Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (; October 28, 1875 – February 4, 1966), father of
photojournalism, was the first full-time
editor of the ''
National Geographic'' magazine (1899–1954). Grosvenor is credited with having built the magazine into the iconic publication that it is today.
As President of the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
, he assisted its rise to one of the world's largest and best known science and learning organizations, aided by the chronicling in its magazine of ambitious natural and cultural explorations around the globe.
Early life
Grosvenor was born on October 28, 1875 to Lilian Waters and
Edwin A. Grosvenor in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
,
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, (now known as
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
).
He was second cousin to U.S. President and
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
Justice
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
.
He was educated at
Worcester Academy
Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...
and at
Robert College. He attended
Amherst College and graduated with the A.B. degree ''
magna cum laude'' in 1897. While at Amherst, Grosvenor and his twin brother Edwin were one of the best tennis doubles teams.
Career
National Geographic Society
Grosvenor was hired in 1899 as the first full-time employee of the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
by
Alexander Graham Bell, the Society's President at the time. He eventually was named Director, and later was elected president of the Society in 1920 after the death of Rear Admiral
John E. Pillsbury,
and remained editor of ''
National Geographic'' magazine until 1954.
Grosvenor advocated policies of neutrality and positive, upbeat journalism through two world wars, the
Great Depression, and the beginning of the
Cold War. This style was seen as innovative in the opening years of the 20th century. However, by the 1950s, Grosvenor's style was criticized as being ossified and dated. He and his staff (most of whom were in their late 60s and 70s) were criticized as being conservative, complacent, and unwilling to modernize, and the National Geographic's subscription base fell as a consequence. After 50 years at the helm, he stepped down in 1954 at the age of 78.
Support for the National Park Service
Grosvenor first traveled to the western United States in 1915 to hike with
Stephen Mather
Stephen Tyng Mather (July 4, 1867 – January 22, 1930) was an American industrialist and conservationist who was the first director of the National Park Service. As president and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company he became a million ...
in the
Sierra Mountains and what is now
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief ...
. "Grosvenor 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," according to National Park Service historian Walter Bielenberg. Following his return, Grosvenor provided funding to buy Giant Forest and add it to Sequoia National Park.
For years, opposition in Congress had prevented creation of a national system of parks. In late 1915 and 1916, Grosvenor met with Stephen Mather,
Horace Albright, and others to draft the
Organic Act
In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States and specifies how it is to be governed, or an agency to manage certain federal lands. In the absence of an organ ...
, which would create a National Park Service. He then created a special issue of ''
National Geographic'' (April 1916) entitled "The Land of the Best" to promote the importance of parks and encouraged readers to support creation of a national system. He and Albright made sure that every member of Congress had a copy of the issue. Their efforts worked, and that year legislation finally passed that would establish the National Park Service.
Grosvenor continued involvement with the National Parks over the years. He became very involved in protecting the Katmai volcanic crater and Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes from mining exploitation, and helped to establish
Katmai National Monument in 1918. Katmai National Park's Grosvenor Lodge is named after him.
Personal life
Grosvenor married Elsie May Bell (1878–1964), the daughter of
Alexander Graham Bell. Together, they were the parents of seven children, including:
[Martin, Sandra. "Mabel Grosvenor, Doctor 1905–2006", Toronto: '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', November 4, 2006, p.S.11. Proquest document ID: 383502285. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
*
Melville Bell Grosvenor (1901–1982), also a
National Geographic president.
* Gertrude Hubbard Grosvenor (1903–1986).
*
Mabel Harlakenden Grosvenor (1905–2006), was a
pediatrician who, for several years, was secretary to her grandfather
Alexander Graham Bell,
[Sullivan, Patricia]
Obituary: Mabel Grosvenor, 101, Doctor, Granddaughter Of Inventor Bell
''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'', November 9, 2006. Retrieved via the ''Boston Globe'' at Boston.com on June 15, 2010.
* Lilian Waters Grosvenor (1907–1985).
* Alexander Graham Bell Grosvenor (1909–1915), who died young.
* Elsie Alexandra Carolyn Grosvenor (1911–2004).
* Gloria Victoria Grosvenor (1918–1972).
In 1931, Grosvenor bought a property in
Coconut Grove, Florida
Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...
next door to his brother-in-law,
David Fairchild
David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 – August 6, 1954) was an American botanist and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants and varieties of established crops into the United State ...
. He called this estate ''Hissar'' after the small town in Turkey where he was born. After Fairchild's estate, ''
The Kampong'', was acquired by the
National Tropical Botanical Garden
The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit institution dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. It operates a network of botanical gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida.
History
I ...
, they also bought Hissar. Grosvenor served on the board of trustees of the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
from 1944 to 1960.
Grosvenor's health deteriorated following the death of his wife and he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90 on February 4, 1966.
Grosvenor is buried in
Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...
alongside his wife and members of the Bell family.
Grosvenor Arch, a
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
double
arch located in southern
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, is named after Gilbert Grosvenor.
Descendants
Through his eldest son Melville, he was the grandfather of
Alexander Graham Bell Grosvenor (1927–1978), a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
pilot,
Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (b. 1931), also a National Geographic president,
and
Edwin S. Grosvenor (b. 1951), the editor-in-chief of ''
American Heritage''.
Through his daughter Elsie, he was the grandfather of
Walter Kendall Myers
Walter Kendall Myers (born April 15, 1937) is a former U.S. State Department employee who, with his wife, Gwendolyn, was arrested and indicted on June 4, 2009, on charges of spying for Cuba for nearly 30 years. He was convicted of espionage and ...
(b. 1937), a former
U.S. State Department employee who, with his wife, Gwendolyn, was arrested and indicted in 2009 on charges of spying for
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
for nearly 30 years.
He was convicted of spying and sentenced to life imprisonment by a U.S. federal court in July 2010. The judge told the couple: "I see no sense of remorse. You were proud of what you did".
Legacy
Grosvenor was one of the founders of the
Cruising Club of America,
and is considered the 'true' father of photojournalism.
[Cosmos Club blog](_blank)
In the 1950s, Grosvenor's daughter acquired an historic building in
Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake.
Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
which she named
Gilbert H. Grosvenor Hall
Gilbert H. Grosvenor Hall is a historic building in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada. The 19th-century building has served as a post office, library, and interpretive centre.
History
The building was originally built as the Baddeck Post Office and ...
in his honour.
His daughter Mabel oversaw the stewardship of Bell's legacy Canadian estate at
Beinn Bhreagh,
Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake.
Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
, until her death, and was also the Honorary President of the Alexander Graham Bell Club (founded in 1891), Canada's oldest continuing women's club. The club grew out of a social organization started at Beinn Bhreagh, by her grandmother and namesource
Mabel Bell.
[Bethune, Jocelyn. "Alexander Graham Bell’s Granddaughter Dies At 101", Halifax, Nova Scotia: '' The Chronicle Herald'', October 31, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2010.][Bethune, Jocelyn]
''Historic Baddeck: Images Of Our Past''
Nimbus Publishing, Halifax, N.S., 2009, pp.112–113, 117, , .
See also
*
Grosvenor (surname) – for the origins of the family
* Monkfruit, or ''
Siraitia grosvenorii
''Siraitia grosvenorii'', also known as monkfruit or ''luohan guo'', is a herbaceous perennial vine of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. It is native to southern China. The plant is cultivated for its fruit extract, called mogrosides, which creat ...
'', a plant named after Dr Grosvenor who as president of the National Geographic Society helped to fund its scientific study
*
Mount Grosvenor
Mount Grosvenor is a elevation glaciated summit located west of Valdez in the Chugach Mountains of the U.S. state of Alaska, on land managed by Chugach National Forest. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the mountain ris ...
, and
Mount Grosvenor (Alaska Range), mountains in Alaska named in his honor
References
Further reading
* Poole, Robert M. ''Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made''. New York: Penguin, 2004.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey
1875 births
1966 deaths
American magazine editors
Amherst College alumni
National Geographic Society
Worcester Academy alumni
Robert College alumni
Alexander Graham Bell
Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery
People from Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Gardiner family
American twins
National Geographic people