the john muir exhibit - life - greatest of all californians
John Muir Chosen as Greatest of All Californians
Although born in
Scotland
and reared on a
Wisconsin
farm, John Muir was named
the Greatest Californian in a state-wide poll conducted by
the
California Historical Society
in cooperation with the
San Jose Mercury-News
.
A tireless naturalist and eloquent leader of the movement to
preserve the
wilderness areas of
California
, Muir was selected by
California Historical Society members
from a list of 50 nominees published in the April, 1976 issue of the
California Historical Courier.
The results of the poll were announced in the July 4 [1976] edition of
"California Today," the Sunday magazine supplement of the
Mercury-News
,
as a Bicentennial tribute to the greatness of California and
its most distinguished citizens.
A committee of 17 noted historians selected the nominees.
Nine other prominent figures were selected as outstanding
the special categories of politics and government, literature, visual
arts, performing arts, pioneering and exploration, science and medicine,
commerce, journalism, scholarship and education.
The winners in these categories were:
John Steinbeck
(Literature) - Stockton-born novelist who
"transformed
California life into a high expression of literary art,";
winner of the
Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962;
Ansel Adams
(Visual Arts) - San Francisco-born photographer
of international
reputation, a master of the California landscape;
Junipero Serra
(Pioneering and Exploration) - founder of the
Franciscan
missions and illustrious California pioneer;
Walt
Disney
(Performing Arts) - the motion picture
industry's most successful
and ingenious creator of animated cartoons;
William Randolph Hearst
(Journalism) - flamboyant head of
the communications
empire that once included 26 newspapers as well as
magazines, publishing
houses, motion picture companies, and radio stations;
A.P. Giannini
(Commerce) - the Italian immigrant who became
California's most
successful banker; founder of the
Bank of America
and
innovator of many new
banking services including the branch bank concept;
Hiram Johnson
(Politics and Government) - the state's
leading reform Governor
in the early 20th century and later U.S. Senator;
Luther Burbank
(Science and Medicine) - leading
horticulturist and developer of
dozens of new varieties of plant life, including new forms
of lilies, roses, and poppies;
Hubert Howe Bancroft
(Scholarship and Education) -
the state's foremost publisher and collector of western history,
including the seven-volume
History of California.
Source: "Greatest Californians",
California Historical Courier,
1976 July/August
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