Harold Leclair Ickes (1874-1952) received Pugsley Gold Medal for his indefatigable support of the National Park Service. He was born on a farm in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Ickes' mother died when he was 16. His early childhood was austere and painful. Given hbis father's lack of interest in him, when he his mother died, Ickes was sent to live with his relatives in Chicago. Encouraged by a dedicated high school teacher, he completed graduated from University of Chicago. After graduation he worked as sports writer and later as a political reporter for several Chicago newspapers. He returned to Chicago University in 1903 to study for a law degree because he believed a law practice would provide more status and clout in the political arena than would journalism. Upon receiving his degree in 1907 he established his own law office.
Ickes was practicing lawyer in Chicago from 1902 through 1933. He regarded law aa a tool not a chalice. He served with the 35th Division in France in 1918-1919 as a YMCA employee bringing material aid and comfort to the troop in battle areas, because poor hearing disqualified him from regular military service. In 1932, he led an Independant Republican committee supporting the Democratic candidate for president, Franklin D Roosevelt in part because of the candidate's conncetion with Theodrore Roosevelt. Ickes served from 1933 to 1946 which was no longer than his predecessors or successors. He was strong supporter of civil rights. When Ickes resigned from President Truman's administration in 1946 he had been the longest serving Cabinet officer of any department in U.S history. His three-volume Secret Diary of Harold L.Ickes (1933- 1954) was published posthumously and offers insight into his personal and official lives for the years 1933-1941.