Craftsman magazine

Courtesy of the Stickley MuseumStickley's advocacy for environmental conservation ranged from profiling Sierra Club founder John Muir (above), shown at Yosemite National Park, to providing simple garden plans for the everyday home. the beauty of nature often found its way onto the cover of The Craftsman. The magazine, founded by Gustav Stickley, often featured nature-friendly and conservation-related articles.By Greg Vadney / Contributing writerThe history of Stickley crosses paths with American environmental conservation in many instances, and Gustav Stickley's magazine, The Craftsman, is a rich and enduring source for the early green movement.Gustav Stickley, the oldest and best remembered of the Stickley brothers, created a craftsman style of furniture that evoked the distinct rustic qualities of America.His Arts and Crafts or Mission-style furniture was, and indeed still is, regarded for its organic simplicity. But as I have written previously in this column, Gustav Stickley's career involved much more than his furniture-making venture.The Craftsman magazine, which Gustav Stickley published from 1901 to 1916, was the premier periodical of the Arts and Crafts movement in America. The magazine detailed to readers the merits of the Arts and Crafts lifestyle, which included hard work, education and civic-mindedness. Also included in the Arts and Crafts philosophy was an embrace of nature.Thumb through issues of The Craftsman and you will find profiles of classical artists, articles on the virtues of the then-new bungalow houses and quite a few columns celebrating nature and encouraging readers toward environmental conservation.There were three major themes of environmental conservation put forth

In Stickley's magazine. The first was conservation of the American wilderness. The second was to preserve and create green spaces in American cities. The third was the development of gardens and green space around the home. Each of these themes connected seamlessly to the Arts and Crafts ideal of simple, organic living.Stickley's idea of the modern craftsman was a person who lived harmoniously with the world. Effectively, that meant that the craftsman must have a love of nature and the desire to preserve the environment.Gustav Stickley and his magazine writers believed strongly that the American wilderness should be preserved. The Craftsman often featured environmental conservation projects in its stories, highlighting many of the founders of the American environmental conservation movement. One of the magazine's favorite subjects was American birds.Articles celebrating the diversity of bird species, their native homes and their essential role in ecosystems were contrasted by stories of their being hunted to extinction and driven from their habitats. The work of the Audubon Society made its way into the magazine many times.The Audubon Society was formed in 1905 to promote conservation, with a distinct concentration on the conservation and study of America's birds. In August of that same year, Gustav Stickley featured a profile entitled "John Muir: Geologist, Explorer, Naturalist". John Muir is, next to President Theodore Roosevelt, the best-known advocate for creating the National Park Service.Courtesy of the Stickley MuseumThe June 1911 cover of The Craftsman magazine.He founded thein the 1890s and spent his life traveling through the

Shown up by his son in the above instance, was a leading voice in the "City Beautiful" movement. The City Beautiful movement is best known for creating large public plazas and city squares like the National Mall in Washington, D.C., or Clinton Square in Syracuse. But the movement also involved basic anti-littering activism, encouraging people not to pollute and advocacy for more green spaces in cities.Stickley granted this movement a forum within his magazine, both in quoting the likes of McFarland and celebrating examples such as New York's Central Park, a predecessor to the City Beautiful Movement, as models for urban greenery.The third environmentally friendly thread that runs through The Craftsman magazine is its advocacy for the home garden. The Arts and Crafts movement is centered on the home, and while Stickley championed the preservation of green spaces both in the American wilderness and the city centers, it was environmental conservation at home for which he devoted the most ink.His Craftsman house designs often included porches, pergolas, and other areas that connected the indoors to the outdoors. The drawings were sometimes accompanied with designs for gardens. Landscaping ideas were established for larger properties, while articles like the not-especially-sensitive July, 1908, "How the Poor Cultivate Window Boxes," showed that a yard was not necessary for greening up one's life.These articles, published by Stickley throughout the 16-year run of The Craftsman, celebrated the physical and spiritual benefits of nature, providing a venue for early environmentalists to express their ideas and a wonderful

Untamed American Wilds, writing about his experiences and urging the public to preserve wilderness areas likeand theof Northern California. His activism, which reached thousands of Americans through The Craftsman magazine, built the foundation of the modern environmental movement.Another founding father of the National Park Service found his way into the pages of The Craftsman in 1906.J. Horace McFarland would become a driving force in the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. A decade earlier, Gustav Stickley featured remarks McFarland made as president of the American Civic Association. Talking about the need to improve city life, McFarland is quoted telling the following story about going to the post office with his son:"As we walked along the street I tore the wrapper from a magazine and threw it away. 'You mustn't do that, papa,' said the boy; 'the ladies told us it is wrong to throw loose papers on the street.' I was ashamed and I picked up the paper, putting it in one of the iron boxes. My boy was a better citizen than I. "Coming ThursdayIn The Post-Standard'sEast Neighbors:News from the eastern suburbsCoupons from local restaurantsHigh school soccer statisticsPolice reportsCommunity CalendarMcFarland's son had been taught by a group of civic-minded women devoted to cleaning up his home city of Harrisburg, Pa. Although the idea of putting a magazine wrapper in a garbage can seems common sense to us now, cities in the early 20th century were choked with trash, and public garbage cans were a novelty.McFarland, despite being