Inventory of the George H. Wirt Collection, 1873 – 1966

Descriptive Summary

Abstract: As Pennsylvania's first state forester and Chief Forest Fire Warden, George H. Wirt (1880- 1961) came to be known as one of America's most influential forest protectionists.

The collection includes documents pertaining to the founding and early history of the American Forestry Association (AFA). Materials include correspondence, copies of speeches, essays, and addresses delivered before various organizations, minutes of the annual meetings of the American Forestry Congress (1882-1887), and copies of the Proceedings of the American Forestry Association (1882-1897), as well as other general information relating to the development of the AFA. Much of the collection pertains to Dr. John A. Warder, president of AFA for a number of years in the late nineteenth century. Also included are receipts for dues of George H. Wirt for the years 1901-1912, 1917, 1919, and 1936-1944. Also a typed list of AFA presidents (1875-1966), a typed list of AFA annual meetings (1920-1966), a typed list of AFA Special Meetings (1875-1950), and a handwritten list of AFA Proceedings for the years 1882-1897.

Title: George H. Wirt Collection, 1873 - 1966

Creator: Wirt, George H. (George Hermann), 1880-1961, collector

Repository: Forest History Society Library and Archives

Call Number: 3964

Language of Material: Material in English

Extent: 0.5 linear feet (1 archival box)

Biographical and Historical Note

George H. Wirt

George H. Wirt is one of the foremost names in Pennsylvania forest history. As the state's first state forester and Chief Forest Fire Warden, Wirt came to be known as one of America's most influential forest protectionists. Born on November 28, 1880 in McVeytown, Pennsylvania, he received a B.E. degree from Juniata College in 1891 with aspirations of becoming an engineer. But a close friend of Wirt's father, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock, a prominent botanist and forest enthusiast, had other plans in mind for him. Under advice from Rothrock, Wirt enrolled at the Biltmore Forest School and received his Bachelor of Forestry degree in 1901.

George H. Wirt

By this time Dr. Rothrock had been appointed the first Pennsylvania forestry commissioner. Wirt accepted the job of state forester, at which position he authored the first technical bulletin on forestry issued in Pennsylvania. In 1903, Wirt and Rothrock organized the opening of the Forest Academy at Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, of which Wirt was named the first director. Under Wirt's guidance, the academy operated as a higher ranger school and advanced to provide college-level courses of professional caliber only to the most deserving students. The Forest Academy later merged with the Department of Forestry of Pennsylvania State College.

Wirt married in 1907 and left the academy in 1910 to accept the job of forest inspector for the Department of Forestry at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During this time he supervised the newly-educated staff of foresters at work in portions of the State Forests. In 1913 the proposition of forest protection in the state was recognized as fundamental, and Wirt was assigned the job of drafting a forest protection law. It was presented to the legislature in 1915, and in the fall of that same year Wirt was made Chief Forest Fire Warden of Pennsylvania, a position he held until his retirement in 1946.

Wirt was known as the primary architect of the unified forest fire control structure for Pennsylvania, which became a model for many other state protection organizations. He solicited the appointment of 4,400 fire wardens and 30,000 crew members. Forest fire loss dropped from an average of half a million acres per year to about 25,000 acres a year in the period of Wirt's leadership. He was honored in 1928 with a monument erected in his name at Mont Alto and was awarded an honorary Master of Science degree from Juniata College. He was a fellow in the Society of American Foresters, served on a number of committee assignments, wrote many articles, and delivered many public lectures. He remained active in state and local conservation movements after his retirement. George H. Wirt died on November 8, 1961 in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Note: The above biographical information about George H. Wirt was drawn from the following sources: (1) George H. Wirt, "Autobiography of and by George H. Wirt, Graduating from Biltmore Forest School in 1901," in The Biltmore Immortals, Biographies of 50 American Boys Graduating From the Biltmore Forest School Which Was the First School of American Forestry on American Soil, Volume I ([Darmstadt, Germany: L. C. Wittich, 1953]), pp. 310-314; and (2) "George R. [sic] Wirt (1880-1961),"Journal of Forestry 60 (January 1962): 60-61. [Obituary.]

American Forestry Association

Established in 1875, the American Forestry Association is the oldest group in North America organized to promote forest conservation. The organization became American Forests in 1992.

Collection Overview

The collection includes documents pertaining to the founding and early history of the American Forestry Association (AFA). Materials include correspondence, copies of speeches, essays, and addresses delivered before various organizations, minutes of the annual meetings of the American Forestry Congress (1882-1887), and copies of the Proceedings of the American Forestry Association (1882-1897), as well as other general information relating to the development of the AFA. Much of the collection pertains to Dr. John A. Warder, president of AFA for a number of years in the late nineteenth century. Also included are receipts for dues of George H. Wirt for the years 1901-1912, 1917, 1919, and 1936-1944. Also a typed list of AFA presidents (1875-1966), a typed list of AFA annual meetings (1920-1966), a typed list of AFA Special Meetings (1875-1950), and a handwritten list of AFA Proceedings for the years 1882-1897.

Collection Arrangement

1. American Forestry Association Materials, 1873-1966

Subject Headings

• American Forestry Association
• American Forestry Congress
• Forest conservation -- United States -- 19th century
• Forest conservation -- United States -- 20th century
• Hough, Franklin B.
• Landscape design -- Cemeteries -- United States
• Landscape gardening -- United States
• Loring, George Bailey, 1817-1891
• Warder, John A.
• Wirt, George H. (George Hermann), 1880-1961

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. American Forestry Association Materials, 1873-1966.

• Folder 1
  Warder Letter, 1873
  • Letter written in ink and signed by John Aston Warder with reference to his visit to Bohemia in 1873.
• Folder 2
  Report on Forests and Forestry, 1875
  • Report on Forests and Forestry by John Aston Warder, member of the Scientific Commission of the United States to the Vienna International Exposition, 1873.
• Folder 3
  Forestry and Its Needs, 1878
  • An address by John Aston Warder delivered before the American Forestry Association at its meeting in Washington, DC, February 19-21, 1878.
• Folder 4
  An Address on Forestry, 1878
  • Address by John Aston Warder delivered before the Otoe County Horticultural Society in Nebraska City, Nebraska, September 12, 1878.
• Folder 5
  List of Names, 1879
  • List of names written in pencil by John Aston Warder, to whom copies of Vienna Report were mailed March 10, 1879.
• Folder 6
  Landscape Gardening for the Cemetery, 1880
  • An essay read by request before the Michigan Horticultural Society at Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 7, 1880, by Dr. John Aston Warder.
• Folder 7
  Proceedings of Montgomery County Historical Society, 1881
  • Includes an essay on "wind-breaks, shelter-belts and shelter-hedges" by Dr. John Aston Warder, Cincinnati.
• Folder 8
  Protection to the Orchard, 1881
  • Pamphlet by John Aston Warder, read before American Pomological Society, Boston, September 14, 1881.
• Folder 9
  Rural Cemetery and Landscape Gardening, 1881
  • Pamphlet by John Aston Warder, North Bend, Ohio, printed 1881.
• Folder 10
  Some Trees for Planting on the Open Prairies of Northern Illinois and Adjoining Regions, 1881
  • From the transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Society for the year 1881, by John Aston Warder, president of the American Forestry Association.
• Folder 11
  What are Forest Trees?, 1882
  • Leaflet, by John Aston Warder, president of the American Forestry Association, 1882.
• Folder 12
  American Journal of Forestry, 1882
  • Volume 1, Issue 1, edited by Franklin B. Hough, October 1882.
• Folder 13
  Tree Planting in Shelter-Belts, 1882
  • By Dr. John Aston Warder, reprint from Agricultural Review and Journal of the American Agricultural Association, May 1882.
• Folder 14
  Report of American Forestry Association, 1882
  • Meeting at Rochester, New York, June 20-21, 1882.
• Folder 15
  Tree Planting for Railroads, 1882
  • Reprint of address by Dr. John Aston Warder at the Montreal Meeting of the American Forestry Congress, August 1882.
• Folder 16
  In Memoriam, John A. Warder, 1883
  • Obituary of Dr. John Aston Warder.
• Folder 17
  In Memory of John A. Warder
  • Poem by J.N. Matthews.
• Folder 18
  An Eloquent Tribute
  • Memorial statements as tribute to John A. Warder, Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society.
• Folder 19
  Address of George B. Loring, 1883
  • Address by Loring, U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture, before the American Forestry Congress meeting at St. Paul, Minnesota, August 8, 1883.
• Folder 20
  Proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, 1882
• Folder 21
  Proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, 1883
• Folder 22
  Proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, 1885
• Folder 23
  Proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, 1886
• Folder 24
  Proceedings of the American Forestry Congress, 1887
• Folder 25
  The Empire Forestry Association, Its Genesis and Objects with a Report of a Forestry Conference Held in London, 1921
• Folder 26
  Membership Receipts
  • Receipts for American Forestry Association dues from George H. Wirt for the years 1901-12, 1917, 1919, 1936-44.
• Folder 27
  Lists of AFA Presidents, Meetings, and Proceedings
  • Typed lists.
• Folder 28
  AFA List of Officers, 1891

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], George H. Wirt Collection, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Processing Information

Processed by Staff

Encoded by Amanda Ross, June 2009 and Eben Lehman, January 2010

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.