Born: 21 January 1888, United States
Died: 22 May 1944
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Helene Paine, Helene Burke, Helene Wiggins
The following is republished from the National Park Service. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Helene Wilson
Mount Rainier National Park
Park Ranger, 1918
• Born Helene Harper Wilson on January 21, 1888 in Robinson, Illinois but graduated from Spokane High School in Washington.
• Studied at Gerson Dramatic School.
• Worked as an actress under the name Mabel Kearn in the early 1900s and was well known as a dramatic reader.
• Married Thomson C. Wiggins on August 5, 1912 in Dillon, Montana. He died a few years later.
• Became the NPS’s second woman ranger on July 1, 1918 when she worked for one season at Mount Rainier National Park, earning $90 per month.
• Worked as a stenographer and secretary throughout her career after the NPS.
• Married Logan S. Paine on April 13, 1922 in Oakland, CA but later divorced.
• Married Edmund A. Burke on January 8, 1935 in Los Angeles but was widowed.
• Visited Mount Rainier in 1937 and recalled her duties as a park ranger.
• Worked as a clerk for the US Navy during World War II.
• Died on May 22, 1944 in Manhattan, NY.