Prentice Bloedel papers, 1892-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bloedel, Prentice, 1900-1996
Title
Prentice Bloedel papers
Dates
1892-1982 (inclusive)
circa 1900-1960 (bulk)
Quantity
17 cubic feet (27 units)
Collection Number
5044 (Accession No. 5044-001)
Summary
Papers of a Seattle lumberman documenting logging activities of several businesses
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

View inventory/container list for this accession

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Prentice Bloedel was a leader of the timber industry. He left a brief teaching career to join the management of his family's far-flung timber empire and led the industry's forest-conservation efforts. Bloedel guided the firm into a merger with H. R. MacMillan Export Co., which became the giant MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Prentice and Virginia Bloedel were important patrons of the arts in Seattle, a tradition carried on by their daughter Virginia Wright. The Bloedels created the Bloedel Reserve, a botanical showcase of gardens, pools, lawns, and arbors on Bainbridge Island. Born in Bellingham in 1900, Bloedel graduated from Yale University planning to be a teacher. In 1929, in response to a request from his father, he gave up his teaching career and went to work in the family business: Bloedel, Stewart and Welch, based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

He first took charge of a new mill at Port Alberni, B.C. The mill became one of the first to make efficient use of sawdust and waste, called "hog fuel," to generate power. He believed integrating a pulp mill with sawmill operations would get the most out of every stick of timber, and the mill became one of the first waste-based operations in North America. In 1938, Bloedel guided the company into a reforestation program and the firm became the first company to plant seedlings. A decade later, the firm was responsible for 70 percent of all the reforestation carried out by private industry in British Columbia. During the 1930s and 1940s, Bloedel began buying land in Whatcom and Skagit counties that had been clear-cut and abandoned. He became treasurer of Bloedel, Stewart and Welch in 1942 and continued to implement innovations to the industry.

In 1948, he launched a plant designed to produce fuel briquettes made from shingle waste products, which were marketed under license as "pres-to-logs." Two years later, driven by a reluctant conviction that "to do the best with the resource would require larger units, greater markets and greater flexibility in product," Bloedel guided the firm into a merger with H.R. MacMillan Export Co., which became the giant MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. He moved back to Seattle and to Bainbridge Island and, in early 1972, retired from the board of MacMillan Bloedel. He continued his involvement in the industry through his leadership of Bloedel Timberlands Development Inc., a company he founded in 1945 in partnership with his father. The firm bought up land long since logged and essentially abandoned.

Prentice Bloedel died at his Capitol Hill (Seattle) home in June 1996, at age 95.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

General correspondence, reports, financial records, minutes, newsletters, ephemera, speeches and writings, maps, and similar records documenting the management of MacMillan Bloedel operations on Vancouver Island, B.C. as well as the direction of other companies by Prentice Bloedel and his father, J.H. Bloedel. Firms include Lake Whatcom Logging Company; Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills; Columbia Valley Lumber Company; Bloedel, Stewart & Welch Ltd.; Bellingham Securities Syndicate; and Canada Permanent Toronto General Trust Company. Also includes papers regarding the University of Washington Arboretum, 1954-1970.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated by Virginia Wright, 6/27/1997.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Accession No. 5044-001: Prentice Bloedel papers, 1892-1982Return to Top

17.00 cu. ft. (27 units)

Scope and Content: General correspondence, reports, financial records, minutes, newsletters, ephemera, speeches and writings, maps, and similar records documenting the management of MacMillan Bloedel operations on Vancouver Island, B.C. as well as the direction of other companies by Prentice Bloedel and his father, J.H. Bloedel. Firms include Lake Whatcom Logging Company; Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills; Columbia Valley Lumber Company; Bloedel, Stewart & Welch Ltd.; Bellingham Securities Syndicate; and Canada Permanent Toronto General Trust Company. Also includes papers regarding the University of Washington Arboretum, 1954-1970.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Acquisition Info: Donated by Virginia Wright, 1997.

Container(s) Description Dates
Lake Whatcom Logging Company
Box/Folder Accession
1/1 5044-001
Articles of incorporation
1898
1/2 5044-001
Minute book
1898-1916
Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Company
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
1/3 5044-001
Ernst & Ernst
1942-1951
1/4 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1922-1966
Box/Folder Accession
1/5 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1932-1967
Subject series
Bloedel-Donovan Park
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
1/6 5044-001
Bellingham
1946-1949
1/7 5044-001
Bellingham. Park Commissioners Board
1947-1956
1/8 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1946-1955
Box/Folder Accession
1/9 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1946-1956
1/10 5044-001
Financial records
1946-1955
1/11 5044-001
Legal documents
1946-1947
1/12 5044-001
Maps
undated
1/13 5044-001
Photographs
1950; 1955
1/14 5044-001
Clippings
undated
1/15 5044-001
Miscellaneous
1949
Larson Lumber Company
Box/Folder Accession
1/16 5044-001
Incoming letters
1944-1946
1/17 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1943-1946
1/18-19 5044-001
Financial records
1927-1946
1/20 5044-001
Agreement
1943
1/21 5044-001
Report
1943
1/22 5044-001
Maps
1929
Box/Folder Accession
1/23 5044-001
Simons, V. D. (Industrial Engineer)
Incoming letters
1927
Reports
1927
Miscellany
1943
Box/Folder Accession
1/24 5044-001
Speeches and writings
1913-1935
1/25-30 5044-001
Financial records (incl. payroll, log production, sawmill production)
1913-1948
1/31-32 5044-001
Reports
1927-1943
1/33-2/1 5044-001
Legal documents
1945-1946
2/2 5044-001
Maps
undated
2/3 5044-001
Photographs
1947; 1957
2/4 5044-001
Clippings
1965; 1981
2/5 5044-001
Miscellany
1951
Columbia Valley Lumber Company
Box/Folder Accession
2/6 5044-001
Organizational features
1957; 1960
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
2/7 5044-001
Clapp, Norton
1956
2/8 5044-001
Ernst & Ernst
1955-1960
2/9 5044-001
Wright, C. Bagley
1960
2/10-11 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1949-1960
Box/Folder Accession
2/12-13 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1947-1961
2/14-16 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence
1947-1961
2/17-3/2 5044-001
Financial records
1934-1960
3/3-4 5044-001
Speeches and writings
1947-1959
3/5 5044-001
Legal documents
1945
3/6 5044-001
Reports
1958-1959
3/7 5044-001
Proposals
1955-1960
3/8 5044-001
Studies
1955; 1958
3/9 5044-001
Notes
undated
3/10 5044-001
Maps
undated
3/11 5044-001
Clippings
1951; 1960
3/12 5044-001
Photographs
1956
3/13-14 5044-001
Ephemera
1952-1958
3/15 5044-001
Miscellaneous
undated
Bloedel, Stewart & Welch
Box/Folder Accession
3/16 5044-001
Historical features
1961
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
3/17 5044-001
Clark, J. A.
1943-1944
3/18 5044-001
Ernst & Ernst
1957
3/19 5044-001
Farris, Stultz, Bull & Farris
1942-1951
3/20 5044-001
H. R. MacMillan Export Company
1951
3/21 5044-001
Orchard, C. D.
1960-1961
3/22-24 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1936-1972
Box/Folder Accession
3/25 5044-001
Outgoing letters
193401973
3/26-30 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence (incl. Sidney G. Smith, A. A. Kennedy,, J. H. Bloedel, Gary S. J. Bowell, A. P. Kent)
1938-1963
3/31-35 5044-001
Legal documents
1889-1957
3/36-5/16 5044-001
Financial records (incl. operating statements, pulp mill costs, treasurer's report)
1918-1954
Subject series
Fernstrom Paper Mills
Box/Folder Accession
5/17 5044-001
Historical features
1951
5/18 5044-001
Incoming letters
1951
5/19 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1951
5/20 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence
1951
5/21 5044-001
Financial records
1951
5/22 5044-001
Photographs
undated
5/23 5044-001
Blueprints
1951
5/24 5044-001
Miscellaneous
1952
Box/Folder Accession
5/25 5044-001
Michigan-California Lumber Company
Incoming letters
1950
Outgoing letters
1950
Interdepartmental correspondence
1950
Reports
1948-1949
Maps
1944
5/26 5044-001
Welch Investment Company
1943-1951
Box/Folder Accession
5/27-28 5044-001
Speeches and writings
1948-1949
5/29-30 5044-001
Speeches and writings of others
1941-1951
Reports
Box/Folder Accession
5/31 5044-001
A Study of Reforestation on Vancouver Island
1941
5/32 5044-001
Hardboard
1929-1952
6/1-3 5044-001
Miscellaneous
1929-1952
Box/Folder Accession
6/4-7 5044-001
Research notes
1939-1944
6/8 5044-001
Notes
undated
6/9-12 5044-001
Maps
1939-1957
6/13 5044-001
Clippings
1936-1965
6/14 5044-001
Blueprints
1942-1949
7/1-4 5044-001
Ephemera
1935-1958
7/5 5044-001
Miscellany
undated
MacMillan Bloedel (incl. MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River)
Box/Folder Accession
7/6-7 5044-001
Organizational/historical features
1956-1982
7/8-9 5044-001
Incoming letters
1934-1981
7/10-11 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1951-1980
7/12-21 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence (incl. J. V. Clune, G. S. J. Bowell, H. R. MacMillan)
1951-1982
7/22 5044-001
Minutes and agenda
Executive Committee
1956
Finance & Policy Committee
1955
Salary Policy Committee
1962
7/23-24 5044-001
Speeches and writings
1957-1973
7/25-29 5044-001
Speeches and writings of others
1953-1982
7/30-8/6 5044-001
Financial records
1948-1977
8/7-15 5044-001
Reports
1956-1982
Subject series
Box/Folder Accession
8/16-17 5044-001
Australian study
1961-1963
8/18-21 5044-001
Columbia River Paper Company
1960-1962
8/22-23 5044-001
Interview - Prentice Bloedel, by historian Donald McKay
1980-1982
Merger - Bloedel, Stewart & Welch with H. R. MacMillan Export Company
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
8/24 5044-001
Ernst & Ernst
1951
8/25 5044-001
Royal Trust Company
1951-1952
8/26 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1951-1952
Box/Folder Accession
8/27 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1951-1952
8/28 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence
1951-1952
8/29 5044-001
Minutes
1951
8/30 5044-001
Legal documents
1951
8/31 5044-001
Financial records
1951
Box/Folder Accession
8/32-9/3 5044-001
Merger - MacMillan Bloedel Limited with Powell River Company
1911; 1948-1962
Box/Folder Accession
9/4 5044-001
Legal documents
1968
9/5 5044-001
Proposals
1955
9/6 5044-001
Programs
1968
9/7 5044-001
Lists - Board members
1971-1972
9/8 5044-001
Company addresses
1970
9/9 5044-001
Photographs
1961
9/10-11 5044-001
News releases
1961-1982
9/12 5044-001
Notices
1952-1981
9/13 5044-001
News summaries
1969-1982
9/14 5044-001
Inventory - MB Archives
1980
9/15-16 5044-001
Notes
undated
9/17-18 5044-001
Newsletters
1952-1982
9/19-23 5044-001
Ephemera
1950-1982
9/24-27 5044-001
Clippings
undated
9/28-29 5044-001
Miscellany
undated
Box/Folder Accession
OS/VF #48 5044-001
Bloedel Corporation
Scope and Content: Oversized vertical file.
1931-1932
Bellingham Securities Syndicate
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
9/30 5044-001
Green, Joshua
1940-1960
9/31 5044-001
Pacific American Fisheries
1944-1948
9/32 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1929-1960
Box/Folder Accession
9/33 5044-001
Outgoing letters
19291-1963
9/34-35 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence
1930-1963
9/36 5044-001
Minutes
1934-1961
9/37 5044-001
Legal documents
1929-1955
9/38-39 5044-001
Financial reocrds
1935-1962
9/40-41 5044-001
Reports
1945-1960
9/42 5044-001
Miscellany
undated
Canada Permanent Toronto Genereal Trust Company. Board of Directors
Box/Folder Accession
9/43 5044-001
Interdepartmental correspondence
1954-1963
9/44 5044-001
Legal documents
1961
10/1-2 5044-001
Reports
1954-1960
10/3 5044-001
Ephemera
1962
Arboretum Foundation
Box/Folder Accession
10/4-5 5044-001
General correspondence
1954-1983
10/6 5044-001
Minutes
1967-1973
10/7 5044-001
Agreements
1934-1965
10/8 5044-001
Speeches and writings of others
1958-1980
10/9 5044-001
Reports
1957-1981
10/10 5044-001
Financial records
1956-1967
10/11 5044-001
Newsletters
1966-1968
10/12 5044-001
Maps
1959-1967
10/13 5044-001
Blueprints
1963
10/14 5044-001
Notes
undated
10/15 5044-001
Clippings
undated
10/16 5044-001
Ephemera
1960; 1969-1970
10/17 5044-001
Miscellany
1960
U.S.-Japan Centennial Royal Visit Committee
Box/Folder Accession
10/18 5044-001
Incoming letters
1960
10/19 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1960-1961
10/20 5044-001
Minutes
1960
10/21 5044-001
Financial records
1960
10/22 5044-001
Itinerary
1960
10/23 5044-001
Program
1960
10/24 5044-001
Maps
1960
10/25 5044-001
News releases
1960
10/26 5044-001
Miscellany
undated
Personal papers
Incoming letters
Box/Folder Accession
10/27 5044-001
American Forestry Association
1951
10/28 5044-001
Bloedel, J. H.
1944-1957
10/29 5044-001
Clement, John
1950-1951
10/30 5044-001
Columbia Valley Lumber Company
1945-1957
10/31 5044-001
Committee of the Northwest (William M. Allen)
1961-1965
10/32 5044-001
Ernst & Ernst
1946-1952
10/33 5044-001
Sandiford, Isabel
1939-1963
10/34 5044-001
Schenck, C. A.
1946-1951
10/35 5044-001
Trorey, Lyle G.
1943-1954
10/36 5044-001
University of Washington
1953-1971
10/37-40 5044-001
A-Z miscellaneous
1939-1980
Box/Folder Accession
10/41-43 5044-001
Outgoing letters
1939-1980
10/44 5044-001
Speeches and writings of others
undated
10/45 5044-001
Speeches and writings of others - Thomas G. Wright
undated
10/46 5044-001
Legal documents
1949-1957
10/47-48 5044-001
Reports
1913-1956
10/49-51 5044-001
Financial records
1894-1953
Subject series
Box/Folder Accession
10/52 5044-001
Blue Canyon Coal Mining Company
1892; 1895
10/53 5044-001
Carl A. Schenck visit
1951
10/54 5044-001
Inventions
1937-1941
10/55 5044-001
Puget Sound Navigation Company
1940-1958
11/1 5044-001
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
1946-1957
11/2-3 5044-001
"18 Men and a Horse"
1949-1989
Box/Folder Accession
11/4 5044-001
Proposals
1954
11/5 5044-001
Photographs
undated
OS/VF #49 5044-001
Publication by Carrol W. Dibble
Scope and Content: Oversized vertical file.
undated
14 5044-001
Scrapbooks
undated
11/6 5044-001
Notices
1941-1956
11/7 5044-001
Memorial
undated
11/8 5044-001
Notes
undated
11/9-13 5044-001
Clippings
undated
11/14-16 5044-001
Ephemera
undated
11/17 5044-001
Miscellany
undated
11/18 5044-001
Diagram
1928
11/19-12/1 5044-001
Maps
undated
12/2-13/3 5044-001
Blueprints
undated
15 5044-001
3 blueprints of Bloedel residence on Bainbridge Island
Scope and Content: Screen and frame for stereo housing 10x15 in. Basement plan 10x35 in. First floor plan 10x35 in.
16 5044-001
Map of mostly Whatcom and some Skagit counties
Scope and Content: "Alger Del-Van Holdings, Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills." Corrected July 1 and September 9, 1930. Heavily colored, with legend showing fees, contracts, and ownership. 66x83 in.
1930
16 5044-001
"Whatcom-Skagit Type Map - 1968"
Scope and Content: No legend, not complete map, only certain rectangular portions shown. No topo. Tells kinds of trees in each area. 36x83 in.
1968
16 5044-001
Map of Deming Dist. Dept. of Natural Resources, State of Washington
Scope and Content: Key imposed January 1962. Bloedel Timberlands, Inc. Annotated to show which roads are maintained by which entity. 23x42 in.
1954; 1962
17 5044-001
Map of N. Nooksack Project. Topo Map #1
Scope and Content: Heavily annotated showing timber inventory (type and general age of trees), burns, clearcuts, reserved areas, alienated lands, non-timber growing areas, and access routes. 70x43 in.
1945
17 5044-001
Map of (N. Nooksack Van Orsdel) N. Nooksack Project. Topo Map #2
Scope and Content: Same as above. 75x41 in.
1945
17 5044-001
Map of N. Nooksack Project. Vicinity Map #1
Scope and Content: Heavily annotated over topo, same key as above. 40x72 in.
1945
17 5044-001
Map of N. Nooksack Project. Vicinity Map #2
Scope and Content: Same as above. 36x65 in.
1945
18 5044-001
Map of Clallam Co. Holdings, Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills
Scope and Content: County bordered on N. by Strait of Juan de Fuca. Shows fees, contracts, ownership, as well as areas logged, sold. 1930, enlarged 1942. 77x83 in.
1930; 1943
18 5044-001
"Fire Control Plan Map"
Scope and Content: P.A. & W. Fire Area #1; Olympic National Forest, Soleduck Ranger District. Shows waterways, roads, railroads, fire trails. Minimally annotated. No legend. Drafted 1953 June 2, revised 1954 May. 24x24 in.
1951-1954
19 5044-001
2 maps of Vancouver Island and coast of British Columbia, Canada
Scope and Content: B.C. Department of Lands. S. Vancouver Island map of 1938, N. Vancouver Island map of 1929, Powell Lake coast area map of 1923. Legends show crown granted lands, surveyed timber leases and licenses, Indian reserves, and government reserves over traditional road map. The aforementioned four categories are colored in on both maps, one map has BS&W's annotations over top of the existing color, showing which of 21 companies, including Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch, Ltd., own which sections of the island and mainland. Each map approx. 60x60 in.
1923-1938
20 5044-001
2 maps of Vancouver Island and coast of British Columbia, Canada
Scope and Content: B.C. Department of Lands. S. Vancouver Island map of 1938, N. Vancouver Island map of 1929, Powell Lake coast area map of 1923. Legends show crown granted lands, surveyed timber leases and licenses, Indian reserves, and government reserves over traditional road map. Both maps have only government reserves colored in, and have BS&W's annotations, same as above, minus one company. Approx. 60x60 in.
1923-1938
21 5044-001
Map of Vancouver Island and coast of British Columbia, Canada
Scope and Content: B. C. Department of Lands. S. Vancouver Island map of 1938, N. Vancouver Island map of 1929. Legend shows crown granted lands, surveyed timber leases and licenses, Indian reserves, and government reserves over traditional road map. Legend shows "Land Status as at August 31st, 1941" showing "timber licenses registrable or in good standing" and "timber licenses reverted."
1929-1941
22 5044-001
Map of Great Central Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Scope and Content: B.S.&W. Ltd. Shows lot lines, burns, and logged areas, 1939. 22x46 in.
1939
22 5044-001
Map of Great Central Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Scope and Content: B.S.&W. Ltd. Shows lot lines, burns, and logged areas, 1940. [Tag says April 4, 1941]. 21x46 in.
1940-1941
23 5044-001
Topo map of a "Plan of a portion of Renfrew District" from Port San Juan to Nitinat Lake, S.W. Vancouver Island
Scope and Content: Heavily colored, but no legend. 43x63 in.
1942 May
23 5044-001
Topo map of L. Alberni area of S.W. Vancouver Island
Scope and Content: Colored, no legend. 42x44 in.
undated
24 5044-001
Map of "Sketch Plan of Block 110 Sayward District - Vanc. Is. B.C."
Scope and Content: August 31, 1938. Not topo. Shows lakes, roads, railroads. Shows areas logged and by whom c. 1940. 52x42 in.
1938-1940
24 5044-001
"Map of Central Portion of Vancouver Island showing Timber Limits" from Port San Juan to Miller Channel
Scope and Content: Shows Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch holdings, as well as those of 22 other companies, 4 of which appeared to have been subsequently bought out by BS&W. 63x43 in.
undated
25 5044-001
4 blueprints of sawmill, presumably all of Port Alberni, B.C. mill
Scope and Content: 1 is "sections 36x70 in., 1 is "Lower Floor Plan of Sawmill at Alberni, B.C., June 15, 1934," 40x72 in., 1 is "June 27, 1934," also a 1944 date penciled in, 21x77 in., 1 is "Port Alberni, B.C. Mill Plans," 18x34 in.
1934; 1944
26 5044-001
"B.C. Dept. of Lands, Prelim. Map of Bella Coola, 1924"
Scope and Content: "Bella Coola Sheet with Owikeno Late Timber marked." Covers portion of SW B.C. bordered by Queen Charlotte Sound. Shows surveyed lands alienated, surveyed lands under reserve, surveyed timber licenses, leases, and sales, roads, schools,, etc. Lightly annotated. 41x28 in.
1924
26 5044-001
"Disease Garden"
Scope and Content: List of garden contents and history of garden. Drawn Sept. 24, 1957 John W. Allen. 18x25 in.
1957

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Lumbermen--British Columbia--Vancouver Island
  • Mills and mill-work--British Columvia--Vancouver Island
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Bloedel, Prentice, 1900-1996--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Michigan-California Lumber Company
  • Powell River Company
  • Welch Investment Company

Geographical Names

  • Vancouver Island (B.C.)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Bloedel, Julius H., 1864- (creator)
    Corporate Names
    • American Forestry Association (creator)
    • Arboretum Foundation (Seattle, Wash.) (creator)
    • Bellingham Securities Syndicate (creator)
    • Bloedel Corporation (creator)
    • Bloedel, Stewart & Welch (creator)
    • Blue Canyon Coal Mining Company (creator)
    • Canada Permanent General Trust Company (creator)
    • Columbia Valley Lumber Company (creator)
    • Committee of the Northwest (creator)
    • Ernst & Ernst (creator)
    • Fernstrom Paper Mills (creator)
    • H.R. MacMillan Export Company (creator)
    • Lake Whatcom Logging Company (creator)
    • Larson Lumber Company (creator)
    • MacMillan Bloedel Limited (creator)
    • MacMillan, Bloedel & Powell River Ltd (creator)
    • Pacific American Fisheries, Inc (creator)
    • Puget Sound Navigation Company (creator)
    • St. Mark's Cathedral (Seattle, Wash.) (creator)
    • U.S.-Japan Centennial Royal Visit Committee (creator)