Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor

Lore & Background

Grosvenor was born on October 28, 1875, to Lilian Waters and Edwin A. Grosvenor in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). He was second cousin to U.S. President and U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Howard Taft. He was educated at Worcester Academy and Robert College, and graduated from Amherst College with an A.B. degree magna cum laude in 1897. He was hired in 1899 as the first full-time employee of the National Geographic Society by Alexander Graham Bell. He became president of the Society in 1920 after the death of Rear Admiral John E. Pillsbury, and remained editor until 1954. He advocated policies of neutrality and positive journalism through two world wars, the Great Depression, and the beginning of the Cold War. He stepped down in 1954 at age 78. Grosvenor first traveled to the western United States in 1915 to hike with Stephen Mather in the Sierra Mountains and what is now Sequoia National Park. Following his return, he provided funding to buy Giant Forest and add it to Sequoia National Park. In late 1915 and 1916, he met with Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and others to draft the Organic Act, which would create a National Park Service. He created a special issue of National Geographic (April 1916) entitled 'The Land of the Best' to promote parks. He helped establish Katmai National Monument in 1918. He married Elsie May Bell, daughter of Alexander Graham Bell, and they had seven children. He died peacefully in his sleep at age 90 on February 4, 1966, at the Bell family estate, Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Reader's Guide

Grosvenor shaped the National Geographic Society and its magazine for over five decades, serving as its first full-time editor from 1899 until 1954 and as Society president from 1920 to 1954. He consolidated the fledgling publication and guided its rise into one of the world’s largest science and learning organizations by chronicling ambitious natural and cultural explorations. His editorial approach emphasized neutrality and positive, upbeat journalism through two world wars, the Great Depression, and the early Cold War—a style considered innovative early on but criticized as ossified and dated by the 1950s, when his aging staff and conservative methods caused the magazine’s subscription base to decline. Beyond the magazine, Grosvenor played a pivotal role in establishing the National Park Service. After a 1915 hiking trip with Stephen Mather in the Sierra Mountains and Sequoia National Park, he became a devoted advocate, personally funding the purchase of Giant Forest for Sequoia. He then helped draft the Organic Act creating the National Park Service with Mather and Horace Albright, and produced a special April 1916 issue of *National Geographic* titled “The Land of the Best” to promote parks, ensuring every member of Congress received a copy. He later helped protect the Katmai volcanic crater and Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes from mining, leading to the establishment of Katmai National Monument in 1918. His legacy is also marked by Grosvenor Arch in southern Utah and Grosvenor Lodge in Katmai National Park.

Did You Know?

• Grosvenor was second cousin to U.S. President and Supreme Court Justice William Howard Taft.
• He was the first full-time employee of the National Geographic Society, hired by Alexander Graham Bell.
• He helped draft the Organic Act that created the National Park Service.
• He provided funding to buy Giant Forest and add it to Sequoia National Park.
• Katmai National Park's Grosvenor Lodge is named after him.