MedlemBentonMacKaye

MacKaye's library was in his home at Shirley Center, Massachusetts at the time of his death. It was then transferred to the Appalachian Trail Conference (now the Appalachian Trail Conservancy) in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Recently it was given to the Appalachian Trail Museum Research Library in Gardners, Pennsylvania. As it is being cataloged, it is being made available to researchers.

The contents include books, pamphlets, and government documents pertinent to the whole span of MacKaye's scholarly interests: forestry, water policy, planning, conservation and preservation, outdoor recreation. It also holds books written by family members and friends (including inscribed copies of Lewis Mumford's works), literature, and textbooks from MacKaye's school days.

Widely known as 'the father of the Appalachian Trail,' Benton MacKaye (1879-1975) was an American forester, planner, and conservationist. He spelled out the idea for a long distance hiking trail spanning the length of the Appalachian Mountains in an October 1921 article in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.

During a career taking him from the U.S. Forest Service, to the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the U.S. Department of Labor, this first graduate of Harvard University's School of Forestry also found time to co-found the Wilderness Society and write a number of books and articles.