Isabelle Florence Story (1887–1970) was an American writer and editor. Much of her career was spent in the employment of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

Early life

Story was from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Her sister was Eleanor Chittenden Cress.

Career

Story was employed with several governmental agencies, beginning with the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

in 1910, and then with the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

in 1911. In 1916, she began working at the

(NPS), where she remained until she retired in 1954. Although she was made

Horace M. Albright Horace Marden Albright (January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1987) was an American conservation movement, conservationist. Horace Albright was born in 1890 in Bishop, California, the son of George Albright, a miner. He graduated from the University of ...

's secretary in 1917, her college-level training in business made her well-suited to other tasks; in 1917, 1918, and 1919, she assisted Albright in creating annual reports for the National Park Service. She came to write press releases and articles promoting US National Parks, as well as writing speeches for officials at the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

. For a time, she was the only staff writer for the NPS. In 1934, Story was made editor-in-chief. In this role, she went on to produce 39 radio programs on parks acquired since 1933. She directed the radio broadcast for the 25th anniversary of the NPS in 1941. In Story's early career, no other women were administrators at the NPS. In a 1934 group photograph of NPS administrators, Story was the only woman present among 78 men. In 1941, another group photograph showed Story along with Gertrude Cooper as superintendent. Story was a member of the

Women's National Press Club The National Press Club is a professional organization and social community in Washington, D.C. for journalists and communications professionals. It hosts public and private gatherings with invited speakers from public life. The club also offers e ...

and an accredited member of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

's press corps, and wrote a weekly column called "Chatting With The First Lady". Story contributed articles to several major newspapers, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. She also wrote periodically for

Science Service Society for Science, formerly known as Science Service and later Society for Science and the Public, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of science, through its science education programs and publications, including ...

and ''

World Book Encyclopedia The ''World Book Encyclopedia'' is an American encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, historical and medical subjects. ''World Book'' wa ...

''.

Personal life

Story lived with her widowed mother, to whom she devoted all her spare time. She had a romance with Park Service Superintendent Frank Pinkley, but he died of a heart attack before their planned wedding; Story never married. Story retired in 1954. Thereafter, she traveled extensively and participated in many activities until a severe hip injury (occurring while she was on a tour of the new ''Washington Star'' building in 1959) confined her to a wheelchair. She died in 1970.

Distinctions

Story was the first woman employed as an information officer of a Department of the Interior Bureau. She was also the first person to introduce radio programs in the Department.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Story, Isabelle 1887 births 1970 deaths Writers from Chicago National Park Service personnel United States Geological Survey personnel 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers