Harry Rutledge Elliott Hampton (1897–1980) was a

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

journalist and conservationist who was instrumental in the establishment of

Congaree National Park Congaree National Park is a American national park in central South Carolina, 18 miles southeast of the state capital, Columbia. The park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The lush tre ...

Life

Hampton was born at the Hampton family home,

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

, near

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, on July 8, 1897. He was the second son of Frank Hampton Jr. and Gertrude Gonzalez Hampton, and he was a grand-nephew of Confederate General

Wade Hampton III Wade Hampton III (March 28, 1818April 11, 1902) was an American military officer who served the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War and later a politician from South Carolina. He came from a wealthy planter family, and ...

. He attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

Randolph-Macon Academy Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA) is a coeducational private boarding school with an elite Air Force JROTC component. R-MA serves students in grades 6-12 and maintains 100% college acceptance rate every year with each class averaging over $14 million ...

and the University of South Carolina, graduating in 1919. He continued post-graduate study in English at USC in 1920–21. Hampton became a reporter at ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'' in Columbia. ''The State'' was founded by his maternal uncles Narciso Gener, Ambrose E. and William E. Gonzales. Hampton served in a number of capacities, eventually becoming co-editor. An avid hunter, Hampton was interested in conservation issues. Between 1930 and 1964 Hampton wrote his ''Woods and Water'' column, emphasizing outdoors and conservation topics, as well as a Sunday column titled ''The State's Survey''. In 1931 he organized a fish and game association that evolved into the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF), of which Hampton was president. Hampton and the SCWF supported the legislation that established South Carolina's state wildlife resource agencies in 1952. Hampton 's work was described as "the first major effort in South Carolina to bring collective action to the ideal of conservation." Beginning in the 1950s Hampton promoted the preservation of the Beidler Tract, an area of floodplain forest on the

Congaree River The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for approximately 53 miles (85 km). The river serves an important role as the final outlet channel for the entire Lower Saluda and Lower Broad wate ...

that contained some of the tallest trees in the eastern United States. In 1976 the tract was designated Congaree Swamp National Monument by Congress. It became

in 2003. The park's Harry Hampton Visitor Center was named in Hampton's honor. Hampton died on November 16, 1980. He is buried at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, having lived his entire life at Woodlands. The Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund was established to memorialize Hampton and to endow scholarships in Hampton's name, as well as funding and organizing conservation projects in South Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Harry R. E. 1897 births 1980 deaths Journalists from South Carolina University of South Carolina alumni Congaree National Park People from Columbia, South Carolina 20th-century American journalists American male journalists