Article

Guide to the Papers Related to Stephen T. Mather

This finding aid describes the Papers Related to Stephen T. Mather, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Black and white portrait of Stephen T. Mather in a suit.
Stephen T. Mather (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series I.A.1)
Creator: Mather, Stephen T. (1867-1930)
Title: Papers Related to Stephen T. Mather
Dates: 1916-1984 (bulk dates: 1916-1932)
Extent: 0.4 LF
Language of Materials: English

Digitized Copies: This collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use. Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction: Some of the reports and other reference materials in this collection were not produced by the NPS and may not be in the public domain. See https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en. See also the NPS general copyright & restrictions information.

Provenance: This collection was assembled from various NPS sources, including the Washington Office and Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, and Yellowstone national parks.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Emily L. Richardson in 2017. The finding aid was updated for the internet by Eleanore Kohorn in January 2026.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Papers Related to Stephen T. Mather, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1645)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

Biographical Note

Stephen Tyng Mather was born in San Francisco, California on July 4, 1867. His parents were Joseph Wakeman Mather, a business merchant with ties to the borax industry, and Bertha Jemima Walker. A descendant of Richard Mather, a prominent Puritan minister in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. Mather attended Lincoln Grammar School and Boys' High School in San Francisco.

In 1887 Mather graduated from University of California, Berkeley. He moved to the East Coast and worked as a journalist for the New York Sun for the next five years. In 1893 he married Jane Thacker Floy. The Mathers had one daughter, Bertha Floy Mather. Following the marriage, Mather joined his father in the borax business at the Pacific Coast Borax Company, working in advertising and as a sales promotion manager. Talented at marketing and publicity, Mather helped Francis Marion "Borax" Smith make the brand name 20 Mule Borax synonymous with borax in the United States. In 1898 he and partner Thomas Thorkildsen created Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company.

In 1904 Mather hiked the Swiss Alps, followed by climbing up the icy side of Mount Rainier with the Sierra Club in 1905. He credited such experiences not making him into a committed mountaineer and inspiring ideas to improve national parks in the United States. Mather found that the parks had poorly maintained trails and roads, and no protection from private lumber and cattle interests. In 1914 after hiking in the High Sierra, it is reported that he wrote to the secretary of Interior, Franklin K. Lane, to complain about the management of the parks. The story goes that Lane, who was looking for someone to administer the parks, invited Mather to come to Washington, DC, and "run them yourself." However, that story hasn't been verified.

Mather came to Washington from Chicago in January 1915 as special assistant to secretary of the Interior for national park concerns. There, he met Horace M. Albright, who became his assistant and together they laid the groundwork to establish a system of national parks. That summer Mather took a group of influential individuals on a back country trek through the High Sierras. The "Mather Mountain Party" as it became known, engendered significant support for the mission to establish a bureau to manage the parks. Within a relatively short time, Mather brought together a broad coalition in support for national parks, including the railroads and other business interests; writers and journalists; environmental groups such as Sierra Club, American Civic Association, and Save the Redwoods; and members of Congress, to secure passage of the act establishing the National Park Service (NPS) on August 25, 1916.

An appropriations act on April 17, 1917, provided funds for NPS operations and Mather became the first director on May 16, 1917. Albright became assistant director. However, Mather became incapacitated by depression shortly after the NPS was established, leaving Albright to serve as acting director and get the new bureau up and running. As Mather recovered, he continued to promote park access, development, and use and contributed generously to the parks from his personal fortune. He traveled regularly to the parks, often bringing government officials, senators, and representatives as guests, to showcase the national parks and their needs. During his tenure the Service's domain expanded eastward with the addition of Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, and Mammoth Cave national parks.

Mather began talking about retirement in January 1927, saying that he was tired and had accomplished all that he had set out to do. However, that phase passed quickly and following a trip to Central America, he refocused on “all that’s got to be done” and continued his work and his strenuous travel schedule. During a spring 1927 trip to Hawai’i, Mather had a heart attack on the boat during the outbound journey. Although he recovered and appeared fit when he returned to California, others remained concerned about his health. He suffered a stroke on November 5, 1928, and retired from the NPS on January 12, 1929. He remained in the hospital until May 1929, when he returned to the Mather homestead in Darien, Connecticut.

In November 1928 Mather entered the Corey Hill Hospital in Brookline, Massachusetts to work with Dr. Joel Goldthwaite to regain mobility in the leg, arm, and fingers affected by the stroke. He had a second stroke while at the hospital and died on January 22, 1930. Following his death, sympathy messages sent to Mrs. Mather and newspaper obituaries praised his good works. Numerous locations and geographic features were named in his honor, including Mount Mather in Alaska; Mather Point at the Grand Canyon; Mather Memorial Highway in the Cascades; Mather Memorial Arboretum of redwoods in Strawberry Canyon at the University of California; and a 10,000-tree Mather Forest was developed at Lake George, New York, among others.

Bronze plaques, known in the NPS as “Mather plaques” were designed by sculptor Bryant Baker and installed in 23 national parks and 33 national monuments. Memorial trees were planted in numerous national parks and monuments. On July 10, 1932, the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, through the courtesy of NBC, made a National Memorial Broadcast in honor of Mather. In 1969, the scenic gorge of the Potomac River below Great Falls was renamed in his honor. Mather's legacy continues to be acknowledged in books, journals, newspaper reports, and documentaries that address the history of the NPS and conservation in the United States.

Sources

American National Bibliography Online. "Mather, Stephen Tyng", available at http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-00648.html

Sellars, Richard West. (1997) Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History available at https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/sellars/chap3c.htm

Shankland, Richard. (1951). Steve Mather of the National Parks, New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence between Stephen T. Mather and various NPS staff during his time as director. Most correspondence is between Mather and Yosemite Superintendents W.B. Lewis and C.G. Thompson, relating to itinerary plans, finances, and other administrative tasks. Excerpts from Mather's 1927 travel diary are also included. Of particular interest is the original telegram Horace Albright sent to Mather confirming that President Woodrow Wilson had signed the law establishing the National Park Service in 1916. A letter from the White House addressed to Mather sending the signing pen (HFCA 1603) to the NPS is also included.

Articles and publications by and about Mather are included, as well as an address by the Honorable Louis C. Cramton to the House of Representatives following Mather’s resignation as NPS director, and a map of the United States national guard, army, and reserve locations addressed to Mather. Correspondence by Albright following Mather’s death, including the telegram send to Thompson alerting the staff of Mather’s death are present. Telegrams documenting Albright’s efforts to track down Mather’s sleeping bag (HFCA 206) and other camping equipment are included. There is also correspondence to Jane Mather. Pamphlets from Mather's memorial service and subsequent memorial broadcast, as well as posthumous correspondence and speeches related to dedications to Mather and Mather plaques are included.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Articles and Publications: Clippings, 1968-1983
Folder 02: Articles and Publications: Courier, 1967-1984
Folder 03: Articles and Publications: Department of Interior Official Bulletin, 1939
Folder 04: Articles and Publications: Evison Articles, 1979
Folder 05: Articles and Publications: Family Camping, June 1960
Folder 06: Articles and Publications: Far Western Travelers Association, 1920
Folder 07: Articles and Publications: National Parks Magazine, undated
Folder 08: Articles and Publications: National Wildlife, 1969
Folder 09: Articles and Publications: Story of the Mather Homestead, 1964-1978
Folder 10: Articles and Publications: Survey Graphic, 1930
Folder 11: Correspondence, Albright: Album for Jane Mather, 1930
Folder 12: Correspondence, Albright: General, 1930, 1931
Folder 13: Correspondence, Albright: Sleeping Bag, 1929-1931
Folder 14: Correspondence, General, 1923-1942
Folder 15: Correspondence, Jane Mather, 1923-1930
Folder 16: Correspondence, Mather: Administrative and Itineraries, 1920-1929
Folder 17: Correspondence, Mather: Arabian Horse Purchases, 1923
Folder 18: Correspondence, Mather: Bills and Invoices, 1920-1929
Folder 19: Correspondence, Mather: Establishment of Park Service Telegram and Letter, 1916
Folder 20: Correspondence, Mather: Packard Car, 1923, 1924
Folder 21: Dedications to Mather, 1930-1976
Folder 22: Diary Excerpts, 1927
Folder 23: Information on Whereabouts of Other Mather Papers, 1950-1975
Folder 24: Map of the USA National Guard, Army, and Reserve Locations and National Park Locations, undated
Folder 25: Memorial: Correspondence, 1930, 1931
Folder 26: Memorial: National Memorial Broadcast, 1932
Folder 27: Memorial: Yosemite National Park Church Service, 1930
Folder 28: Resignation of Mather: Address to House of Representatives by Crampton, 1929

Explore More!

Looking for something else? Our NPS History Collection finding aids are available to help with your research

Tags

Yosemite National Park

Last updated: January 27, 2026