Oregon State UniversitySpecial Collections & Archives Research Center

Gerald W. Williams on Flickr

More specifics about the Williams Collection Photos

The historic photographs collected by Williams include thousands of postcards from the 1900s through 1940s, documenting watersheds, forests, and communities throughout the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on Oregon . Other historic photographs include a large collection of Oregon and California postcards made by photographer Frank Patterson, a Medford photographer and northwest Oregon and southwest Washington logging scenes taken by John Fletcher Ford (circa 1900-1915). There are also photographs documenting the U.S. Army Spruce Production Division in Oregon and Washington during World War I, large format prints of early 20 th century forestry scenes in Washington and Oregon made by renowned photographers Darius and Clark Kinsey, and images depicting Native Americans.

Other photographs, taken by Williams, include images of national parks and forests in Oregon and Washington, the McKenzie River region of Oregon, and vacation photos.

The photographs in the Williams collection include some amazing images we’d like to highlight, including photos of depression era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps and activities, WWI era Spruce Production Division, logging photos of northwest Oregon taken by John Fletcher Ford, and slides of Celilo Falls taken by Williams’ father, Jack Williams, in September 1956 — only a few months before the falls were inundated by The Dalles Dam.

Gerald W. Williams: Biographical Information

Gerald W. Williams worked for the U.S. Forest Service in several roles from 1979 until his retirement in 2005.

  • 1979-1993: he was a sociologist with the Umpqua and Willamette National Forests in Oregon
  • 1993-1998: he served as the regional sociologist for the Pacific Northwest Regional Office in Portland
  • 1998-2005: he was the national historian for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C.

Williams designed and implemented a regional and national history program for the Forest Service, which culminated in his appointment as national historian and his centennial history of the Forest Service, The USDA Forest Service: The First Century, published in 2000. He has published more than 75 books, chapters, book reviews, and articles and conference papers exploring a variety of historical topics such as the Native American use of fire to manage environments, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the U.S. Army’s Spruce Production Division during World War I.

Williams is a native of Oregon and earned degrees from Southern Oregon University (B.A., Sociology; M.A. General Studies Social Science) and Washington State University (Ph.D., Sociology).

General Information about the Gerald W. Williams Collection

The Gerald W. Williams Collection consists of Williams’ personal papers; the historic photograph collection that he assembled; photographs taken by Williams and his family; oral histories; maps; moving images and sound recordings; and posters, ephemera, and artifacts pertaining to forestry, environmental history, Native Americans, and geography of the Pacific Northwest.

Williams’ personal papers include 35 years of his research notes, manuscripts, and final publications. Included in this component of the collection are copies of more than 6000 documents from the papers of Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, which are held at the Library of Congress. The papers also include materials pertaining to Judge John B. Waldo, the first 100 years of the U.S. Forest Service, the geography and place names of the McKenzie River region, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the U.S. Army Spruce Production Division.

The oral histories include sound recordings and transcripts of interviews of U.S. Forest Service employees in preparation for the Forest Service centennial as well as with residents of the McKenzie River region. Several publications of forestry-related oral histories are included.

The maps consist of items assembled by Williams for his research and for their historic value. They include maps and brochures for national forests throughout the United States; framed historic maps; topographic maps; and maps of Civilian Conservation Corps structures.

The moving images include films, VHS videotapes, and DVDs commemorating the centennial of the U.S. Forest Service and pertaining to the Civilian Conservation Corps in Oregon and Washington, heritage resource management, and national forest roads. The sound recordings include cassette tapes of speeches, special events, and radio interviews. A CD of a production on the sounds of the forest is also included.

The collection also includes political posters, a scrapbook documenting the Smoky the Bear anniversary traveling exhibit, and ephemera and artifacts of the Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

For more information on the Gerald W. Williams Collection, please visit the Gerald W. Williams Collection Guide.

Related Materials

Williams’ personal library of 3,100 books and pamphlets pertaining to ecology, Pacific Northwest history, Native Americans, and other subjects are being cataloged individually into the OSU Libraries’ monograph collections. Selected titles from the book collection will be digitized and made available in ScholarsArchive.

SCARC's holdings include numerous collections of archival records, personal papers, and visual materials pertaining to forestry and the environmental history of the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Multicultural Archives includes a variety of materials pertaining to Native Americans, especially in the Pacific Northwest.