According to National Park Service History (npshistory.com) seventy Mather plaques have been cast. Almost all can be found in National Parks, National Monuments, and Recreation Areas. One is on the Berkeley Campus, one at Mather High School in Chicago, three have been “lost,” four are in storage, and #71 is now in the Elizabeth Chilton Education Center at the Mather Homestead.
In all, there were four castings of the Mather Plaque, the first by Gorham in 1930, and the last by Valley Bronze of Joseph, Oregon. We contacted Valley Bronze, learned that they still had the mold, and now, several months later, our plaque has arrived.
Each Mather Plaque has a left-facing image of Stephen Mather and a quote from a speech delivered by Rep. Louis Cramton in the House of Representatives in 1929…
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 first Mather Plaques were placed at ten National Parks on Stephen Mather’s sixty-fifth birthday, July 4th 1932. Now ninety years later, the newest Mather Plaque is on display for all to see at Barnraiser 3.0 on October 1st 2022.
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