archives, in the form of textual documents, films and photographs, including the work of today's subject george alexander grant. before we get to today's program, i would like to tell you about two upcoming programs that will take place in this theater as well as on our youtube channel. on thursday, may 19 at noon, historian joe goldstein will be here to discuss his book, the white house vice presidency. my delta button. he will discuss how a constitutional office can evolve, as well as the critical role of political leadership. later that evening on march 19 at 7:00 p.m., a winner of the pulitzer prize and national book award, and the thomas jefferson memorial foundation professor of history at the university of virginia will be here to discuss their recent bug, blessed of the patriarchs, thomas jefferson and the empire of the imagination. book signings will follow both of those programs. to find out more about these and other programs. the national archives, please consult our monthly calendar of events. there are copies outside of the theater and it is also available online, archives.gov. it is a pleasure to welcome our guests back to the national archives. they were here in june of 2012 to discuss their book, a guide to the legacy of civilian conservation corps in america's parts. we are pleased that they have traveled from their home in atlanta to share their research into the largely unknown story of george alexander grant. following their lecture and q, they will be signing books in front of the archive store. what you please welcome our guests. -- would you please welcome our guests. [applause] >> thank you very much. we want to thank the national archives for hosting us, and tom, thank you for making all of the arrangements for today's presentation. i just want to give a little shout out to our nephews, and from pittsburgh, my dear aunt gloria and my cousin came to hear us today. it is exciting to be part of the centennial celebration of the national park service and to share the story of our new book, landscapes for the people. we want to acknowledge media specialists at the national park service historic photographic collection in charleston, west virginia. we could have written this book without his knowledge, support, and enthusiasm for this project. and also, to dr. timothy davis, national park service lead historian who specializes in part historic structures and cultural landscapes. he generously took the time to review our manuscript, add to our research, and pen the book's forward. we're looking forward to his new book. it's two for release this fall by the university of virginia press. we are delighted he could join us today to share his perspective on george grant's role within the national park service. we will take turns presenting today. this first picture you are looking at was taken in 1933. it is jackson lake at the grantee tom national park. the men in the foreground were part of the civilian conservation corps. when we saw this picture in 2006, while doing research, i said, i think this is in ansell's photograph. and turning it over, we were introduced to george grant. after discovering several similar images, we asked the archivist, who is george grant? we later learned he was the first staff photographer of the national park service. and we asked, why have we never heard his name? he said in his role, almost everything he did was label national park service. so many have feud is photographs, but very few know his name. >> shortly after we returned from the initial visit to the archives, i was reading an article in outdoor photographer magazine. the author of the article made reference to ansell adams has an elder in the field of american landscape photography. we looked at each other and said, i think have discovered an unknown elder. someone who deserves recognition. when we talk about the elders of american landscape photography, who might we be talking about? this is a cliff notes version of a few of those notable photographers. the first was carleton watkins, born in 1829 he traveled to california for the gold rush, but opened up a photography studio in san francisco. it was his photographs of the yosemite valley that was instrumental in the passage of legislation in 1864 setting those natural wonders aside for preservation. possibly the finest and best-known pioneer landscape insider for was william henry jackson, a civil war veteran, he accompanied the hayden journey to yellowstone. it was his photographs, along with my mental paintings, there were instrumental in persuading congress to establish yellowstone as the world's first national park in 1872. this photograph here at the bottom. this is a photograph of william henry jackson, in his mid-90's. the portrait was taken by george grant. possibly the finest landscape photographer of the 20th century by all accounts would have been ansell adams. noted for his stunning black and white images, often times of iconic national park sites, that are so so with the national parks. he did a number of commission projects for the service. the best-known might be his marrows projects -- murals projects. but he is associated with the park service, nearly all of his work on for the park service and for the department of interior was as a commission artist, not as an employee. the stunning beautiful black-and-white photographs, this is a very recognized one. clearance for med yosemite valley that he took a 1944. elia porter was a student of and slams. he trained as a physician but he gave up his medical practice in 1938 to pursue photography full-time, and he chose color photography as his genre. he was very active in working with the sierra club and other organizations to promote the environmental preservation. it was his milestone book in 1962 that paired his beautiful color photographs with the words of henry david the room. -- henry david thoreau. another student was philippi, and he joined -- philip hyde, he joined as a regular photographer for the sierra club. if you have sierra club calendars, you have got some of their photographs and their collection. two of his books, published in 1962, and later the wild cascades of forgotten parkland, were instrumental in this establishment of the national seashore, and north cascades national park. the one elder that is still actively working is david much. vivid, beautiful landscapes.

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United States , Jackson Lake , California , San Francisco , America , Carleton Watkins , Henry David Thoreau , George Alexander , Timothy Davis , Philip Hyde , Elia Porter , Ansell Adams , Thomas Jefferson , Joe Goldstein , Henry David ,