Recipient Biography

Bronze Medal -Walter L. Wirth


 

Walter L.Wirth (1902-1958) received the Pugsley Bronze Medal posthumously soon after his death in 1958, for "distinguished service in the professional advancement of park and recreation administrators, especially for leadership in the reorganization, refining, and administration of regional and national recreation and park facilities constituting an educational progression and war years while serving as a director (AIPE) during and between two terms as president in 1940 and 1944; and for his accomplishments as superintendent of parks in Salem, Oregon." From 1926-1927 he was assistant superintendent of parks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later deputy to “Willo” Doolittle (Pugsley Medal 1935), who also served as executive secretary of the American Institute of Park Executives. In March 1927 he was appointed assistant superintendent of parks in New Haven, Connecticut. 

When the director died in 1929, he was appointed superintendent and remained in that role until 1946. During the last 14 years of his tenure at New Haven, his responsibilities included administration of municipal recreation programs. At New Haven he was especially noted for the youth and nature programs that he developed and managed. He then accepted the position of director of Babler State Park at Centaur in 1947-48, where he was hired to design and engineer the future development and construction of park facilities. He followed this by becoming director of parks in Pennsylvania responsible for the administration of 35 state parks. Wirth moved to his final administrative post as an award-winning park executive in Oregon where he was instrumental in developing development and construction plans that he designed and engineered the future expansion in Salem he spearheaded the construction of park facilities. His relatively short stay in Salem he described as a "huge expansion of recreational facilities" in an area known for its scenic natural park areas and their appeal.