George B. Hartzog
b. March 17, 1920 - d. June 27, 2008
Role
National Park Service Director
Dates of Involvement
1955 - 1977 - Assistant Superintendent at Rocky Mountain National Park
1964 - 1972 - National Park Service Director
Context
George B. Hartzog Jr. was directly involved in the entire Mission 66 program from the beginning, serving as assistant superintendent from 1955 to 1959 (first at Rocky Mountain National Park before transferring to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1957), as superintendent, assistant director, and finally as director of the National Park Service from 1963 to 1972. Under his leadership as director, the National Park System added over seventy new park areas, including national parks and monuments, and saw annual attendance double. During the construction of the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, Hartzog worked with the Department of the Interior and Congress to ensure the completion of the project (Clemson, 2017; Schudel 2008).
Education
Hartzog graduated from Carlisle Military School in Bamberg, South Carolina in 1937. The same year he enrolled in Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Due to a lack of funds, he was only able to attend for eighteen months. Upon withdrawing from college, he began working as a stenographer and interviewer for the Department of Public Welfare in Colleton County, South Carolina. In 1939, the law offices of Padgett and Moorer hired Hartzog as a law clerk and legal secretary. During this period he attended law school night classes (Clemson, 2017).
