Last updated: August 26, 2026
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Guide to the Rodney S. Ellsworth Papers
This finding aid describes the Rodney S. Ellsworth Papers, 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.
Collection Overview
Collection Number: HFCA 3643Accession Number: HFCA-00329
Creator: Ellsworth, Rodney Sydes (1898-1981)
Title: Rodney S. Ellsworth Papers
Dates: 1925-1935
Extent: 0.2 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: Some of the reports and other reference materials in this collection were not produced by the NPS and may not be in public domain. See https://rightsstatements.org/page/CNE/1.0/?language=en. See also the NPS general archives copyright & restrictions information.
Provenance: Transferred to the NPS History Collection from Yellowstone National Park in June 1974.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Mikaela Wilson in May 2026.
Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Rodney S. Ellsworth papers (HFCA 3643), NPS History Collection
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Related Materials:
- Assembled Historic Records of the NPS (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
- Harold C. Bryant Papers (HFCA 3523), NPS History Collection
- Horace M. Albright Papers (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
- NPS Oral History Collection (HFCA 1817), NPS History Collection
- Papers Related to Stephen T. Mather (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
- Rodney Sydes Ellsworth papers, BANC MSS C-B 990, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Biographical Note
Rodney Sydes Ellsworth was born September 1, 1898, in Stockton, California. He graduated from the local high school in 1919. He attended the University of California-Berkeley, receiving an undergraduate degree in June 1923, and continuing his studies in law there over the next two years.Beginning in about 1920, Ellsworth worked summers as a nature guide at Yosemite National Park (YOSE). It’s not clear if he was a National Park Service (NPS) employee or if he worked for the Curry Company, the park’s concession operator. It appears that from 1922 to 1924, at least, he was working for the concession and not the NPS. In 1924 his book The Giant Sequoia: An Account of the History and Characteristics of the Big Trees of California was published. The book was inspired by Ellsworth’s 1922 summer working at the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite. Ellsworth publicized his book through lectures at libraries and before community groups. In 1926 he hosted programs at the Giant Forest Lodge at Sequoia National Park, but likely not as an NPS employee.
Ellsworth was an avid outdoorsman and was known to have climbed Mount Whitney. He appears to have been involved with the Calaveras Grove Association as he traveled with that group to inspect the groves in November 1926. Those groves eventually became part of Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Beginning in 1926 he served as secretary for the Alta Peak Club, a new mountaineering association supporting Sequoia National Park. Around this time, he began assembling research for a book on Sequoia National Park which was never completed.
In 1929 Ellsworth became the director of education for the California Fish and Game Commission. When they could no longer afford to pay him in 1932 he continued as a volunteer, splitting the program costs with the concession operator. In 1934 he began his first of ten seasons working for the California Fish and Game Commission at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
In 1933 Ellsworth was inducted into the UC Berkeley Biology Honor Society, Phi Sigma. In 1935 he married Dorothy Monahan. In 1945 Ellsworth conducted orientation courses for returning World War II veterans at the University of California Extension. He encouraged them to work on conservation projects for both the government and private companies. Ellsworth emphasized that this type of work would provide relief to the battle-weary men while also fostering a love and appreciation for nature.
Throughout his life and writing, Ellsworth was a major advocate for environmental conservation. In 1962 he became chairmen of the Committee for the Preservation of the Tule Elk, a non-profit organization in Los Angeles where former NPS director Horace M. Albright also served as chairman to the advisory board.
Ellsworth died in December 1981, in California.
Sources
“135 Are Ready to Graduate: Class Day at Local High School.” The Record. June 25, 1919. https://www.newspapers.com/image/609858986/.“Alumni Meets Saturday.” The Record. June 26, 1919. https://www.newspapers.com/image/609859124/.
"Conservation Work for Veterans Open." Berkeley Daily Gazette. September 4, 1945. https://books.google.com/books?id=A04wAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA31&dq=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false.
"Declares Wild Game Threatened with Extinction," Berkeley Daily Gazette. November 21, 1928. https://books.google.com/books?id=oBoiAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA2&dq=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&f=false.
Ellsworth, Rodney Sydes. The Giant Sequoia: An Account of the History and Characteristics of the Big Trees of California. Oakland: J. D. Berger, 1924.
Ellsworth, Rodney Sydes. 1926-1931. Rodney Sydes Ellsworth Papers. BANC MSS C-B 990, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Accessed May 2026. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/991017262909706532.
"Fish, Game Leader to Speak at Club." Berkeley Daily Gazette. May 13, 1933. https://books.google.com/books?id=4rcxAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA6&dq=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&f=false.
"Owens Valley Refuge Seen for Tule Elk," National Parks Magazine volume 36, no. 174 (1962): 0-20. https://npshistory.com/npca/magazine/mar-1962.pdf.
“Rodney Ellsworth, Author of Book, in Town Today.” The Record. August 14, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/843281038/.
“Specialists Visit North and South Calaveras Groves.” The Record. November 6, 1926. https://www.newspapers.com/image/843282497/.
“Stocktonian Writes Splendid Book on the Giant Sequoia.” The Record. July 19, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/609891837/.
"U.C. Society to Hold Initiation." Berkeley Daily Gazette. March 15, 1933. https://books.google.com/books?id=RkoyAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA4&dq=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&f=false.
"Yosemite Guide is Lions' Speaker." Berkeley Daily Gazette. December 9, 1925. https://books.google.com/books?id=8gkvAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA1&dq=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=rodney%20s.%20ellsworth&f=false.
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, reports, newspapers clippings, and photographs, much of which appears to be the research Ellsworth was compiling for a never-completed book related to Sequoia National Park. Of note is a letter describing his summit of Mount Whitney and note containing measurements of Sequoia trees. Subjects include sequoias, Alta Peak Club membership and activities, tourism, Generals Highway, academic research, and plans for environmental education. Articles, many of which appear to have been drafted as press releases, authored by Ellsworth are present and include handwritten drafts. Many of the newspaper articles are written by Superintendent John R. White of Sequoia National Park. Photographs include group of unidentified individuals and a cave.Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.Container List
BOX 01Folder 01: Articles and Press Releases, 1926
Folder 02: Correspondence, 1926-1933
Folder 03: Newspaper Clippings, 1925-1935
Folder 04: Notes and Reports, 1926-1931
Folder 05: Photographs, undated