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John Muir Day [1988]
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John Muir Day [1988]
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Proclamations Files
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Correspondence, White House Office of:
Records, 1981-89
Folder Title: John Muir Day
Box: Box 83 (1988)
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digitized-textual-material
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Inventories, visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/white-house-inventories
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/research-
support/citation-guide
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
Last Updated: 05/23/2023
THE OF STATES OF THE VIVITED
ASEA
John Muir Day, 1988
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
April 21 is the 150th Anniversary of the birth of John Muir, naturalist, explorer,
conservationist, author, champion of the American wilderness, and proponent
of national parks. This Sesquicentennial Celebration reminds us of our debt to
this native of Scotland who traversed our country, our continent, and the
world to study and describe mountain and forest and glacier and glade, and
who left us a vision of utmost respect for the wilderness and all it embodies.
After studying at the University of Wisconsin and revealing an aptitude for
mechanical invention, Muir decided to embark on "the study of the inventions
of God"-in the "university of the wilderness." Both observant and eloquent,
he began journeys and journal-keeping to investigate nature. Success as a
horticulturalist near Martinez, California, gave him the wherewithal to travel
and study for a lifetime. He walked throughout his beloved Golden State, all
America, and many other lands to record his observations and wrote books
and articles on natural phenomena and especially on the forests he loved.
John Muir understood, and helped others to see, the significance and beauty of
the wilderness-and to realize that it should be protected for future genera-
tions. The establishment of our tremendous national park system, and the
practice of sound conservation policies by industry, government, and private
citizens, owe much to this pioneer, who along with Robert Underwood John-
son led the fight for the creation in 1890 of what is now Yosemite National
Park; who in 1903 hosted President Theodore Roosevelt in Yosemite; who
wrote, "The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a
great delight to God; for they were the finest He ever created."
Let all who revere America's natural heritage, and see in it a timeless treasure
dependent upon our stewardship, pause on April 21 in grateful remembrance
of John Muir, a man who forever expressed his credo in the words, "In God's
wildness lies the hope of the world
The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 245, has designated April 21, 1988, as
"John Muir Day" and authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of this event.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim April 21, 1988, as John Muir Day, and I call upon
the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremo-
nies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of
April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.
Ronald Reagan