HERBERT N. WHEELER PAPERS

The major portion of the collection consists of correspondence, itineraries and documentation regarding Wheeler's lectures throughout the United States; scripts of his lectures and radio scripts; and correspondence with the Forest Service office in Washington D.C. Also included are glass lantern slides used for his lectures. Local Forest Service officials arranged these lectures for many venues, including Civilian Conservation Corp camps, schools, clubs, and social organizations.

Additional manuscripts address the subject areas of conservation of natural resources, dams, droughts, fires, floods, grazing, hunting and forestry education. A collection of clippings of poetry is included. The materials span 1906 to 1956, though the bulk of material dates from 1925 to 1943. Much of the material is undated, but appears to date from his tenure as lecturer for the Forest Service. A small section of personal writings is included, along with preliminary and draft copies of his autobiography.

Wheeler's correspondence with the U.S. Forest Service consists of annual reports on his lecture tours, including the number of lectures and attendance figures, discussions of the process of scheduling the lecture tours and memoranda on Forest Service policy. Included are letters of compliment received by Wheeler for his work and correspondence on his retirement.

The radio scripts begin this series, including a script on Christmas trees, presented December 25, 1931. This script relates the value of forestry management to the experience of the Christmas tree tradition. Other subjects covered are forestry, forest fires, soil conservation and conservation of natural resources.

Lecture tours by states include itinerary, travel arrangements and reports back to the U.S. Forest Service on the success of the trip. Many files contain brief lists of historical facts about the timber, forests and wildlife of the state.

Manuscripts filed by subject cover the many aspects of forestry service such as conservation of natural resources, fires, floods, forestry education, the Forest Service, and land use. They served as reference material for his lectures. Copies of two photographs of Wheeler and one of the first Forest Service supervisors meeting are included.

Wheeler's personal materials include three drafts of his autobiography and newspaper articles written by him for the Boulder Daily Camera and the Sabbath Recorder. Writings on service, both public and personal, the teachings of the Seventh Day Baptist Church, and pride and humility are included. A large collection of poetry, clipped from various sources, is included.

Six boxes of glass lantern slides, which Wheeler used in his lectures, comprise the bulk of this series. These are filed by the Forest Service negative number. In the absence of a negative number, they are filed by subject or by an archivist assigned number (primarily of a trip to Hawaii). Photobox 7 includes black and white photographs of Wheeler, Forest Service personnel, wildlife and general scenery.