Archives: Windows to a Bygone Era

Welcome to a locked storage room in a far forgotten corner of the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Regional Office. Inside — yellowing field manuals, unhung portraits and filing cabinets with tens of thousands of photographs line the walls. Each drawer and open book has the smell of history.  

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The cache of records made up of photo negatives, pamphlets, posters, newsletters and reels of film document the legacy of the Forest Service in California from the early 1900s to the early 2000s.

 The images, from grainy black and white and later color, attest to history, advancing science and technology, and evolving attitudes towards conservation that have shaped the agency for more than 100 years. 

“It’s important to know where things started,” said Lauren Bissonette, librarian with the Forest History Society. “Understanding our past, the historical context, is important to really understanding where we’ve been and also where we might go.”  

Bissonette visited the Forest Service office in Vallejo, California, to size up this sprawling collection and to suggest how best to preserve these memories. 

A Closer Look at History

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When a librarian or archivist first visits a collection, they assess what needs the archive might have: Do the materials need to be organized and to what extent? Are the materials stored in a way to prevent damage? Is there a way to make these materials more accessible to the public? 

Since 1946, the Forest History Society has worked to preserve the histories of large agencies and organizations like the Forest Service, the Sierra Club, and Audubon Society and smaller ones like local land trusts and private landowners.  

“However invaluable these materials are, they are only as helpful as they are searchable and findable,” said Bissonette. “Proper, organized, record keeping is essential.” 

It’s the type of sentiment one might expect from the librarian of the Forest History Society, but she’s right and the consequences for not keeping a tidy archive are real.  

Materials can be damaged by being housed in a room too hot, cold or humid, or by unforeseen events. This regional collection has had a couple of those close calls in the past — the kind that have the potential to destroy an archive. 

In 2003, hydraulic failure in a nearby elevator mechanical closet caused corrosive fluid to seep into the archive. Fortunately, the leak was noticed before any damage could be done. 

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In 2014, the Napa earthquake jolted the area, breaking a few pipes on the office’s 4th floor. The water then seeped to the first floor where the archive was housed, but again the collection was not damaged. 

Another threat to proper archive management, is what happens when the materials are forgotten altogether, said Bissonette. 

“It’s not uncommon for entire collections to be forgotten. This usually happens when someone retires or when archiving responsibilities shift between people. And if no one is aware of the collection, it becomes impossible for people to access, almost as if the collection itself does not exist.” 

A Hidden Gift

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Steve Dunsky, a filmmaker with the Forest Service since 1989, only first became aware of this archive after 10 years working at the agency. Soon thereafter, when the regional historian Linda Lux retired, Dunsky inherited the responsibilities of the collection. 

Though he admits it has not been so much a burden but a gift.  

“The photos in the archive are such a treasure because it captures how it was then in a way that text simply can’t,” he said.

"That's invaluable as we think about how we plan to manage the forest now and into the future.” 

The information and images in the archive are not just interesting, they are also useful. Dunsky, film producers, and journalists have demonstrated this over the years by producing documentaries like The Greatest Good or historical books such as The Lure of the Forest and The Unmarked Trail: Managing National Forests in a Turbulent Era.  

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“Up to this point, many people didn't know that this archive existed. And many still don’t,” said Dunsky. 

“So one of the goals we have for the future is digitizing and keywording the content and determining the best way to make these memories accessible.” 

Bissonette held up a 35mm slide to the fluorescent lights overhead. In the 1930s the 35mm format was cutting edge, high tech, valuable. Now more than 90 years later, it’s not the format that is worth so much but what was captured all those years ago. It’s the moment that's worth preserving and is only becoming more valuable with each passing year. 

“I love the treasures that you can find in archives,” she said. 

“The historic photographs, they're a window into a bygone era. They’re just so fascinating not to mention beautiful.”