Gerald W. Williams Collection of Forestry and Northwest History Publications, 1880-2016

Series 1 consists of U.S. Forest Service publications assembled by Gerald Williams in the course of his work as the Forest Service historian and comprises about half of this collection. The series includes publications intended primarly for an internal audience (manuals, handbooks, and guides) and publications issued for the public (annual, reports, circulars, and bulletins). The series includes a near-complete run of annual reports prepared by the Chief of the Forest Service from 1920s through 1990s. Forest Service Circulars and Bulletins published in the early 20th century address forest products, forest fires, and the relationship between forests and avalanches, water supply, and soils. The Land Areas of the National Forest System publications include acreage of forests, wilderness areas, and other lands managed by the Forest Service by state and region. Of special note are issues of the Forest Worker for 1927-1933, which was published primarily for forest service employees. The series includes several publications related specifically to the Region Six in the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Series 2 consists primarily of newsletters published by the U.S. Forest Service, including The Chief's Desk, which provides news and updates from all regions of the Forest Service. The OldSmokeys Newsletter is the newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Forest Service Retirees and is published by the Pacific Northwest Forest Service Association; membership directories are also included. The bulk of the series is comprised of newsletters published from 2006 to 2016. Also of note is Indians at Work, a news sheet that includes information about cooperative projects being undertaken by tribes throughout the United States. It is available online.

Series 3 consists of individual issues of professional journals and popular magazines that Williams collected because of content pertaining to forestry and regional history of the Pacific Northwest. The bulk of the items in the series are from the 1920s-1990s. Of note are several issues with articles by or about Gifford Pinchot, a special issue of Pennsylvania History about the Pinchot family, and an article about Cornelia Bryce Pinchot.

Series 4 consists of individual items published by organizations other than the U.S. Forest Service, arranged alphabetically by title.  Many of the items pertain to regional history of the Pacific Northwest and were published in the mid-20th century. The series also includes early 20th century publications about forestry as a science as well as forest preservation and forest fires.  Of note is an article published in a 1959 issue of the American Archivist regarding the Forest Service's record keeping methods.

Series 5 consists predominantly of US Forest Service maps and brochures for forests in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere in the western United States. The maps are folded and include photographs and extensive descriptive information about recreation and resource management in the forests. Many of these items are from the 1920-1930s. The series also includes items not published by the Forest Service. An item of note is a document with proposed plans for the Mt. St. Helens scenic area published in 1976, only a few years before the catastrophic 1980 eruption.

Series 6 consists of 11 commercially produced or published compact discs with images, conference proceedings, and interactive educational productions. The Osborne Panoramic Images were produced by IamWho Panoramic Imaging; other publishers include the U.S. Forest Service and the Forest History Society.