Inventory of the Forest History Society Oral History Interviews,
1940 - 2008
What is this document?
Descriptive Summary
| Abstract: | The Forest History Society (FHS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational institution that links the past to the future by identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on the history of interactions between people, forests, and their related resources -- timber, water, soil, forage, fish and wildlife, recreation, and scenic or spiritual values. Through programs in research, publication, and education, the Society promotes and rewards scholarship in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history. FHS houses a comprehensive compilation of materials related to forest history in the Alvin J. Huss Archives, which contain the records of industry and conservation organizations worldwide, and the Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Library, which contains than 9,000 volumes. |
| The collection includes over 250 interviews conducted with individuals important to the history of North American forests and forestry. Persons interviewed include chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service, employees of other government agencies charged with land management, officers of forest products companies, conservationists, and forestry educators. Many of these interviewees began their careers before the turn of the 20th century; their first-hand accounts of momentous events and critical policy changes provide often detailed historical insight that goes beyond what is recorded in traditional written records. Subjects discussed in the oral history interviews broadly pertain to the history of human interaction with the forested environment. Many people interviewed by the Society in the 1940s and 1950s were veterans of the forest products industry whose first-hand accounts of momentous events document critical policy changes that occurred within the industry in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. As the boundaries of the field of forest history broadened in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to include the associated fields of conservation and environmental history, the Society's OHI mission expanded to include projects that recorded the reminiscences of forestry educators and researchers, conservationists, and employees of American government agencies charged with managing natural resources. Many interviews conducted over the last couple of decades relate the contentious political atmosphere experienced by women who held relatively high positions of leadership within the United States Forest Service (USFS) or describe the administrative challenges endured by former chiefs of the USFS and administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. | |
| Title: | Forest History Society Oral History Interviews, 1940 - 2008 |
| Creator: | Forest History Society |
| Repository: | Forest History Society Library and Archives |
| Call Number: | 7207 |
| Language of Material: | Material in English |
| Extent: | 86 linear feet (20 file cabinet drawers, tapes for 250 oral history interviews) |
Historical Note
The Forest History Society (FHS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational institution that links the past to the future by identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on the history of interactions between people, forests, and their related resources -- timber, water, soil, forage, fish and wildlife, recreation, and scenic or spiritual values. Through programs in research, publication, and education, the Society promotes and rewards scholarship in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history. FHS houses a comprehensive compilation of materials related to forest history in the Alvin J. Huss Archives, which contain the records of industry and conservation organizations worldwide, and the Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Library, which contains than 9,000 volumes.
Collection Overview
The collection includes over 250 interviews conducted with individuals important to the history of North American forests and forestry. Persons interviewed include chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service, employees of other government agencies charged with land management, officers of forest products companies, conservationists, and forestry educators. Many of these interviewees began their careers before the turn of the 20th century; their first-hand accounts of momentous events and critical policy changes provide often detailed historical insight that goes beyond what is recorded in traditional written records.
Subjects discussed in the oral history interviews broadly pertain to the history of human interaction with the forested environment. Many people interviewed by the Society in the 1940s and 1950s were veterans of the forest products industry whose first-hand accounts of momentous events document critical policy changes that occurred within the industry in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. As the boundaries of the field of forest history broadened in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to include the associated fields of conservation and environmental history, the Society's OHI mission expanded to include projects that recorded the reminiscences of forestry educators and researchers, conservationists, and employees of American government agencies charged with managing natural resources. Many interviews conducted over the last couple of decades relate the contentious political atmosphere experienced by women who held relatively high positions of leadership within the United States Forest Service (USFS) or describe the administrative challenges endured by former chiefs of the USFS and administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Collection Arrangement
1. Oral History Interviews, 1940-2008
Subject Headings
- Conservation of natural resources -- United States -- Societies, etc.
- Conservationists -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Conservationists -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Conservationists -- Interviews
- Forest History Society
- Forests and forestry -- Educators -- United States -- Interviews
- Forest policy -- United States -- History
- Forest products industry -- United States -- History
- Forestry law and legislation -- United States -- History
- Forests and forestry -- United States -- History -- 19th century
- Forests and forestry -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Scientists -- United States -- Interviews
- United States. Environmental Protection Agency -- Employees
- United States. Forest Service -- Employees
- Women in conservation of natural resources -- United States -- Interviews
Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Oral History Interviews, 1940-2008.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the Forest History Society's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Forest History Society claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Forest History Society Oral History Interviews, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.
Processing Information
Processed by Staff
Encoded by Amanda Ross, February 2009
Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.