Collection Database

Forest Service historian David Clary began organizing this collection in the Washington Office in 1976. Forest Service staff used the collection for reference purposes until 1998, when the Washington Office transferred the Headquarters History Collection to the Forest History Society. Since then, FHS has taken the lead in a partnership project to inventory, care for, and respond to questions based on the collection. Our library staff is continually adding materials to the collection from a variety of sources. This database encompasses over 5,500 published items and manuscript files cataloged to date.

The collection is useful for researchers and Forest Service employees interested in the administrative history of the agency and the broader histories of forestry, conservation, and land use. The materials include copies of correspondence, memoranda, legislation, books, periodicals, articles, pamphlets, oral histories, and photographs. The collection is not comprehensive and should be used in conjunction with materials at the National Archives, federal records centers, and other libraries.

To start your search, visit our U.S. Forest Service database here. The biographical files found within the collection are searchable. You can find a list of more than 2,000 names of Forest Service personnel and others involved in forestry for whom information is available in the Biographical Index.