- Conrad L. Wirth
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Conrad L. Wirth Born December 1, 1899
Hartford, ConnecticutDied July 25, 1993 (aged 93)
Williamstown, MassachusettsOccupation landscape architect, Director of the National Park Service Conrad L. Wirth (December 1, 1899 – July 25, 1993) was an American administrator. He served as the director of the National Park Service between 1951 and 1964.
Wirth was born in Hartford, Connecticut; his father was park superintendent for the city, and later for Minneapolis. Conrad earned a Bachelor of Science degree in landscape gardening from Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts). He first came to Washington, D.C., area to work for the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and he joined the NPS in 1931. With the coming of the New Deal he supervised the service's Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program in the state parks. His administrative ability made him a successor to Director Arthur E. Demaray, whom he served as associate director before advancing to the top job in December 1951. Wirth's crowning achievement was Mission 66, a 10-year, billion-dollar program to upgrade park facilities and services by the 50th anniversary of the NPS in 1966. After the 1961 change of administrations, Wirth fell out of favor with Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall, and departed in early 1964.
He went on to supervise the Interior Department's CCC program. A member of the National Geographic Society's Board of Trustees, he was also active in conservation and park Service alumni affairs.[1] He died in his sleep at a nursing home in 1993.[2]
Further reading
- Wirth, Conrad L. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.
References
- ^ "National Park Service: Biography (Conrad L. Wirth)". NPS. Retrieved on June 14, 2010.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/28/obituaries/conrad-l-wirth-93-led-national-parks-service.html
Preceded by
Arthur E. DemarayDirector of the National Park Service
1951–1964Succeeded by
George B. Hartzog, Jr.Stephen Mather • Horace M. Albright • Arno B. Cammerer • Newton B. Drury • Arthur E. Demaray • Conrad L. Wirth • George B. Hartzog, Jr. • Ronald H. Walker • Gary Everhardt • William J. Whalen III • Russell E. Dickenson • William Penn Mott, Jr. • James M. Ridenour • Roger G. Kennedy • Robert Stanton • Fran P. Mainella • Mary A. Bomar • Jonathan JarvisNational parks of the United States Acadia • American Samoa • Arches • Badlands • Big Bend • Biscayne • Black Canyon of the Gunnison • Bryce Canyon • Canyonlands • Capitol Reef • Carlsbad Caverns • Channel Islands • Congaree • Crater Lake • Cuyahoga Valley • Death Valley • Denali • Dry Tortugas • Everglades • Gates of the Arctic • Glacier • Glacier Bay • Grand Canyon • Grand Teton • Great Basin • Great Sand Dunes • Great Smoky Mountains • Guadalupe Mountains • Haleakalā • Hawaiʻi Volcanoes • Hot Springs • Isle Royale • Joshua Tree • Katmai • Kenai Fjords • Kings Canyon • Kobuk Valley • Lake Clark • Lassen Volcanic • Mammoth Cave • Mesa Verde • Mount Rainier • North Cascades • Olympic • Petrified Forest • Redwood • Rocky Mountain • Saguaro • Sequoia • Shenandoah • Theodore Roosevelt • Virgin Islands • Voyageurs • Wind Cave • Wrangell-St. Elias • Yellowstone • Yosemite • ZionList of National Parks of the United States (by elevation) Categories:- 1899 births
- 1993 deaths
- Civilian Conservation Corps people
- Directors of the United States National Park Service
- Mission 66
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