STUDENT CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION RECORDS

• 1957 First volunteers are placed in the Grand Teton and Olympic National Parks.
• 1960 Zion National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument are added to the program.
• 1964 The organization incorporates as the Student Conservation Association, Inc. (SCA) and former National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth becomes SCA Chair. Elizabeth Cushman was named Executive Director. Their headquarters were established at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (home of Theodore Roosevelt) in Oyster Bay, New York.
• 1967 SCA places first volunteers outside of federal public lands at Merck Forest and Farmland Center, Vermont.
• 1970 SCA headquarters moves to Vashon Island, Washington. The first co-ed high school crews enter the field, and the number of alumni surpasses 1,000.
• 1976 SCA headquarters relocates to Charlestown, New Hampshire.
• 1977 SCA begins offering conservation programming for urban youth in Washington, D.C.
• 1981 The Bureau of Land Management begins partnership with SCA.
• 1982 Ronald Reagan presents the President's Volunteer Action Award to SCA Founding President Elizabeth Cushman Titus. Cooperation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins.
• 1986 SCA's first international project occurs through an exchange program with Germany.
• 1988 SCA opens a regional office in Washington, D.C.
• 1989 The Greater Yellowstone Recovery Corps is created in response to the previous year's wildfires, continuing for three years and involving more than 600 members.
• 1990 SCA begins work with U.S. Armed Forces, partnering with the Navy's Natural Resource Program; a new exchange program opens with the Soviet Union.
• 1991 SCA urban program evolves into the Conservation Career Development Program and the international program expands to Canada and Mexico.
• 1993 SCA mounts the Everglades recovery effort following Hurricane Hugo.
• 1994 SCA begins partnership with AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National Service.
• 1996 SCA publishes Lightly on the Land: The SCA Trail Building and Maintenance Manual.
• 2000 A Public Broadcasting Service television documentary profiles SCA volunteers in the North Cascades National Park and members of SCA's urban initiatives in Washington, D.C.
• 2003 National Fire Plan Council presents SCA Fire Education Corps with inaugural Excellence in Community Assistance Award for helping communities reduce their risk of wildfire. ChevronTexaco presents SCA Founding President Elizabeth Titus Putnam with the Conservation Hero Award. SCA adds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey as partners.
• 2004 In cooperation with Home Depot and the U.S. Forest Service, SCA initiates the California Wildfire Recovery Program in the wake of the Fall 2003 wildfires in Southern California.
• 2005 SCA earns U.S. Forest Service Centennial Award for conservation leadership.
• 2006 SCA earns U.S. Department of the Interior's "Take Pride in America" volunteerism award for work with native and invasive plants.
• 2007 SCA launches 50th Anniversary celebration.
• 2007 SCA chosen to lead Northwest Recovery at Mount Rainier and other area parks after the floods of 2006.
• 2008 SCA hold EarthVision: Actions for a Healthy Planet in Washington D.C.

1957

First volunteers are placed in the Grand Teton and Olympic National Parks.

1960

Zion National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument are added to the program.

1964

The organization incorporates as the Student Conservation Association, Inc. (SCA) and former National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth becomes SCA Chair. Elizabeth Cushman was named Executive Director. Their headquarters were established at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (home of Theodore Roosevelt) in Oyster Bay, New York.

1967

SCA places first volunteers outside of federal public lands at Merck Forest and Farmland Center, Vermont.

1970

SCA headquarters moves to Vashon Island, Washington. The first co-ed high school crews enter the field, and the number of alumni surpasses 1,000.

1976

SCA headquarters relocates to Charlestown, New Hampshire.

1977

SCA begins offering conservation programming for urban youth in Washington, D.C.

1981

The Bureau of Land Management begins partnership with SCA.

1982

Ronald Reagan presents the President's Volunteer Action Award to SCA Founding President Elizabeth Cushman Titus. Cooperation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins.

1986

SCA's first international project occurs through an exchange program with Germany.

1988

SCA opens a regional office in Washington, D.C.

1989

The Greater Yellowstone Recovery Corps is created in response to the previous year's wildfires, continuing for three years and involving more than 600 members.

1990

SCA begins work with U.S. Armed Forces, partnering with the Navy's Natural Resource Program; a new exchange program opens with the Soviet Union.

1991

SCA urban program evolves into the Conservation Career Development Program and the international program expands to Canada and Mexico.

1993

SCA mounts the Everglades recovery effort following Hurricane Hugo.

1994

SCA begins partnership with AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National Service.

1996

SCA publishes Lightly on the Land: The SCA Trail Building and Maintenance Manual.

2000

A Public Broadcasting Service television documentary profiles SCA volunteers in the North Cascades National Park and members of SCA's urban initiatives in Washington, D.C.

2003

National Fire Plan Council presents SCA Fire Education Corps with inaugural Excellence in Community Assistance Award for helping communities reduce their risk of wildfire. ChevronTexaco presents SCA Founding President Elizabeth Titus Putnam with the Conservation Hero Award. SCA adds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey as partners.

2004

In cooperation with Home Depot and the U.S. Forest Service, SCA initiates the California Wildfire Recovery Program in the wake of the Fall 2003 wildfires in Southern California.

2005

SCA earns U.S. Forest Service Centennial Award for conservation leadership.

2006

SCA earns U.S. Department of the Interior's "Take Pride in America" volunteerism award for work with native and invasive plants.

2007

SCA launches 50th Anniversary celebration.

2007

SCA chosen to lead Northwest Recovery at Mount Rainier and other area parks after the floods of 2006.

2008

SCA hold EarthVision: Actions for a Healthy Planet in Washington D.C.

The Student Conservation Association collection is open for additional material. This finding aid represents items received through 2008.

The records include correspondence, reports, notes, photographs and samples of tee shirts, patches and pins. The material is organized first by organizational unit - founder, board and administration – and then, primarily, by date. Within the Program Series, materials are first organized alphabetically by the various programs, such as the Conservation Career Development Program to promote interest in environmental careers, and the Yellowstone Recovery Corps, created to assist after the Yellowstone fires.

Elizabeth Cushman's senior thesis and her early correspondence with the National Park service begin this series. It continues with her correspondence and reports of trips made in support of the program.

The Board of Directors series includes meeting minutes, committee reports, and correspondence as well as information about social and fund raising functions.

The Administration series includes the organization's general correspondence files and the student newspapers.

Information in this series includes correspondence, reports, ledger sheets and accountant's reports.

This small series deals, primarily with the organization's legal charitable status.

Extensive clippings files document the variety of student activities and the organization's public relations efforts.

A large portion of the collection is organized in this series. A few files relate to the general administration of the programs; the remainder is organized first by the different programs, and within each of those groups, by date. Feedback from Park personnel, students and parents was important to the organization, and is included in the program evaluation files.

This series includes general material about the National Parks and other volunteer programs.

This small series includes student tee shirts, baseball cap, pins and shoulder patches with SCA logos.

This series is organized by format, and includes VHS, audiocassettes, and computer discs. Most of the material documents student activity programs.

The extensive photographs in this collection are primarily snapshots taken by students or advisors documenting their activities. Many images are not identified as to persons, places or dates. Others have only minimal identification. Many dates were assumed from processing dates on the prints, slides, or accompanying material and may not reflect the date of the events. The photographs are housed in 5x7 envelopes or within file folders, and are organized by subject. Some photographs remain in notebooks or scrapbooks to retain their original order.

This material contains student applications or evaluations and is restricted until the year 2054.