NATIONAL FORESTS in NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS
P2010.12.01-07
[Lateral file cabinet]

Gifford Pinchot, viewing the western North Carolina mountains", c. 1920's , National Forests of North Carolina Photographs,
D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNC Asheville

TO VIEW NFNC IMAGES IN FULL ZOOM BROWSER

http://cdm15733.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15733coll7

National Forests in North Carolina Historic Photographs

http://cdm15733.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15733coll7/searchterm/NFNC/field/
aggreg/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort

The National Forests in North Carolina Historic Photographs (NFNC)  include approximately 1800 images dating from c. 1896 to the 1980s. The Biltmore Forest School photographs, dating from 1898 - 1913, are some of the most exceptional holdings in this collection.  Also included are large panoramic photographs and many negatives taken by NFNC staff and others. A small body of publications from the Cradle of Forestry and from the US Department of Agriculture accompany the collection.

The first collections in the National Forests in North Carolina (NFNC) holdings came to UNCA in October of  2010 through Mary Noel, Lands and Planning Staff Officer at the Forest Service headquarters in Asheville, North  Carolina.  A second large donation from the Cradle of Forestry, Pink Beds, came to UNCA on January 24, 2011. Smaller collections will join the core materials later in 2011.  The collections were processed and digitized in 2010-2011 with funds from the USDA Forest Service and matching services from the University of North Carolina Asheville.  . The National Forests of North Carolina photographs have very few duplicates in the USFS holdings.***  Foresters share many interests and materials in common and the recent collaboration of the university with the National Forests of North Carolina and the Cradle of Forestry, is expected to provide added depth and breadth to all shared forestry holdings  at the university including the extensive US Forest Service Southern Research Station photograph collection.

The NFNC collections represent the work of many different photographers during the period from about the 1890's to about 1952 and, like the USFS collection, it includes many well-known area photographers such as Charles Abell, C.R. Hursh, Herbert Pelton and Plateau Studios, George Masa, E.M. Ball, Ignatius Brock, and others.  In fact, there are many prints that are obviously taken from the USDA negatives and that were used by both organizations. Some images may be duplicated in other forestry collections such as those at NC State University.

The National Forests in North Carolina Historic Photograph Collection was originally organized by NFNC for internal reference purposes.  The original arrangement is basically maintained in this finding aide and in the physical inventory. Headings and captions, and specific titles, when known, are retained. Listings in the CONTENTdm  DIGITAL FINDING AID  include the original file cabinet and drawer numbers and also include  USDA identification numbers, when given. In the process of inventory and digitization, each photograph has been given a unique catalog number starting with "nfnc_000xx".

Individual photographic units may be searched by using the Special Collections local Google search box  which includes the thematic units that have been subdivided into pages to allow for rapid search. A 'find in page' command within the unit will eventually isolate all individual subjects.  Or, the user may use the  CONTENTdm  DIGITAL FINDING AID which allows considerable zoom capability.

This collection will be useful for forestry, environmental, biological or botanical studies.  Subject areas include the history of forestry, effects of logging, tannin bark harvesting, wild life in the Blue Ridge Mountains, methods and equipment and historical data on land use, trail maintenance, dams, roads, bridges, and other infrastructures and flora and fauna in the national forests. The geographical areas covered by the collection remain largely within western North Carolina but encompass other major National Forests in North Carolina, including:  Pisgah, Nantahala, Uwharrie and Croatan National Forests. Also included are images from neighboring states and from  European forestry programs.

The primary donation of over c. 2000 items including photographic prints, negatives, documents, publications, letters and posters describes the years of early forestry in America.  Many of the images are taken at the Cradle of Forestry in America, not far from Asheville.  The images show foresters at work, transportation systems, Forest Festival tours,  logging processes, logging roads, buildings, and other associated activities in western North Carolina. 

This first collection is comprised of thematically grouped photographs and all are preceded by the letter "C" which designates the Cradle of Forestry (CFA).  The schema of the original collection is an alpha-numeric arrangement and the alphabetic headings are used as a shortened form of the key theme.  For example E = Engineering.   A general description of the filing scheme follows: 

"All filing designations will be preceded by letter "C" to indicate CRA. Letter "H" will be omitted since all photographs in system are historic.  Sub-heading not applicable to history have been omitted; spare numbers are inserted to allow for expansion. "

The following is a brief outline of the thematic groupings designated in the first donation from the NFNC offices:

E =    Engineering
FC = Fire Control
INF = Influences
O =    Operation and Information
R =    Recreation
TM = Timber Management
U =    Utilization
WL = Wild Life

The second donation from the NFNC offices and Cradle of Forestry has a more abbreviated and alphabetical list of subjects, many of which overlap the first donation in subject.

The discreet organization of the two donations has been retained in this finding aid and but has been largely abandoned in the new CONTENTdm digital format which allows for cross searching collections thematically and by item identification.

***The NFNC collections complement the forest history project which was undertaken by UNCA , NC State, the Forest History Society at Duke, Biltmore Estate and with the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Asheville, NC in 2003.  Funded in part with state Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant money,  the Forest History grant enabled UNCA to digitize over 3,249 images donated to the university from the collections of the US Forest Service Southeastern Experiment Station in Asheville SEE: U.S Forest Service Southern Research Station Photograph Collection 1897-1952

This project is supported with federal funds made possible through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service, and administered by the National Forests in North Carolina, a division of the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Digital format:  tiff ; jpg ; html

Weeks Law - Progress of Purchase of Eastern National Forests, Under Act of March 1, 1911 (Weeks Law) [Periodical]
 

National Forests in North Carolina Photographs (572)  11/17/2011 CONTENTdm site to search FULL COLLECTION

http://cdm15733.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15733coll7/searchterm/NFNC/
field/aggreg/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort

Engineering II

Engineering III

Operations and Information II

Timber Management II

WRITING

  PUBLICATIONS

   LETTERS

PINCHOT PHOTOGRAPH  ALBUM 1

PINCHOT PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM 2