| Historical Notes |
Aldo Leopold was born in 1887 in the town of Burlington, Iowa to Carl and Clara Leopold. Aldo and his siblings, Frederic, Carl, and Marie all enjoyed being outdoors and learning about the world around them. Aldo attended high school at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. After graduating, Aldo made his way to Yale, where he got into the graduate forest school. After graduation, Aldo moved to New Mexico where he had a job working for the Forest Service. While living and working in New Mexico, Aldo met Estella Bergere, and the couple married in 1912. Together they had five children, all who were just as passionate about their father’s love for the outdoors. In 1933 Aldo was offered a job at the University of Wisconsin to teach in their wildlife management graduate program. Soon Leopold was promoted to a new chair position in game management, becoming the first person in the nation to hold such a title. The family moved to Wisconsin and purchased a farm that they worked to repair and restore to the land’s natural state. This farm soon earned the name of “The Shack” and the restored chicken coop became a second home and laboratory to many nature lovers over the years. Aldo used the shack to further his studies and provide ideas for the book he was working on, A Sand County Almanac. The piece became a world renowned piece of conversation literature, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide. Aldo Leopold suffered a heart attack on April 21st, 1948 which took his life. Today Aldo Leopold is remembered as the father of wildlife ecology and the United States’ wilderness system. The Aldo Leopold Foundation works to “foster land ethic through the legacy of Also Leopold”. The organization holds the Leopold Archives, manages the Leopold properties, including The Shack, and promotes community education about wildlife conservation. |