Betty Reid Soskin
- Words Emma Silvers
- Photos Justin Chung
Activist, community leader and the oldest park ranger in US history.
Reid Soskin’s classic National Park Service broad-brimmed “flat hat.” The hat’s archetypal shape, complete with a dome pinched into four quadrants —also known as the Montana Peak or the Montana Pinch—was inspired by dimpled hats worn by vaqueros in Mexico and the Buffalo Soldiers who protected Yosemite National Park.
She’s been named California’s Woman of the Year, honored at the White House, recognized by Congress, and covered in The New York Times, TIME magazine and Vogue. President Barack Obama called her work “profoundly inspiring.” But for 103-year-old civil rights activist Betty Reid Soskin, past honors are just that—in the past. “I don’t plan anything. I don’t look into the past to make decisions about the future. Everything that happens to me is in the present moment—it’s always about right now,” says Reid Soskin over a video call from her home in the port city of Richmond, California.
