Volume V No. 1 - July, 1932

PRESENTATION AND ACCEPTANCE
of the
STEPHEN T. MATHER PLAQUE

Crater Lake National Park

July 4, 1932 2:25 P. M.

The Bronze Memorial Tablet was placed in the Information Bureau on the Rim to commemorate Stephen T. Mather, organizer and first Director of the National Park Service. It is the gift of The Stephen T. Mather Appreciation, Washington, D. C., and association of friends and admirers of Mr. Mather. The plaque was placed in the Information Bureau awaiting such a time when an installation may be made on a suitable boulder which shall be placed adjacent to The Mather Tree. Snow conditions prevented the installation now.

An extract from his Presentation Address is as follows:

"Upon Mr. Mather's death last year friends associated themselves in the Stephen T. Mather Appreciation for the purpose of creating a suitable memorial to him. The one finally chosen is in the form of a plaque bearing as its inscription the words of the Honorable Louis C. Cramton regarding Mr. Mather. One of these plaques is today being presented and dedicated in each of the national parks - themselves a memorial to our departed friend, a great citizen and a devoted public servant.

"As a member of the national committee, the Stephen T. Mather Appreciation and on its behalf it is my honor and privilege to present this plaque to Crater Lake National Park to be set up here as a perpetual memorial to Stephen T. Mather. In the words of in inscription, 'He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policy which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done.'"

Those of us who know Mr. Mather and had the privilege of working with him in the National Park movement feel that this occasion is altogether appropriate. Our presence and services here today are but proper tribute. The debt the American people owe to Mr. Mather can never be repaid. His was the vision that saw the possibilities of setting aside certain areas for national parks and monuments, the object being, in the first place, to preserve the areas that offered superlative and unique phenomena from wanton waste, and then to create the use of such areas of beautiful natural scenery as instruments for inculcating good citizenship.

Mr. Mather engaged in strengthening the Park Service from every angle. He realized that although the first step in the development must be a program of conservation, the second stage would be the utilization of the parks by the American people for recreational purposes. The vision of Mr. Mather is beginning to bear fruit. Today we find the program to be extended in scope with additional emphasis being placed on our parks as areas for instruction and inspiration.

It is altogether fitting that The Mather Appreciation should place in the representative parks and monuments these plaques. May their presence be a fitting record of the accomplishments of a great man, a man who lead a life of service to the people of his nation. The Stephen T. Mather Plaque is accepted with deep appreciation. May its presence remind all who come and read its message of the prophetic judgment and works of a good man and of a life well spent. May his life and the record he left be an incentive to our citizenship to carry on the great work which he inaugurated. We of Crater Lake National Park will keep and treasure this plaque not only as a monument to a great American citizen, but also as a challenge and inspiration to us for all times to come.