Environmental_Jim Crow
John Muir and Conservation
John Muir was one of America’s leading scientific figures in the late 1800s. Trained as a botanist, Muir traveled throughout the country before settling down in California near YosemiteNational Park. There he used his knowledge of the earth’s natural processes and his love of nature’s beauty to argue for the protection of the country’s natural resources. He became the nation’s foremost conservationist. He met and befriended President Theodore Roosevelt, who would use Muir’s ideas to advocate for the establishment of a federal agency to oversee national parks.
Seen here sitting pensively on a rock, Muir was one of the earliest advocates for federal protection of America’s natural beauty.
/ PREVIOUS / NEXT / RECORDS LIST / NEW SEARCH / HELP /TITLE:[JohnMuir, full-length portrait, facing right, seated on rock with lake and trees in background]
CALL NUMBER:BIOG FILE - Muir, John, 1838-1914 <item> [P&P]
REPRODUCTION NUMBER:LC-USZ62-52000 (b&w film copy neg.)
MEDIUM:1 photographic print.
CREATED/PUBLISHED:c1902.
NOTES:
H20557 U.S. Copyright Office.
SUBJECTS:
Muir, John, 1838-1914.
FORMAT:
Portrait photographs 1900-1910.
Photographic prints 1900-1910.
DIGITAL ID:(b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b00011
VIDEO FRAME ID:LCPP003B-00011 (from b&w film copy neg.)
CARD #:95514008
Muir spent much of his early years as a writer, traveler, and activist in YosemiteNational Park, seen here.
/ PREVIOUS / NEXT / ITEM LIST / NEW SEARCHAmerican Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920
YosemiteNational Park, YosemiteFalls, reflected, Yosemite National Park, CA
NOTES
Thurston negative
Building/structure/site dates: 1 October 1890 - established as a National Park;
SUBJECTS
United States--California--Yosemite National Park
landscapes (representations)
waterfalls
lakes
parks
SOURCE
GSD lantern slide 18120
DIGITAL COLLECTION
American Landscape and Architectural Design
REPRODUCTION NUMBER
117884
REPOSITORY
HarvardUniversityGraduateSchool of Design, Frances Loeb Library, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, CambridgeMA02138
SOURCE COLLECTION
Images of America: Lantern Slide Collection
DIGITAL ID
mhsdalad 090116
To help attract national attention to the issue of conservation, Muir published a variety of works on nature. The Mountains of California, written about the Sierra Nevada mountain range, was one of his most famous pieces.
/ PREVIOUS / NEXT / ITEM LIST / NEW SEARCHCalifornia As I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
The mountains of California, by John Muir.
Muir, John, 1838-1914.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
New York, The Century co. 1894.
SUMMARY
Famed naturalist John Muir (1838-1914) came to Wisconsin as a boy and studied at the University of Wisconsin. He first came to California in 1868 and devoted six years to the study of the Yosemite Valley. After work in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, he returned to California in 1880 and made the state his home. One of the heroes of America's conservation movement, Muir deserves much of the credit for making the Yosemite Valley a protected national park and for alerting Americans to the need to protect this and other natural wonders. The mountains of California (1894) is his book length tribute to the beauties of the Sierras. He recounts not only his own journeys by foot through the mountains, glaciers, forests, and valleys, but also the geological and natural history of the region, ranging from the history of glaciers, the patterns of tree growth, and the daily life of animals and insects. While Yosemite naturally receives great attention, Muir also expounds on less well known beauty spots.
SUBJECTS
California--Description and travel.
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)
Exploration, surveys, and guidebooks --California
MEDIUM
2 p.l., ix-xiii p., 1 l., 381 p. front., illus. (incl. maps.) 20 cm.
CALL NUMBER
F866 .M95
REPOSITORY
C
DIGITAL ID
calbk vr04
Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite.
In the image above, Muir stands alongside President Teddy Roosevelt in Yosemite. Muir’s friendship with the President helped his cause – the President supported Muir’s ideas and passed laws to protect the environment. In the book above, Muir wrote down his descriptions of the beauty of California. These two images represent two ways Muir sought to make a change – one by changing laws, and one by changing people’s opinion.
/ PREVIOUS / NEXT / ITEM LIST / NEW SEARCHBy Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present
[Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir on Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, California].
Underwood & Underwood, copyright claimant.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
c1906.
NOTES
Published in: Eyes of the nation: a visual history of the United States/Vincent Virga and curators of the Library of Congress ; historical commentary by Alan Brinkley. New York : Knopf, 1997.
SUBJECTS
Roosevelt, Theodore,--1858-1919--Journeys--California--Yosemite Valley.
Muir, John,--1838-1914,--Journeys--California--Yosemite Valley.
Portrait photographs--1900-1910.
Group portraits--1900-1910.
Stereographs--1900-1910.
Photographic prints--1900-1910.
MEDIUM
1 photographic print : stereograph.
CALL NUMBER
Item in PRES FILE - Roosevelt, Theodore--Misc. Political and Social Activities <p&p>
</p&p>
REPRODUCTION NUMBER
LC-USZ62-8672 DLC (b&w film copy neg. of half stereo)
LC-USZC4-4698 DLC (color film copy transparency)
LC-USZ62-107389 DLC (b&w film copy neg.)
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
DIGITAL ID
(b&w film copy neg. of half stereo) cph 3a11256
(color film copy transparency) cph 3g04698
(b&w film copy neg.) cph 3c07389
Muir’s efforts to protect areas of natural significance were largely successful. The Sierra Club, which Muir founded, remains one of the nation’s leading environmental activist groups. Additionally, Muir’s work of promoting conservation led to the creation of the federal National Parks Service, created two years after Muir died.
The forested area seen here was named “Muir Woods” in honor of Muir.
/ PREVIOUS / NEXT / ITEM LIST / NEW SEARCHAmerican Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920
Muir Woods, path through tres, Muir Woods, CA
SUBJECTS
United States--California--Muir Woods
paths
trees
parks
SOURCE
GSD lantern slide 16474
DIGITAL COLLECTION
American Landscape and Architectural Design
REPRODUCTION NUMBER
117823
REPOSITORY
HarvardUniversityGraduateSchool of Design, Frances Loeb Library, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, CambridgeMA02138
SOURCE COLLECTION
Images of America: Lantern Slide Collection
DIGITAL ID
mhsdalad 090047