Sometimes bookends tell a story too. Revisiting an NPS gift to Bertha Mather McPherson

A table sits at the far eastern end of the Keeping Room.  On the table are books buttressed by a pair of wooden bookends.  Upon each bookend is a small brass plaque.

On December 8, 1960, National Parks Service Director Conrad Wirth wrote to Bertha

Mather McPherson.  He told her that, to mark the marriage of Bertha’s son, Stephen McPherson, it was planned “to have a pair of book ends made from wood from a Sequoia log on a tract in the Giant Forest which Mr. Mather purchased and gave to the United States.”  He added, “Another decision was made that you should have a duplicate set of the book ends…”

The plaque on one bookend reads: “Stephen Tyng Mather 1867-1930.  ‘He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations.  There will never come an end to the good that he has done.’”

The other plaque reads: “September 17, 1960.  Presented to Betty Mather McPherson by Director Wirth, former Directors Albright and Drury, Isabelle Story and those employees still on the National Park Service rolls who served under her illustrious father.

Sequoia wood – 2,000 years old.”

As always, Bertha eloquently replied to Connie Wirth saying in part, “…To say I was deeply touched is so inadequate an expression…A more thoughtful gift so perfectly carried out cannot be imagined…That all those in the National Park Service who served under my father are included in this wonderful gift makes it a treasure beyond any price to me and to my family…”

The Homestead is indeed fortunate to have this treasure that is so reflective of the deep appreciation felt by the NPS for not only Stephen Mather but for his daughter as well.