Pioneer Information
Born in Connecticut, and known to many as Connie, Wirth studied landscape architecture at Massachusetts Agricultural College, graduating in 1923. He apprenticed with nurseryman Donald McLaren in San Francisco before relocating to New Orleans to open a private practice. In 1928, he went to work for the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Washington, D.C. Two years later he became assistant director for the Branch of Lands at the National Park Service. When the Civilian Conservation Corps was created in 1933, Wirth oversaw all aspects of planning, design and construction by the NPS-CCC state park program, acting as the principal liaison between the NPS and state governments. The state park and national park programs were merged in 1936, which Wirth administered until the programs were ended during World War II. Following World War II, increased park visitation and low funding put stress on park facilities and management. Wirth became NPS director near the end of 1951 and in this role created Mission 66, a ten-year program to upgrade the national park system to meet the needs of postwar America. Wirth ended his career as NPS Director in 1964, amidst increasing criticism of the Mission 66 program by environmentalists. Over the course of its existence, Mission 66 proffered nearly $1 billion dollars of improvements within the National Parks.
Wirth’s professional activities garnered him many awards, including the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award and the ASLA Medal. He published his memoir Parks, Politics, and the People in 1980.
