Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam Explained

Elizabeth Titus Putnam
Birth Name:	Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam
Birth Date:	1933
Birth Place:	Sands Point, New York^[1]
Nationality:	American
Other Names:	Liz Putnam
Occupation:	Conservationist
Years Active:	1957-1990
Known For:	founding the Student Conservation Association

Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam is an American conservationist and founder of the Student Conservation Association.

Early life and education

Putnam graduated from Miss Porter's School in 1952 and from Vassar in 1955.^{[2] [3]}

Founding SCA

As a student at Vassar College in the 1950s, Putnam admired the natural heritage of America's national parks, but worried limited federal financial resources would prevent proper maintenance of the pristine parklands.^[4]

In 1955, Putnam wrote her senior thesis at Vassar College, "A Proposed Student Conservation Corps". The idea, modeled after the federal Civilian Conservation Corps program (1933–42), was to take the burden of labor-intensive jobs such as entrance fee collecting or trail work from the National Park Service and shift to the proposed SCC.^[5]

Career

After founding the Student Conservation Association in 1957, Putnam served as its President until her retirement in 1990.^{[6] [7]}

She currently resides in Shaftsbury, Vermont,^[8]

Awards and honors

• In 2018, Vassar and the Hudson Valley chapter of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) planted a tree in her honor at the 415 acre Vassar Ecological Preserve.^[9]
• 2016 - The Wilderness Society's Robert Marshall Award
• 2015 - New York State Outdoor Education Association Leadership Award
• 2014 - Doctor of Humane Letters, College of Wooster
• 2012 - The Corps Network Lifetime Achievement
• In 2011, the Vermont legislature passed act R-107 to honor Putnam.
• In 2010, Putnam won the second highest civilian award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, the first conservationist to win the honor.^{[10] [11]}
• 1982 - President Reagan - President's Volunteer Action Award^[12]
• 1982 - Student Conservation Association - 25th Anniversary Award
• 1980 - Garden Club of America - Conservation Achievement Award
• 1974 - U.S. Department of the Interior - Distinguished Service Award
• 1971 - Arizona Federated Garden Clubs - Distinguished Service Award
• 1966 - Garden Club of America - Margaret Douglas Award

Notes and References

1. Web site: Vermonter remembers roots of youth conservation . Burlington Free Press . en.
2. Web site: Archive from Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - Vassar alumna Elizabeth Putnam '55 receives the 2010 Presidential Citizens Medal at White House ceremony. - News - Info - Vassar College. Info.vassar.edu. 7 September 2018.
3. Web site: Miss Porter's School Annual Report July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010. Porters.org. 7 September 2018. March 3, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200101/http://www.porters.org/ftpimages/301/misc/misc_67719.pdf. dead.
4. Web site: Untitled. https://web.archive.org/web/20121108161529/http://www.scribd.com/doc/55079276/Untitled. 2012-11-08. dead. 2017-09-09.
5. Web site: titusintvw.htm. Roberts. Nina. www.webpages.uidaho.edu.
6. Web site: Newsroom. Thesca.org. 7 September 2018. 8 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180908130848/https://www.thesca.org/newsroom/sca-founder-elizabeth-cushman-titus-putnam-receive-2010-presidential-citizens-medal-first-c. dead.
7. Web site: Inside ESF 2006-1. Issuu.com. 21 July 2010 . 7 September 2018.
8. Web site: Obama Gives 2 Chicago Women Citizen's Medals. Nbcchicago.com. 4 August 2010 . 7 September 2018.
9. Web site: Conservation legend gets her own tree - Liz Putnam '55 joins SCA, Vassar volunteers in Day of Service. HERTZ. Larry. Vassar College.
10. Web site: Citizens Medal Winner: Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam The White House.
11. Web site: Home - This is Vassar: The newsletter for Vassar College Alumnae/i and Families. 2022-01-15. www.vassar.edu.
12. Web site: SCA Founder, Liz Putnam. 2013-10-09. The Student Conservation Association. en. 2019-02-28.