Horace Marden Albright (January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1987) was an American conservationist

Conservationist

Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They 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, California

Bishop, California

Bishop is a city in Inyo County, California, United States. Though Bishop is the only city and the largest populated place in Inyo County, the county seat is Independence. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet . The population was 3,879 at the...

, the son of George Albright, a miner

Miner

A miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....

. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 in 1912 , and earned a law degree from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

. 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.

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. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 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 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) 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 Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 and, for a short time, Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a United States 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...

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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 York

New Rochelle, New York

New 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 persecution in France...

. In 1937, his portrait was painted by artist Herbert A. Collins

Herbert A. Collins

Herbert 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 Freedom

Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...

, was awarded to Mr. Albright by President Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States 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.

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. The Albright Training Center at Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park is the United States' 15th oldest national park and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the Wonders of the World. The park covers of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties.Most...

 and the Albright Visitor Center at Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 also bear his name.

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