George Alexander Grant (1929–1954), an American photographer, was the first Chief Photographer for the U.S. National Park Service

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...

 (NPS). He was hired by Horace M. Albright

Horace M. Albright

Horace Marden Albright was an American conservationist.Horace Albright was born 1890 in Bishop, California, the son of George Albright, a miner. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1912 , and earned a law degree from Georgetown University...

 in 1929 to create a documentary file of images for use by the Park Service in reports, interpretive projects, education, and public information. Grant, until his retirement in 1954, created approximately 30,000-40,000 images of NPS areas. These images include—but are not limited to—the following: events, personnel, architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

, stamps, and Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

. Because of their significance to NPS history, Grant's images have been included in the National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.

Sources and references

This article incorporates text from the Eminent National Park Service Photographers website, a public domain

Public domain

Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

 document. For the U.S., federal government works are not eligible for copyright protection (17 USC 105).

See also: U.S. government works in Wikipedia: Public domain

• George A. Grant biographical sketch, the primary source for this article.

External links

• George A Grant photographs at the NPS Historic Photograph Collection

Gallery