Harold W. Lathrop (1901-1961) received the State/Regional Level Pugsley Medal “for sustained and effective leadership in the field of parks and recreation, especially for his outstanding accomplishments in the planning and direction of state parks systems in Colorado and Minnesota, and for his widespread counsel and guidance through the National Conference on State Parks and the National Recreation Association.” Lathrop was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin, but grew up in Minneapolis. In his youth, Lathrop wanted to be a civil engineer, and as he grew up he watched the building of the fine city park system in that city. When World War I broke out he joined the U.S. Navy, even though he had not yet finished school. After military service he attended the William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute and the University of Minnesota, both in Minneapolis, before going to work for the Minneapolis Park Board in 1924 as a senior engineering aid.
In May 1934 he was drafted from that job by the governor to serve as park consultant for State Emergency Relief Administration projects. About two months later he was appointed supervisor of ECW work in the state parks. He wrote laws and was able to establish a separate agency to develop and administer state parks. He remained subsequently appointed the first director of state parks in July 1935. He remained in this capacity until 1946. Under his direction, the Minnesota State Parks system steadily expanded. Indeed this was the seminal period in the history of the system. In 1934 it consisted of 30 units, but by 1940 there were 47. Park visitation increased from 450,000 in 1935 to 1,350,000 in 1941, the last year before federal New Deal funds, which totaled over $7.54 million by 1940. These funds were provided with the understanding that the state would assume the burden of maintaining the parks afterwards. However, the legislature did not fulfill this promise, and Lathrop was left to operate ten of the new parks without the legislature providing fund