the john muir exhibit - stamps - 1964 dedication program
John Muir 1964 Commemorative Postage Stamp Dedication Ceremony Program
HONORING JOHN MUIR
1828-1914 [Note: should be 1838]
CONSERVATIONIST
DEDICATION CEREMONY
MUIR COMMEMORATIVE STAMP
FIRST DAY ISSUE
APRIL 29, 1964
MARTINEZ
CALIFORNIA
"The Post Office Department is proud to issue this stamp honoring John Muir, one of
America's great conservationists, whose contributions to the establishment of our National Parks and Forests will long be remembered by Americans everywhere.
But conservation cannot be a static thing, and the problems of conservation multiply as our population grows. John F. Kennedy expressed the problem in this way:
"The crisis may be quiet, but it is urgent. We must do in our day what Theodore Roosevelt did sixty years ago and Franklin Roosevelt thirty years ago; we must expand the concept of conservation to meet the imperious problems of the new age."
"President Lyndon Johnson is very much aware of the urgent need for new conservation programs, and is carrying on this conservation battle in the tradition of the two Roosevelts and John F. Kennedy.
"I hope that in its way, the John Muir commemorative postage stamp will remind Americans of the 'quiet crisis'; that it will enlist their support of programs now underway; that it will remind them of the important task that lies ahead."
- John A. Gronouski, Postmaster General
Program
Wednesday Morning - April 29, 1964
Steps of the Contra Costa County Court House - 10-11 A.M.
BAND CONCERT - Twelfth Naval District Band, Treasure Island
Lt. Gerard T. Bowen, USN, Director
11 A.M. - CEREMONIES ................................. Justice Wakefield Taylor, Presiding
PRESENTATIONS OF COLORS .............................. Marine Color Guard
Naval Weapons Station, Concord
INVOCATION ........................................................ Dr. John W. Winkley
John Muir Memorial Association
WELCOME .......................................................... Hon. Harold DeFraga
Mayor of Martinez
INTRODUCTION OF EMINANT POSTAL GUESTS ................. Hon. Maurice Huget
Postmaster, Martinez
INTRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS .................... Justice Taylor
HONORING CALIFORNIA'S OUTSTANDING CITIZEN .................. Hon. Hugo Fisher
Administrator, State Resources Agency, Sacramento
JOHN MUIR COMMEMORATIVE STAMP ................................ Hon. Wm. M. McMillan
Deputy Postmaster General, Washington, D.C.
PRESENTATION OF MUIR STAMP ALBUMS
PRESENTATION OF SPECIAL AWARD ................................... Justice A.F. Bray
BENEDICTION ................................... Dr. John W. Winkley
Arrangements and program under the auspices of the Martinez Area Chamber of Commerce, Contra Costa County Development Association, and the John Muir Memorial Association.
PROGRAM
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON - April 19, 1964
"NICKS" Restaurant
Luncheon - 12:15 P.M.
ASSEMBLY - 1 P.M. ........................................... Hon. Senator George Miller, Jr.
MUIR, APOSTLE OF NATURAL AREAS .............................. George L. Collins
President of the Nature Conservancy, Washington, D.C.
MUIR, FOREST CONSERVATIONIST ................................ Edward P. Cliff
Chief, U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C.,
Representing the Secretary of Agriculture
MUIR, EXPONENT OF NATURAL BEAUTY ............................. Dr. Edgar Wayburn
President, Sierra Club, San Francisco
MUIR, FATHER OF NATIONAL PARKS ............................... Edward A. Hummel
Regional Director, National Park Service, San Francisco
Representing the Secretary of the Interior
RECOGNITION OF DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS ............................................... Hon. Harold DeFraga, Mayor, Martinez
Visit John Muir's Home and Martinez Adobe on the proposed "National Historical Site," and Muir's grave on Strentzel Lane, off Alhambra Valley Road.
JOHN MUIR - 1828 - 1914 [Note: should be 1838]
John Muir was born April 21 in Dunbar, Scotland. When 11, his family came to the U.s. and settled in Wisconsin. Later, and after graduation [Note: Muir did not graduate.] from the University there, he walked to the Gulf en route to the tropics. Instead, in 1868 he took passage to San Francisco, then hiked to Yosemite. Here he discovered how glacial action formed the Valley. Later he was to explore the Alaskan glaciers. He travelled widely, writing in 1912 that he had seen "something of nearly all the mountain chains of the world." In April, 1880, he married Louie Wanda Strentzel of Martinez, making that city his home thereafter. His death came in Los Angeles december 24, 1914, while visiting in that area.
Muir was noted as an inventor, scientist, naturalist, and author. He is widely known for his many books and his magazine articles. In addition to saving the Giant Sequoia groves, he is credited with bringing about the formation of Yosemite National Park, and for writing President T. Roosevelt (with whom he spent three days alone in Yosemite) on how to make the Grand Canyon a National Park. In 1892 he founded the Sierra Club and was its first President.
The Muir Association is now attempting to preserve the home and grounds at 4440 Alhambra Avenue. A bill to make this place a National Historical Site is now before Congress. A plaque to identify the area was dedicated on April 19, 1964 by the National Park Service.
The five-cent commemorative stamp honoring John Muir was designed by Rudolph Wendelin, artist of the U.S. Forest Service widely known for his present day drawings of Smokey Bear. Mr. Wendelin previously designed the 1958 Forest Conservation stamp and the 1960 World Forestry Congress stamp.
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