The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu.edu/node/144 The society was established in 1946 and incorporated in 1955. The Forest History Society headquarters in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, include the Alvin J. Huss Archives and the Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Library, which combine to provide a comprehensive compilation of materials related to the topic of forest history. The archives house large collections from several national organizations and companies such as the

Society of American Foresters The Society of American Foresters (SAF) is a professional organization representing the forestry industry in the United States. Its mission statement declares that it seeks to "advance the science, education, and practice of forestry; to enhance t ...

, the

American Forest and Paper Association The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is the national trade association of the paper and wood products industry. AF&PA was formed on January 1, 1993, by the merger of the National Forest Product Association and the American Paper Ins ...

, the

American Forestry Association American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Activities The mission of America ...

, the American Tree Farm System, and the Weyerhaeuser Company as well as many other smaller collections of national and international significance. Additionally, the Forest History Society maintains a publication program, publishing the ''Environmental History'' journal, ''Forest History Today'' magazine, an Issues Series, and environmental and conservation-focused monographs; an education program, to build understanding and appreciation of human interaction with the natural world; and a liaison function between scholars, policymakers, and landowners. The Society also works to promote and reward academic scholarship in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history.

History

In 1946, a small group of historians and forest industry executives came together to form an organization dedicated to preserving the documentary forest heritage of North America. The "Forest Products History Foundation" was founded, and began as a program of the Minnesota Historical Society. Rodney Loehr, a member of the history faculty at the University of Minnesota, was appointed as the founding director. Over the following decade, archival source materials were collected, an oral history interview program was created, and a scholarly quarterly journal began publication. In 1955, under second executive director Elwood Rondeau "Woody" Maunder, the Society incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization under the new name "Forest History Foundation." The name was changed to "Forest History Society" four years later in 1959. The organization left Minnesota in 1964, moving first to the

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

campus in 1964, and then to the

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge o ...

in 1969. Harold K. "Pete" Steen became the Society's third executive director in 1978. In 1984 the Society was moved to its current home in Durham, North Carolina, establishing an affiliation with

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and the

Nicholas School of the Environment The Nicholas School of the Environment is one of ten graduate and professional schools at Duke University and is headquartered on Duke’s main campus in Durham, N.C. A secondary coastal facility, Duke University Marine Laboratory, is maintained ...

. In 1997 Steven Anderson succeeded Pete Steen, becoming the fourth president of the Society. In 1996, a partnership was formed between the Forest History Society and the American Society for Environmental History. This relationship helped widen the scope of the Society's mission beyond the boundaries of forest and conservation history to include subjects related to the broader field of environmental history. In 2015 the Forest History Society produced the award-winning documentary film America's First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Asheville Experiment about the history and legacy of

Carl A. Schenck Carl Alwin Schenck (March 25, 1868 – May 17, 1955) was a German forester and pioneering forestry educator. He founded the Biltmore Forest School, the first forestry school in North America on George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate. His teachin ...

and the

Biltmore Forest School The Biltmore Forest School was the first school of forestry in North America. Carl A. Schenck founded this school of "practical forestry" in 1896 on George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina.Fifty Years of Forestry ...

. The Society moved into its current headquarters building in 2019. The 16,750-square-foot facility in Durham, North Carolina, features a large library, archives, exhibit hall, and meeting room space. The building was designed by DTW Architects & Planners and built by CT Wilson Construction Company. The building's structure and interior feature wood products from throughout the United States.

Publications

The Forest History Society publishes a magazine, ''Forest History Today'', and co-publishes the ''Environmental History'' journal with the American Society for Environmental History. A regular Issues Series is also published by the Society on environmental topics of contemporary interest such as fire, wetlands, and forests. Featured books representing important scholarship in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history are also published. The Society provides further financial, editorial, and research assistance to other authors publishing books in the subject area of environmental history.

Notable fellows

The honorary title of "Fellow of the Forest History Society" is bestowed on persons who have provided many years of outstanding leadership and service to the Society or many years of outstanding sustained contributions to the research, writing, or teaching of forest, conservation, or environmental history. This honor is the Society's highest award. Notable fellows include: *

William Cronon William Cronon (born September 11, 1954 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an environmental historian and the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madi ...

* Theodore C. Blegen * Marion Clawson * Emanuel Fritz * Tom Gill * William B. Greeley * Stanley Horn *

Ralph Hosmer Ralph Sheldon Hosmer (March 4, 1874 - July 20, 1963) was Hawaii's first territorial forester, a contemporary of Gifford Pinchot who was among the group of educated American foresters that organized what is now the United States Forest Service. Hos ...

Dard Hunter William Joseph "Dard" Hunter (November 29, 1883 – February 20, 1966) was an American authority on printing, paper, and papermaking, especially by hand, using sixteenth century tools and techniques. He is known for, among other things, the prod ...

* Rodney Loehr *

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

Harold T. Pinkett Harold Thomas Pinkett (April 7, 1914 – March 13, 2001) was an African-American archivist and historian. In 1942, he became the first African-American archivist employed at the National Archives of the United States. He was also the first Africa ...

Hal Rothman Hal K. Rothman (1958–2007) was a historian, professor, radio show host, editor, public intellectual, and prolific author. Noted environmental history scholar Char Miller called him "a dynamic teacher, riveting speaker, compelling scholar, and s ...

References

External links

Official website''Forest History Today'' magazine
{{authority control Historical societies of the United States Environmental organizations based in North Carolina Organizations established in 1946 Forestry in the United States Forest history Forestry education Forestry societies Environmental organizations based in the United States 1946 establishments in North Carolina