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Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund
As the founding father of South Carolina’s conservation movement, Harry R. E. Hampton stands in the forefront as one of the great leaders of our state.
Born in 1897, Hampton grew up in Columbia and Charleston when state governing of wildlife consisted only of rudimentary law enforcement. Beginning as a youth, he explored, hunted and fished a then-undeveloped South Carolina.
When he was a news reporter for The State newspaper, Hampton’s conservation interests culminated in 1931 with a massive publicity campaign to organize a game and fish association, instigate natural resources legislation, and form a state game commission. The resulting association later became the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.
While he was federation president, Hampton’s constant hounding of the legislature influenced game and fish laws as well as the formation of the State Wildlife Department and the Commission in 1952. Hampton’s 20-year babble to preserve the Congaree River bottom also ended in success with the Congaree’s establishment as a National Natural Monument in 1976.
Once, when Hampton was asked what made him feel so personally responsible for the wild animals and places in South Carolina, he replied, “Just bullheadedness, I guess, is at the bottom of it.” When we ask you to contribute to the Harry Hampton Wildlife Fund, be bullish like Hampton and invest in your best asset: the woods and waters of South Carolina.
Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund
P.O. Box 2641Columbia, SC 29202
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About Harry Hampton
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Harry Hampton and friends at a shooting preserve near Greenwood, SC., photo circa 1957-60.
Front row: (l to r) Gordon Brown, South Carolina Wildlife Department, and Bodie McDowell, sports editor/outdoor columnist for the Greenwood Index-Journal.
Back row: (l to r) unidentified individual, Bob Shelley. Greenville Radio-TV, Eddie Finlay, South Carolina Wildlife Magazine, and Harry R.E. Hampton.
