U.S. Forest Service Collection Now Housed at UNCA;
More Than 3,000 Online Images Portray Local Forest History

The U.S. Forest Service Collection containing some 3,249 photographic prints detailing local forest history from 1897 to 1952 has recently been organized and made available to the public by UNC Asheville’s D. Hidden Ramsey Library Special Collections Department. The project is now available online.

The project began in March 2002 with the goal of creating a virtual archive of forest history images that would be easily accessible to researchers not only locally, but also globally. UNCA’s Special Collections, and collaborating partners the Special Collections Department of the D. H. Hill Library at N.C. State University; the Biltmore Estate Company; and the Duke University Forest History Society, proposed the project and sought a digitization demonstration grant allotted by the North Carolina State Library’s Library Services Technology Act through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The collection is an incomparable source for forestry, environmental, biological and botanical studies. Subjects covered include the effects of timbering, grazing, erosion and pollution on various areas; forest growth patterns; forestry history, methods and equipment; and historical data on land use in the geographical areas covered by the collection. The photographs are mostly technical in nature, but also include photographs of foresters, loggers and other personnel.

Of the some 6,000 photographs proposed for digitization by the partners, 3,249 were allotted to UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections for digitization and description. The staff of the Special Collections, which consists of students, alumni and members of the community, worked for 11 months to scan and catalog each individual photograph. Access to the images will also soon be made available through the Western North Carolina Heritage Web site and through the Duke Forest History Web site.

The UNCA Web site offers not only digitized versions of all of the photographs in the collections, but also short biographies of the 58 photographers and Western North Carolina foresters associated with the Region 8 Research Station and forestry efforts in the Southeast. The new Web site also includes extensive bibliographies of forestry in the Southern Appalachians.

By eliminating the necessity of making the trip to North Carolina to use materials firsthand, the U.S. Forest Collection makes finding aids and digitized versions of materials available to anyone with an Internet connection. The collections is also available through the statewide cultural network known as NC ECHO.

The U.S. Forest Service Collection is just one of many expansive compilations of local and regional history in UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections, all of which are available online.

For more information, contact Helen Wykle, UNCA Ramsey Library Special Collections coordinator, at 828/251-6621 or by e-mail.

Media Contacts:

• Helen Wykle, UNCA Ramsey Library Special Collections Coordinator, 828/251-6621
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526