author
Martin Samuel Vilas
1870–1953
Best remembered for a sharply argued civic study of the Hetch Hetchy debate, this Vermont lawyer and public figure brought a practical, policy-minded voice to his writing. His work reflects the concerns of an era shaped by public utilities, conservation, and party politics.
1 Audiobook
Water and power for San Francisco from Hetch-Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park
by Martin Samuel Vilas
About the author
Born in Colchester, Vermont, on March 1, 1870, Martin Samuel Vilas studied at the University of Vermont, later did additional study at Harvard, and earned a master's degree from the University of Vermont. Before building his legal career, he taught school and served as a principal, experiences that suggest a strong grounding in public life as well as scholarship.
Vilas went on to practice law and became active in Vermont politics, serving in the state senate and eventually as president of the Vermont State Senate. He is also remembered as an author, with surviving works including Water and Power for San Francisco from Hetch-Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, a book that places him within one of the early 20th century's major public debates about infrastructure and natural resources.
He died on November 19, 1953. For readers today, his writing offers more than period detail: it captures the way law, politics, and public policy could come together in one writer's voice.