Peeling Back The Bark
-
Birling Down White Water
By Amanda T. Ross on June 11, 2009Prior to the expansion of railroads and later use of trucks, the logging industry relied on river currents to move large amounts of cut timber to sawmills. In October, we highlighted six photo galleries related to various aspects of river log drives. Since this posting, searches for “log drives,” “log drivers,” “moving logs on rivers,”…
-
Paul Bunyan Defeats Depression?
By Amanda T. Ross on June 5, 2009The William Laughead Papers, introduced in a previous post, continue to delight. Among the Bunyan-related materials, we found an advertising booklet heralding “Paul Bunyan’s Prosperity Special.” Click to view advertising booklet in its entirety. This pamphlet documents the Red River Lumber Company’s strategy to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the completion of the Western Pacific…
-
May 31, 1940: Keeping it Green
By Eben Lehman on May 31, 2009On this date in 1940, Washington Governor Clarence D. Martin issued an influential proclamation appealing for the positive action by all of Washington’s citizens in the prevention of wildfires. This public proclamation would directly lead to the creation of the Keep Washington Green Association, an organization whose model was eventually copied by states throughout the…
-
Tall Tales and Lumber Sales
By Amanda T. Ross on May 26, 2009When the Red River Lumber Company installed electrically operated mills in California, logs could be devoured “faster than a small boy devours a cookie.” At the prospect of keeping the mills supplied with enough lumber to match the incredible processing speed, logging contractors shook their heads and said, “Send for Paul Bunyan.” Or so claimed…
-
South from Alaska: Reflections on Traveling the U.S. and Visiting FHS
By Guest Contributor on May 22, 2009We’ve asked Jim Mackovjak, author of the forthcoming FHS book, Tongass Timber: A History of Logging and Timber Utilization in Southeast Alaska, 1804-1960, to share his thoughts on his recent cross-country bike trip and his time here in Durham. Around our office he has earned the nickname “Lawrence of Alaska” for his ride through the…
-
Bucking, Limbing, and Felling
By Eben Lehman on May 13, 2009The six new photo galleries added to our website today feature well over 200 historic photos further documenting the work of loggers in the field. The first four new galleries relate to the bucking and limbing of cut timber, the process during which loggers removed branches and then sawed the felled trees into fixed-length sections. …
-
Safety Worst
By Eben Lehman on May 8, 2009Each year, the first full week of May marks North American Occupational Safety and Health Week. Created by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), along with a partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the week is intended to promote the prevention of workplace…
-
Best Archives on the Web, 2009
By Amanda T. Ross on April 29, 2009In recent weeks, Durham, North Carolina, has been flooded with generous sunlight and summer-like highs. These soaring temperatures are no match for our burgeoning pride, however, as Peeling Back the Bark has earned some virtual hardware. We are pleased to report that ArchivesNext has announced the selections for the Best Archives on the Web awards…
-
April 22, 1832: J. Sterling Morton, Father of Arbor Day, is Born
By Eben Lehman on April 22, 2009“There is no aristocracy in trees. They are not haughty. They will thrive near the humblest cabin on our fertile prairies, just as well and become just as refreshing to the eye and as fruitful as they will in the shadow of a king’s palace.” — J. Sterling Morton Before there was Earth Day, there…
-
April 15, 1920: Greeley Named Forest Service Chief
By James Lewis on April 15, 2009When William B. Greeley was appointed as the third chief of the U.S. Forest Service on April 15, 1920, he was already embroiled in a fight over the future of American forestry and private forests. Greeley’s lengthy and distinguished Forest Service career is largely defined by a controversy that — once it was resolved —…
-
CSI Madison, Wisconsin: Wooden Witness
By Amanda T. Ross on March 31, 2009The setting: A bleak and blustery evening at an estate in 1930s Hopewell, N.J. The scene: At 9:00 p.m., a well-dressed man hears a noise he later likens to an orange crate falling off a kitchen chair. Noting nothing amiss, he shrugs and returns to his evening activities. The night continues uneventfully until 10:00 p.m.,…
-
GAO Report on Federal Land Management Issued
By James Lewis on March 18, 2009In 1964, Congress created the Public Land Law Review Commission “to explore how to simplify public land laws and make administering them more effective.” Now, forty-five years later, the General Accounting Office has released a report on the pros and cons of moving the Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of…
-
In Her Boots: Women in the Forests
By Amanda T. Ross on March 8, 2009In honor of International Women’s Day, please enjoy a brief sampling of FHS resources on women in forest-related professions. Dr. Eloise Gerry at microscope. Our U.S. Forest History portal highlights the contributions of many foresters, scientists, and others. The efforts of females employees are recognized, including those of: Research scientist Eloise Gerry, who conducted pioneering…
-
Add One Northern Spotted Owl, Stir in Controversy, and Bring to a Boil
By James Lewis on March 7, 2009On March 7, 1991, U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer blocked logging of all old-growth trees on national forests in the Pacific Northwest that were habitat for the northern spotted owl to protect the animal. Ruling in favor of the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Dwyer declared the U.S. Forest…
-
Pancakes and Pastimes
By Eben Lehman on February 26, 2009The four new photo galleries added to our website today provide a unique look into various aspects of the lives of loggers outside of the forest work environment. These new online galleries, containing nearly 150 historic photos, feature subjects such as Logging Camp Food, Logging Communities, Family Life, and Logger Rodeos. The Logging Camp Food…
-
February 22, 1897: Cleveland Celebrates Washington by Foreshadowing Roosevelt
By James Lewis on February 22, 2009On this day in 1897, President Grover Cleveland signed an executive order creating the Washington Birthday Reserves. He proclaimed 13 new or expanded forest reserves in the western United States, totaling some 21 million acres; it brought the total acreage in the forest reserve system (the predecessor to the National Forest System) to just under…
-
Lights! Camera! YouTube!
By Eben Lehman on February 18, 2009As part of our ongoing efforts in using new technologies to provide online access to materials in our library and archives, the Forest History Society is pleased to announce the launch of its own YouTube Channel. YouTube, the leading online video community, allows organizations to reach a huge audience of users through the creation of…
-
Historian Stephen J. Pyne on the Australian Fires
By Guest Contributor on February 10, 2009We’ve asked Stephen Pyne, an environmental historian who has written about fire around the world, to offer his thoughts on the bushfires in Australia. As of this publication date, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island had burned and the death toll neared 200. Black Saturday: The Sequel The fires are a horror, even…
-
Forests in Fiction: Tom Gill Lived What He Wrote
By Amanda T. Ross on February 6, 2009Through one degree of separation, we can connect professional foresters with Hollywood glamour! FHS holds the archival records and popular novels of the nexus: Tom Gill, a leader in international and American forestry and prolific author. Thomas Harvey Gill (1891-1972) served as a forester with the U.S. Forest Service (1915-1925), the Charles Lathrop Pack Forestry…
-
January 31, 1898: International Paper Incorporated
By James Lewis on January 31, 2009January 31st is more than just Super Bowl Saturday here in the U.S. It’s also the anniversary of the founding of International Paper.* On this day in 1898, fourteen paper companies came together and incorporated as International Paper (IP). Capitalized at almost $40 million dollars, IP included seventeen pulp and paper mills operating 101 paper…
