YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - In some ways, 1933 was not unlike 2008. Considered by many historians to be one of the worst years of the Great Depression, 1933 saw unemployment rise to a staggering 24.9 percent, and a bank crisis compelled Congress to pass the Emergency Banking Bill to stabilize the nation's floundering economy.

Yet, in the midst of that economic crisis, a small group of people banded together to start an organization that exists to this day. These people were bound by one common element: their love of Yellowstone National Park. This year, the Yellowstone Association, the park's non-profit educational partner, celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Today, the association boasts more than 26,000 members in more than 50 countries, and furnishes the park with essential funds and in-depth educational programs. But its beginnings were humble.

"It was members of the Park Service staff [in Yellowstone], who, along with local residents, started the association," said Pat Cole, the association's executive director.

According to Cole, those original pioneers wanted to establish a research library for the park. Through the sale of informative pamphlets and hand-outs, the group raised nearly $2,200 that first year. To say the association's financial contributions have grown would be an understatement. In 2007, for example, the association provided $900,000 in cash and another $2.8 million in "in-kind" donations.

The concept of setting up a cooperative association and selling educational materials to national park visitors had been established in Yosemite National Park in the 1920s. Buoyed by Yosemite's success, other parks followed suit, including Yellowstone.

As Yellowstone's popularity grew, so did the support for the association.

"As visitation rose, the demand for educational materials rose as well, and association members began to staff the park's bookstores," Cole said.

Over the decades, as the association has grown and evolved, its mission has expanded as well. In addition to providing financial support to the park, the association seeks to educate visitors and inspire them to preserve the country's first national park.

"People will not care about preserving Yellowstone if they don't understand why it's so special," Cole said.

According to Cole, the park utilizes the funds in a variety of ways, from trailside exhibits throughout the park, to supporting outreach programs for the park rangers, to funding the annual Elk Rut Corps, a park program that allows visitors to safely watch the majestic creatures during mating season. In some cases, however, the projects are much larger.

A few years ago, the association donated more than $1 million for the new Canyon Visitor Education Center. The center offers visitors "hands-on," interactive exhibits, focusing on the park's geology. In the spring it will feature a new, informative documentary.

For Judy Knuth Folts, the deputy-chief for Yellowstone's Division of Interpretation, the association's relationship with the park, as well as its emphasis on educating visitors, has proven vital.

"We've been fortunate to have a partner with whom we've had such a good relationship," Knuth Folts said. "They offer great educational products."

Those educational products include more than books and pamphlets. In the 1970s, the Yellowstone Association recognized that some tourists were looking for something beyond the typical ranger-led programs: multi-day, in-depth field courses. The Yellowstone Association Institute was born.

Taught by recognized experts in their respective fields, the institute's courses now cover everything: backpacking trips, wildlife watching excursions, geology programs. The concept has really taken off. In 1976, the Institute's first year, 32 students participated in 47 courses. This year, some 5,000 students signed up for the more than 400 courses offered by the institute.

"It's gratifying that people value the educational services we provide," said Jeff Brown, the institute's director of education.

"Our students are not just touring the park and looking through the windshield. They're getting off the beaten path," Brown said.

Knuth Folts added that the institute's courses complement the park's programs.

"These educational programs fill a niche for us that we just can't offer," she said.

As for Cole, the 75th anniversary is certainly a time to reflect on the successes of the past, but it is also an opportunity to focus on the future. With two new facilities in the works, including a new education headquarters, Cole said it's like a new beginning.

"We are being reborn," she said.

Still, the executive director realizes that the association's future growth lies in its ability to continue to educate the public about Yellowstone.

"Our goal is to move them from being visitors to being park stewards," she said.