Rockwell Rittenhouse Stephens (born February 16, 1900,

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

; d. October, 1982, in South Woodstock, Vermont) was a journalist, author and ski instructor. He was an early member of the

National Ski Patrol The nonprofit National Ski Patrol (NSP) is the largest winter education organization in the world. The NSP provides education, outreach, and credentialing related to outdoor recreation and safety. It is currently composed of more than 31,000 memb ...

, joining in 1938, receiving member No. 74.

Early life and family

Rockwell Rittenhouse Stephens was born February 16, 1900, the son of John Rittenhouse Stephens and his wife Cornelia Rockwell. Rockwell was the paternal grandson of William and Susanna (Rittenhouse) Stephens, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Susanna was descended from a first cousin of

David Rittenhouse David Rittenhouse (April 8, 1732 – June 26, 1796) was an American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official. Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society an ...

, after whom

Rittenhouse Square Rittenhouse Square is a public park in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that is the center of the eponymous Rittenhouse neighborhood. The square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas ...

is named. Rockwell's maternal grandparents were Cleveland S. and Cornelia Rockwell. Cleveland S. Rockwell was an engineer for the U. S. Navy and a United States Coast Surveyor. In 1910, ten-year-old Rockwell Stephens was living with his mother Cornelia in a Philadelphia Ward 22 hotel. By 1920, Rockwell and his mother Cornelia had moved to Chicago. In 1918 his draft registration card, which was signed "Rockwell Rittenhouse Rockwell", indicated that he lived on University Avenue in Chicago, was a student attending University High School, and his nearest relative was "Mrs. Cornelia R. Rockwell" of the same address. Rockwell was married to Isabella McLaughlin, daughter of Andrew C. McLaughlin, a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and past President of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

. She survived him and continued to live at their house in Vermont until her own death in 1988.

Career

From 1921 to 1926 he worked at the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

'', writing about sport, autos and travel. In 1930, Rockwell R. Stephens, occupation "College Secretary", was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife Isabella and their eight-month-old daughter Susanna R. Stephens. He was president of Ski Sport Inc. of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

from 1933 to 1943. He joined the faculty of the

Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-edu ...

Putney, Vermont Putney is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,617 at the 2020 census. The town's historic core makes up the Putney Village Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His ...

, in 1952, and Woodstock Country School, Woodstock, Vermont, from 1953 to 1962. After moving to Vermont, he became a frequent contributor to the magazine ''Vermont Life''. Retiring to South Woodstock,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, he became a tree harvester on his property there. His book on the subject "One Man's Forest" is still available, though there have been no recent printings. One of his assignments at the Chicago Daily News was to report on routes for long-distance travel. Before the

U.S. Route The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

system and the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

, long distance automobile travel was dependent on a knowledge of State, County and Local highways, many not well signposted. Rockwell Stephens travelled these highways and reported routes based on landmarks. He died October 18, 1982, at Woodstock, Vermont.Vermont Department of Health. Vermont Death Index 1981-2001. Burlington, VT, USA: Vermont Department of Health, 2001 He was survived by his wife Isabella, their two daughters and a son.

References

Bibliography

* (With Charles N. Proctor) "The Art of Skiing", Harcourt, 1933. * (With Proctor) "Skiing", Harcourt, 1936. * "One Man's Forest: Pleasure and Profit from Your Own Woods" — Stephen Greene Press (1974) 159 pages Hardback. Paperback.

External links

* New England Ski Museu
article
* SkiRebel Magazin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Rockwell 1900 births 1982 deaths People from Windsor County, Vermont