Inventory of the John Bemis Veach and John Bemis Veach, Jr. Papers, 1926 - 1991

Descriptive Summary

Abstract:	John ("Jack") Veach (1899-1995) and his son, John Veach, Jr. (born 1927), were American lumbermen prominent in the Appalachia region and leaders in professional forester societies throughout the twentieth century.
	The collection includes materials generated, received, and collected primarily by John B. ("Jack") Veach, Sr., but also by John B. Veach, Jr., throughout their careers in the hardwood lumber industry. Many of the papers pertain to legislative and public relations issues affecting the lumber industry, especially in western North Carolina. Major groups and industry organizations represented in these papers include: American Forest Institute (formerly American Forest Products Institute); Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc.; National Forest Products Association; National Hardwood Lumber Association; North Carolina Forest Advisory Council; North Carolina Forestry Association; Southern Appalachian Multiple Use Council; and Bemis/Veach family owned enterprises. Major topics include issues relating to the hardwood lumber industry, especially the Monongahela clearcutting issue, forest management practices and policies, and efforts to prevent the establishment and expansion of wilderness areas in which logging would be prohibited or severely restricted.
Title:	John Bemis Veach and John Bemis Veach, Jr. Papers, 1926 - 1991
Creator:	Veach, John Bemis, 1899-1995 John Bemis Veach, Jr., b. 1927
Repository:	Forest History Society Library and Archives
Call Number:	4347
Language of Material:	Material in English
Extent:	15 linear feet (10 record cartons)

Biographical Note

John ("Jack") Veach (1899-1995) and his son, John Veach, Jr. (born 1927), were American lumbermen prominent in the Appalachia region and leaders in professional forester societies throughout the twentieth century.

John Bemis ("Jack") Veach

John Bemis ("Jack") Veach was born December 12, 1899 in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Upon graduating from Yale University in 1923, he joined his father, George J. Veach, in a retail furniture and home furnishings business in Oil City. In 1935, he was elected president of Bemis Hardwood Lumber Company of Robbinsville, North Carolina, a company founded by his grandfather in the 1850s. Jack served as president of this company until 1960, when he began a twelve-year stint as the company's chairman of the board. Jack Veach held numerous other positions in the hardwood lumber industry throughout his long and industrious career, including president and chief executive officer (1946-1984) of Veach-May-Wilson, Inc., in Alcoa, Tennessee; director (1946-1956) of the National Hardwood Lumber Association; president (1948-1949) of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc.; president (1951-1952) of National Lumber Manufacturers Association (National Forest Products Association); president (1958-1960) of American Forestry Association; president (1960-1962) of American Forest Institute; and president (1966-1968) of North Carolina Forestry Association. Veach was a founder of the Hardwood Corporation of America in 1945 and was a member of the Economic Council of the Forest Products Industry during the 1960s and 1970s. He also served the forest products industry in a number of governmental capacities. From 1942 to 1949 Jack was in charge of procuring hardwood lumber for the U.S. Navy, and in the 1970s and 1980s he represented the industry in North Carolina by serving as a member of the N. C. Forest Advisory Council and as a member of the governing board of the N. C. Department of Natural Resources and Community Development. Additionally, he was active in civic associations in his home town of Asheville, North Carolina. John ("Jack") Veach died June 15, 1995.

John Bemis Veach, Jr.

Jack's son, John Bemis Veach, Jr., was born July 21, 1927 and graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949. In 1952, John (Jr.) began working for Bemis Hardwood Lumber Company in Robbinsville, North Carolina, and he served as its president from 1965 to 1973. In 1965 he became executive vice president (and later was president) of Veach-May-Wilson, Inc., in Alcoa, Tennessee, a company associated with Bemis Hardwood Lumber Company. In addition to working for Bemis and its associated companies, John served as president of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc., and National Hardwood Lumber Association. He also held numerous leadership positions with other forest products industry associations during his career, including National Forest Products Association.

Collection Overview

The collection includes materials generated, received, and collected primarily by John B. ("Jack") Veach, Sr., but also by John B. ("John") Veach, Jr., throughout their careers in the hardwood lumber industry. Many of the papers pertain to legislative and public relations issues affecting the lumber industry, especially in western North Carolina. Major groups and industry organizations represented in these papers include: American Forest Institute (formerly American Forest Products Institute); Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc.; National Forest Products Association; National Hardwood Lumber Association; North Carolina Forest Advisory Council; North Carolina Forestry Association; Southern Appalachian Multiple Use Council; and Bemis/Veach family owned enterprises. Major topics include issues relating to the hardwood lumber industry, especially the Monongahela clearcutting issue, forest management practices and policies, and efforts to prevent the establishment and expansion of wilderness areas in which logging would be prohibited or severely restricted.

Collection Arrangement

The papers are housed in ten cartons. The series comprising this record group consist of the various associations, groups, and organizations with which the Veaches were either formally or informally associated. The series are arranged alphabetically, with a miscellaneous series at the end. Series are underlined in this finding aid. File folders are numbered consecutively, and box numbers are also indicated on folder tabs. Files labeled "General Correspondence" may also contain small quantities of miscellaneous materials, such as newsletters, news clippings, meeting agendas, minutes of meetings, photographs, and pamphlets, in addition to correspondence. Materials within file folders are arranged in reverse chronological order.

1. Materials Related to the Hardwood Lumber Industry, 1926-1991

Subject Headings

• American Forest Institute
• John Bemis Veach, Jr., b. 1927
• Forest management -- United States -- Southern States
• Forest products industry -- United States -- 20th century
• Hardwoods -- Appalachian Region
• Monongahela National Forest (W. Va.)
• National Hardwood Lumber Association
• National Forest Products Association
• Veach, John Bemis, 1899-1995

Detailed Description of the Collection

Box 1   Folder 1   Folder 2   Folder 3   Folder 4   Folder 5   Folder 6   Folder 7   Folder 8   Folder 9   Folder 10   Folder 11   Folder 12Box 1   Folder 13   Folder 14Box 1-3   Folder 15   Folder 16   Folder 17   Folder 18   Folder 19   Folder 20   Folder 21   Folder 22   Folder 23   Folder 24   Folder 25   Folder 26   Folder 27   Folder 28   Folder 29   Folder 30   Folder 31   Folder 32   Folder 33   Folder 34   Folder 35   Folder 36   Folder 37   Folder 38   Folder 39   Folder 40   Folder 41   Folder 42   Folder 43   Folder 44   Folder 45   Folder 46   Folder 47   Folder 48   Folder 49   Folder 50   Folder 51   Folder 52   Folder 53Box 3   Folder 54   Folder 55   Folder 56   Folder 57   Folder 58   Folder 59   Folder 60   Folder 61   Folder 62   Folder 63   Folder 64Box 3-4   Folder 65   Folder 66   Folder 67   Folder 68   Folder 69   Folder 70   Folder 71   Folder 72   Folder 73   Folder 74   Folder 75Box 4   Folder 76   Folder 77Box 4   Folder 78   Folder 79   Folder 80   Folder 81Box 4   Folder 82Box 4   Folder 83Box 4   Folder 84Box 4   Folder 85Box 4-6   Folder 86   Folder 87   Folder 88   Folder 89   Folder 90   Folder 91   Folder 92   Folder 93   Folder 94   Folder 95   Folder 96   Folder 97   Folder 98   Folder 99   Folder 100   Folder 101   Folder 102   Folder 103   Folder 104   Folder 105   Folder 106   Folder 107   Folder 108   Folder 109   Folder 110   Folder 111   Folder 112   Folder 113   Folder 114   Folder 115   Folder 116   Folder 117   Folder 118   Folder 119   Folder 120   Folder 121   Folder 122   Folder 123   Folder 124   Folder 125   Folder 126   Folder 127   Folder 128   Folder 129   Folder 130   Folder 131Box 6   Folder 132   Folder 133   Folder 134   Folder 135   Folder 136   Folder 137   Folder 138   Folder 139   Folder 140   Folder 141   Folder 142Box 7   Folder 143   Folder 144Box 7   Folder 145   Folder 146   Folder 147   Folder 148   Folder 149Box 7   Folder 150   Folder 151   Folder 152   Folder 153   Folder 154Box 7   Folder 155Box 7-8   Folder 156   Folder 157   Folder 158   Folder 159   Folder 160   Folder 161   Folder 162   Folder 163   Folder 164Box 8   Folder 165Box 8   Folder 166Box 8   Folder 167Box 8   Folder 168   Folder 169   Folder 170   Folder 171   Folder 172   Folder 173   Folder 174   Folder 175   Folder 176   Folder 177   Folder 178   Folder 179   Folder 180   Folder 181   Folder 182Box 8   Folder 183Box 8   Folder 184   Folder 185Box 9   Folder 186   Folder 187Box 9   Folder 188Box 9-10   Folder 189   Folder 190   Folder 191   Folder 192   Folder 193   Folder 194   Folder 195    Folder 196   Folder 197   Folder 198   Folder 199   Folder 200   Folder 201   Folder 202   Folder 203   Folder 204   Folder 205   Folder 206   Folder 207   Folder 208   Folder 209   Folder 210   Folder 211   Folder 212   Folder 213   Folder 214   Folder 215   Folder 216   Folder 217   Folder 218   Folder 219   Folder 220   Folder 221   Folder 222   Folder 223   Folder 224   Folder 225   Folder 226   Folder 227   Folder 228   Folder 229   Folder 230   Folder 231   Folder 232   Folder 233   Folder 234

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], John Bemis Veach and John Bemis Veach, Jr. Papers, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Received from John B. Veach, Jr. in March 1995.

Processing Information

Processed by Michele Justice, May 1995

Encoded by Amanda Ross, October 2008

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.