Stella
M. Reed LevistonStella
M. Reed LevistonStella May Reed Leviston (1848-1934) received the Pugsley Bronze medal in 1931 for her “Interest in the California State and National Parks." She was born in Wisconsin to William K and Eliza (Phelps) Reed. Her father traveled overland to California in 1849, and died on the plains while making the trip. She went with her mother to California in 1862 by way of the Isthmus of Panama. They embarked on the S.S. Ariel. It was during the Civil War and the Ariel was overtaken and captured by the famous Confederate cruiser Alabama. The passengers were held prisoners for three days.
Leviston graduated from Blake Seminary, Oakland, California. Her first husband was James Chittenden, but subsequently she married George Leviston Jr. Leviston resided in San Francisco and she was an active supporter of national parks and forests programs in California. She traveled extensively in the United States photographing national parks and monuments and her pictures of them were exhibited in several cities.
She sent many redwood trees to New York and Virginia and was instrumental in bringing plants from New York to California, some of which were planted in Golden Gate Park and around the San Francisco Bay region where she lived.
Leviston was appointed by Governor Young as a California delegate to the National Conference on State Parks in 1924. She became a member of the board of the directors of the National Conference on State Parks; was a life member of the American Forestry Association, the National Parks Association, and the Save the Redwoods League. She was a member of the Presidents’ Assembly of the Cumberland Falls Association and a member of the Federation of San Francisco Womens Clubs.
Mesa Verde and Lassen Volcanic national parks were among other areas that benefited from her private philanthropy during the 1920s. She made her first visit to Mesa Verde in 1921. She enjoyed her stay and offered the park $10,000 to pay for a suitable stone gateway at the entrance. In addition, Superintendent and Mrs. Jesse L. Nusbaum persuaded Leviston that the park needed an adequate museum building more than a gateway. She agreed, doubled the amount of her gift and, as plans matured, added at least another $10,000 to ensure construction of the first wing. Her generosity and the superintendent's zeal attracted other donors including John D.Rockefeller, Jr., who matched her beneficence. With a "fireproof" building Nusbaum was able to request the National Museum return its Mesa Verde specimens to the park, and ensure that all archeological artifacts collected from the park in the future become park property.