Gilbert
Hovey GrosvenorGilbert
Hovey GrosvenorDr. Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875–1966) received the national level Pugsley Medal in 1956. “in recognition of his matchless contributions to the nation’s knowledge and appreciation of its natural legacy, and his tireless lifetime endeavor that enriched beyond measure the nation’s scenic heritage.” He was best known as president of the National Geographic Society and long-time editor of National Geographic Magazine (1899-1954). He encouraged worldwide exploration and greatly increased the circulation of the magazine, especially by using colored photographs. While he was at National Geographic the society membership grew from 900 to some 2 million.
Grosvenor was born on October 28, 1875 in Constantinople, Turkey, where his father was professor of history at Robert College, an American-sponsored institution. Constantinople and Turkey were Gilbert Grosvenor’s home for fifteen years and it was at Robert College that he received his early education. Returning with his parents to the United States in 1890, he attended Amherst College in Massachusetts and graduated with the AB degree magna cum laude in 1897.
Grosvenor’s first employment following graduation was in the teaching profession as an instructor in French, German, Latin, algebra, chemistry and public speaking at the Englewood (New Jersey) Academy for Boys. It was while teaching there, that Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone and president of the National Geographic Society, invited Grosvenor to come to Washington to edit the society’s official publication, the National Geographic Magazine, a virtually unknown technical journal. The job seemingly had little to offer. The magazine had no money, no staff, and its editorial office consisted of half a single rented room; but in the spring of 1899 Grosvenor accepted the offer and went to Washington. The practically empty office space was littered with old Geographics returned from newsstands, other magazines, and an account book that showed the venture was $2,000 in the red. This began Grosvenor's involvement with the National Geographic, which continued until his death in 1966.
The early years were far from encouraging. The magazine’s financial condition remained highly insecure and until 1904 Grosvenor’s salary was contributed from Dr. Bell’s personal funds. Despite these discouraging beginnings, Grosvenor and Elise May Bell, Dr. Bell’s daughter, were married in 1900. The journal which Grosvenor took over in 1899 was weightily technical, and interesting only to experts in scientific fields. Grosvenor, however, believed that these subjects could be treated in a colorful style which would create popular appeal for the magazine in the minds of the lay reader.
Grosvenor, or GHG, as he was respectfully called by the staff at the Geographic, was well grounded in the classics and in literature. From such books as Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle, Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast, and Herodotus’ Travels, written 2,000 years earlier, he had learned that accurate, eyewitness, first–hand accounts in simple straight–forward writing, would leave the most lasting images in readers’ minds. He had helped his father with a series of illustrated books about the antiquities of Constantinople, so he was well aware of the powerful impact that photographs could have.
Grosvenor was responsible for the development of the National Geographic’s commitment to photo journalism. Photography confirmed Grosvenor’s conviction, “If the National Geographic Magazine is to progress, it must constantly improve the quality of its illustrations,” Geographic pictures were scarce when he began his editorship, so he bought a camera, paying a month's salary for it, and embarked on six decades of picture-taking.
During the teens, twenties and thirties, under GHG’s direction, writer–photographers were dispatched all over the globe for many months at a time. They crossed the roof of the world, explored darkest Africa and other remote places that had seldom, if ever, been photographed. In Europe he discovered a “stable,” as he called them, of talented photographers. Their legacy, often in the realm of art, is now an irreplaceable record of vanished customs and ways of life.
Grosvenor’s early convictions that the magazine could be presented with color, adventure and popular appeal, and not compromise scientific accuracy have been overwhelmingly borne out. His early unstinted use of black-and-white and color illustrations in the magazine is credited with profoundly influencing the development of pictorial journalism which is in such wide use today. Grosvenor's pioneering use of photographs has been likened to Henry Ford's pioneering use of mass-production of the automobile. Both had far-reaching effects within the twentieth century. The Model T opened up Amarica and revolutionized transportation. By popularizing and humanizing a once-leaden subject, Grosvenor earned the title "Geographer to Millions."
Grosvenor was one of the “Mather Mountain party” that undertook a back-country camping expedition into California’s Sierra Neveda in 1915 and which had an enormous impact on the history of the NPS. It was Grosvenor’s first trip to the West and as director of the National Geographic Society and editor of its magazine he gave wide visibility to the magnificent scenery which Mather showed the group on his 1915 expedition. This small expedition was comprised of distinguished politicians, publishers, businessmen, writers and conservationists who exercised their influence to bring the NPS into being. Affectionately called “Tenderfoot” by other party members, Gosvenor was so overwhelmed by the grandeur of the High Sierras and his experience on the trip that he became a revered and long-time friend of Mather and the national parks.
Grosvenor was a superb photographer. One of his most famous pictures on that trip commemorated the “dinner under the redwoods” as Mather called it in Sequoia National Park. Mather provided his “greenhorn” guests with the finest equipment, transportation and meal services that he could find. Another of Grosvenor’s famous pictures that he published in National Geographic Magazine showed thirty men with arms outstretched encircling the General Sherman Tree, the largest in the world. The big trees completely captured Grosvenor’s imagination and left an enduring impression on him. At the end of the expedition, Grosvenor had been so impressed by his two weeks in the high Sierra that he vowed the National Geographic Society would “march in step” to bring the NPS agency to fruition and to campaign for more national parks in the Sierra. He fulfilled his promise by publishing in April 1916, almost an entire issue on the national parks entitled The Land of the West: Tribute to the Scenic Grandeur and Unsurpassed National Resources of Our Own Country. It included some pages in full color and a foldout panorama of the General Sherman Tree at Sequoia. It was a glowing tribute to the “crown jewels of America.” Grosvenor had a copy delivered by messenger to every congressman. It greatly influenced the Congress when the time came soon afterwards to vote for the establishment of the NPS.
Mather had been negotiating for the purchase of the Giant Forest, then a private holding within Sequoia National Park and the owners had agreed with him on a price of $50,000. Congress had been persuaded, finally, to provide a special appropriation for this amount, but at the last moment the owners raised the price to $70,000. In this emergency Grosvenor convinced the trustees of the National Geographic Society that the Giant Forest must be preserved. The $20,000 contributed by the society assured the completion of the purchase, and the passing of the big trees to public ownership.
Grosvenor met frequently in 1915 and 1916 with Mather, Albright and others to develop the substance of the NPS Organic Act that was passed in 1916. Subsequent to the expedition, there was never a time when Grosvenor did not use the force of his influential publication to support a national park project on which the NPS leadership needed help. He frequently used the society’s resources to acquire and supply factual data in support of parks at Congressional committee hearings.
According to Horace Albright, Grosvenor “merits ninety – nine percent of the credit for President Wilson proclaiming Katmai National Monument” in 1918. The National Geographic sent an expedition to Katmai, located on the Alaska mainland, soon after the Novarupta volcano erupted in 1912. Grosvenor remained interested in it and devoted almost the entire January 1917 issue of National Geographic to it. He assembled all the maps, materials and information needed to propose the area as a national monument. The new NPS presented this material to Secretary Lance, and then to President Wilson who signed the proclamation without comment. It wasn’t controversial to anyone; it was in far-away, unexplored Alaska; so the setting aside of this 2 million acres in Alaska just happened! He used a similar strategy to convince Congress to acquire Carlsbad in 1923.
In 1954, after 55 years as editor of the magazine and president of the society, Grosvenor relinquished these responsibilities to become chairman of the society’s board of trustees. During his 55 years as editor, Grosvenor received and passed on articles submitted by the world’s great figures, Presidents of the United States, statesmen, explorers, scientists, military men, and travelers. He actively planned, prepared and participated in expeditions sponsored by the society to all parts of the world.
Over the years, articles in the magazine have continued to educate the public to the values found in national parks and the need to protect additional lands for future generations. Grosvenor was a man of great kindness and consideration who was loved by members of his staff. One of his cardinal editorial principles was that a country and its people should be approached in a sympathetic way. He felt that unduly controversial or partisan material had small place in a geographical magazine. Before his death, Grosvenor commented on his good fortune in his home life, children, and long editorship: "Fate does not often permit a man to engage in a single labor of love for more than half a century, and only rarely does it reward his life's work with fruits beyond the boldest dreams of youth. Yet I have been greatly blessed in both respects."