Mary Gibbs

Mary Hannah Gibbs Logan (1879February 4, 1983) was the superintendent for Itasca State Park and a pivotal figure in the development of the park, located in Minnesota at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Gibbs was the first female park commissioner in the United States. Early life Mary Hannah Gibbs was born in Atwater, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota in 1879. Minnesota Governor Samuel Van Sant appointed her father John Puckett Gibbs (1840-1903) as the superintendent of Itasca State Park in 1901 and the family moved into quarters at Lake Itasca. Service at Itasca State Park Mary worked under her father as the park secretary. When her father died, Mary was just 24 years old, but she knew the park's operations well. She was appointed the acting superintendent of Itasca State Park by Governor Van Sant in 1903.