Guide to Oral History Interviews

In 1976 the Forest History Society published Barbara D. Holman's descriptive guide to the Society's Oral History Interview Collection. The final printed version was published in 1997. Since that time the guide has been maintained solely as an online resource. The interviews are also searchable via the Oral History section of the FHS Research Portal, which provides brief descriptions of interviews conducted by FHS and others.

For additional information about the use of the collection, email the FHS library staff.

Oral History Collection of the Forest History Society: An Annotated Guide

The guide below contains brief summaries of each interview in the collection including: date of the interview; participants; subject descriptions; page length of transcriptions; and financial sponsors. The guide is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee. For selected interviews, full-text transcriptions in Adobe PDF format are avilable.

Alphabetically Browse the Guide:

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Adams, William R. (1907 - 1979)
Oral history interview conducted October 1975 by Elwood R. Maunder. Rough transcript. Employee of St. Regis Paper Company. Discusses childhood in New York and early employment with Taggart Corporation and St. Regis; government employment with the Office of Price Administration, 1941-43; expansion and modernization of St. Regis during World War II and after; company leadership of Ted Gay, Carl Martin, and Roy Ferguson. Produced by the Forest History Society. Sponsored by St. Regis Paper Company. 61 leaves (combined with interview below).

Adams, William R. (1907 - 1979)
Oral history interview conducted December 1975 by Elwood R. Maunder. Rough transcript. Employee of St. Regis Paper Company. Discusses expansion and modernization of company during World War II and after; acquisition of companies, such as the Nashua River Paper Company, that supplied raw materials and equipment needed to expand bag paper manufacturing production at St. Regis. Produced by the Forest History Society. Sponsored by St. Regis Paper Company. 17 leaves.

Ahlgren, Clifford E. (1922 - 2016) [PDF]
Oral history interview conducted 1964 by Elwood R. Maunder. Final transcript. Resident director, Quetico-Superior Wilderness Research Center, Ely, Minnesota. Discusses organization of the center, 1948; land ecology; fire research; tree breeding; wilderness. Produced by the Forest History Society. Sponsored by Wilderness Research Foundation. 63 leaves.

Anderson, Peter B. (1866 - 1959)
Oral history interview conducted 1958 by Elwood R. Maunder. Rough transcript. Cedar shingle mill operator. Discusses immigration from Sweden to Minnesota, 1885; employment with Weyerhaeuser Company, 1887; land clearing, homesteading, real estate, and varied other enterprises, Tacoma, Washington; partnership in cedar shingle company on Nooksack River, 1893-96; logging, butchering, construction and mining, Klondike gold rush, 1897; operation of cedar shingle mills, Bellingham, Washington, 1905-10; mill operations and retirement in British Columbia. Produced by the Forest History Foundation. Sponsored by the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation and Weyerhaeuser Foundation. 39 leaves.

Arnold, Richard Keith (1913 - 2006) [PDF]
Oral history interview conducted 1992 by Harold K. Steen. Final transcript. Former professor of forestry at numerous universities and research officer for the U.S. Forest Service, including such positions as dean of the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, 1966-1969; deputy chief in charge of research, U.S. Forest Service, 1969-1973; and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, 1972-1979. Discusses U.S. Forest Service research; fire prevention; Society of American Foresters; international forestry. Produced by the Forest History Society. Sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service. Excerpted in View From the Top: Forest Service Research (Durham, N.C.: Forest History Society, 1994). iii + 79 leaves.

Aston, Emmit (1900 - 1982)
Oral history interview conducted 1958 by Elwood R. Maunder. Final transcript. Logging manager, Biles-Coleman Lumber Company, Washington. Discusses personal background; the Pacific Logging Congress; fight to secure use of public highways for log transport; labor relations; educating the public on logging practices; George M. Cornwall. Also present during interview was Archibald M. Whisnant of the Pacific Logging Congress. Produced by the Forest History Foundation. Sponsored by the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation and Weyerhaeuser Foundation. 41 leaves.

Auchter, Joseph A. (1894 - 1986) [PDF]
Oral history interview conducted in 1976 by Arthur J. McCourt. Final transcript. President of the North Carolina Pulp Company and director of Kieckhefer Container Company and later, member of the Weyerhaeuser Board of Directors. Discusses the history of the Kieckhefer-Eddy companies, fiber box manufacturing, World War II, milk cartons and eventual merger with Weyerhaeuser Company. Produced by the Weyerhaeuser Company. [iii] + 41 + [12] leaves.

Auchter, Joseph A. (1894 - 1986) and Kieckhefer, Herbert M. (1895 - 1977) [PDF]
Oral history interview conducted in 1975 by Arthur J. McCourt. Final transcript. Kieckhefer was president of the Kieckhefer Container Company and director of the Eddy Paper Corporation and North Carolina Pulp Company. Auchter was president of the North Carolina Pulp Company and director of Kieckhefer Container Company. Both became members of the Weyerhaeuser Board of Directors. Discusses the history of the Kieckhefer-Eddy companies, fiber box manufacturing, World War II, milk cartons and eventual merger with Weyerhaeuser Company. Produced by the Weyerhaeuser Company. [iii] + 41 + [12] leaves.

Austin, Gladys [view at Internet Archive]
Oral history interview conducted 1968 by Lois C. Stone. Final transcript. Mrs. Lloyd Austin discusses the Eddy Tree Breeding Station: Institute of Forest Genetics, located in Placerville, California, including station founder James G. Eddy; pioneer work in pollination; problems during the Great Depression; staff members; institute managed by the US Forest Service; station background and site; early projects; techniques developed by staff; organization of USFS research; tree plantings; Lloyd Austin's establishment of the Iris breeding business. Co-produced by the Forest History Society and the Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley. Sponsored by the US Forest Service and the Forest History Society. 19 leaves.

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