Origins of National Park Service Administration of Historic Sites

Albright, Horace

We of the National Park Service have always been proud of the loyalty, dedication, and esprit de corps our organization receives from its employees. One reason is that, entrusted with the care of irreplaceable treasures of our natural and cultural heritage, we can approach our work both as a mission and as a job. Each of us, we believe, enjoys individual satisfactions not given to workers in less fruitful vineyards. But we are conscious, too, of another force that has brought us together in such unity of purpose. The founders of the National Park Service erected our institutional edifice on a bedrock of enduring principles and furnished it with traditions of lasting strength and always contemporary relevance. Stephen T. Mather and Horace M. Albright built the National Park Service with strong materials, and the legacy of their stewardship remains a dynamic and inspirational influence passed from each generation to its successor. Death removed Mather prematurely. But, fortunately, Horace Albright has been with us for more than half a century. As Mather's invaluable lieutenant, as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and field assistant director, as Director during the crucial years of 1929-33, as friend, counselor, and benefactor ever since, and as a tireless traveler, he has come to know and be known by several generations of the National Park Service family. Rangers, interpreters, and laborers no less than directors and superintendents count him as friend and find in him a source of wisdom and continuing inspiration. To the hundreds of park people who have been warmed by his friendship and guided by his example and advice, he is the embodiment of the precepts and traditions he played so vital apart in formulating. My own debt to Horace Albright is beyond calculation. His counsel and support have been unselfishly and continuously given. Both philosophically and practically, his ideas are always precise, pertinent, and perceptive. I value his guidance and help. I cherish his friendship. I admire his stature as a living expression of the highest ideals of public service.