For much of his life, John D. Rockefeller Jr. was known primarily as the heir to one of America’s greatest fortunes. But as author Steve Kemp explains in his new book, An Exaltation of Parks: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands, Rockefeller became something else: a determined champion of America’s national parks. His money helped preserve landscapes from Acadia to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Yosemite — and, perhaps most significantly for this region, the Great Smoky Mountains.
But Kemp’s story isn’t simply about a wealthy man writing checks. Rockefeller built alliances, assembled talented teams and worked behind the scenes to turn conservation ideas into reality. At times, that meant pushing against the interests — and even the wishes — of people in his own social circle. In this conversation with Todd Steed, Steve Kemp talks about how Rockefeller found his calling as a conservationist, the strategies that made him effective, and how a partnership between philanthropy, government and dedicated park advocates helped create some of the landscapes we now consider national treasures.
