habitat and, in the case of Yellowstone National Park, added the Grand Teton mountain range as a visitor attraction to complement Yellowstone National Park.^[6][3]

He later served as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park from 1919 to 1929. He viewed Yellowstone as the flagship of the National Park Service and worked to make it a model for park management. During his tenure, he established visitor services and park museums, which became foundational elements of the National Park Service. His leadership in Yellowstone set standards that influenced the management of other national parks. In the early years of being superintendent, Albright would get the support of John D. Rockefeller Jr. who bought land around the Teton Mountain range to preserve it and eventually make a park.^[3] He would also be a key person who helped preserve the culture and lands of Jackson Hole town which helped the community support the creation of the Grand Teton park idea.^[3]

Horace Albright as Superintendent of Yellowstone

For a short time he served as superintendent of Yosemite National Park. On October 18, 1922, he was elected Associate Member of the Boone and Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, in 1887.

Horace M. Albright, Superintendent of Yellowstone, 1922

Director of NPS

On January 12, 1929, Albright succeeded Mather as the second director of the NPS and held the post until August 9, 1933. As the new director of the NPS, Albright advocated that the preservation of animals should still have ways in which to make interactions with the visitors possible.^[5] This view was opposed by many biologists such as George Melendez Wright at Yellowstone National Park, where this practice had animals such as bison being seen as more of a tourist attraction compared to the other wildlife at the park.^[5] Albright would continue to put visitor use over biological concerns when they came up as he saw the parks being more for the people rather than the animals both during his time as director and after.^[5]

Albright was instrumental in transferring historical sites and military parks from the War Department to the Interior Department with the National Park Service.^[7] He did this by saying that the NPS had more administrative freedom than the War Department and that they were more accustomed to doing interpretation and educational work.^[7] This move broadened the agency's mission to include cultural and historical preservation alongside natural conservation.^[8]

Along with adding historical military sites, Albright also helped create and develop a history program for the National Park Service.^[4] Starting with Verne. E. Chatelain, one of the achievements being the creation of the national historical park at Morristown. Additionally, the first Branch of Research and Education was created under Albright to help collect data about the various wildlife and natural resources in order to develop facilities to educate visitors and expand the known knowledge of the park.^[6] In 1931, Albright decided to place a limit on overnight visitors to facilities located in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park which added preservation concerns alongside the tourism concerns.^[6]

During his time as Director of the National Parks, Albright was instrumental in adding new national parks such as the Everglades, Great Smokey Mountains, and the Grand Tetons.^[2] When Albright was invited in 1930 to the Everglades to see the place that different groups of people wanted to either preserve or destroy, he decided at the end of the trip to put forth the concept of it becoming a national park although it would take a few years.^[3]

Late Life

After leaving the National Park Service in 1933, he next worked for the U.S. Potash Corporation and U.S. Borax and Chemical Corporation, serving variously as director, vice president, and general manager.^[2] During this time, the Albrights lived in New Rochelle, New York. In 1937, Albright's portrait was painted by artist Herbert A. Collins.^[8] Albright retired from the U.S Potash Corporation in 1965, but contunied to engage in both conservation and national parks issues.^[2]

Albright died of heart failure at age 97 in Van Nuys, California, in 1987.^[2][9]

Legacy

In 1969, Albright received the National Audubon Society's highest honor, the Audubon Medal.^[10]

On the 64th anniversary of the National Park Service, Albright was honored with the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Jimmy Carter announced the award in August 1980, and Assistant Secretary of the Interior Robert L. Herbst presented it during a ceremony held in Van Nuys, California, on December 8th of that year.^[11]

Albright Peak Grand Tetons National Park

Albright Grove, a grove of old-growth hemlocks and tulip poplars located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was named in Albright's honor.^[12] The Albright Training Center at Grand Canyon National Park, the Albright Visitor Center at Yellowstone National Park, and Albright Peak in Grand Teton National Park also bear his name.