Charles Augustus Webbert was born on June 18, 1916 to David Arnold Webbert and Ethel May Beardsley Webbert in Kearney, Nebraska. Webbert was an only child. He graduated from Kearney High School in 1933 and went on to attend Nebraska State Teachers College from 1934 to 1935.
In 1935, Webbert transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated in 1937 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature and a minor in history. While in college, he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Charles Webbert began to narrow his career goals and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in library science from the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee in 1940. From 1940 to 1942, Webbert worked as a catalog librarian at South Dakota State College.
In 1942, Webbert was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force and served with the 369 th Fighter Squadron as a clerk. Webbert was an exemplary soldier and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1944; he was also awarded a good conduct medal. While serving with the army, Webbert spent 18 months overseas in Europe. He was very interested in the culture of England, where he was stationed, and collected many reminders of his stay. Webbert was honorably discharged in 1945 and went on to use the GI Bill in 1946 to fund further education at the University of Illinois.
Webbert graduated from the University of Illnois in 1947 with a Masters of Science degree in library science. While attending the university, he was employed as the Assistant Agricultural Librarian.
Charles A. Webbert started work at the University of Idaho library in September 1948. He started as a reference librarian and in 1957 was promoted to be the Social Science Librarian in the Special Collections Library. From 1969 until his retirement in 1981, Webbert was the Head of the Department of Special Collections and Archives. He was awarded tenure in 1976 and the ranks of Head Emeritus of Special Collections and Professor in 1981.
Webbert married late in life, in 1973, to Ruth Heningham Kellogg. They had no children, but were very active in the Moscow community. Webbert was a member of several professional organizations such as the American Library Association, the Idaho Library Association, and the Pacific Northwest Library Association, being on the board of directors for the latter two. Webbert was also a member of several fraternal and religious organizations.
Webbert was keenly interested in his own family genealogy, collecting scrapbooks, family tree information, and various items related to his family’s history.
Charles Webbert retired from the University of Idaho in 1981 and died in Salisbury, Connecticut in 2006.
The papers of Charles Webbert span the years 1830 to 1981, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1930 to 1981. Included in the records are publications, diplomas and certificates, scrapbooks, yearbooks, family letters, and genealogical information related to Webbert’s family, in addition to correspondence, reports, minutes, organizational and other papers relating to the Pacific Northwest Library Association-PNLA.
Series I: Certificates and Other Personal Records; Series II: Professional Papers; Series III: Genealogical Material; Series IV: Pacific Northwest Library Association
The manuscript group is open to the public. Researchers must use the collection in accordance with the policies of the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives.
Consult Head of Special Collections and Archives on permission for use.
Charles A. Webbert papers, MG 418. Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.
Charles Webbert donated his personal records to the University of Idaho Library between 1997 and 1998.
The papers were organized and processed by Elizabeth Jolley Schuiling and Marilyn Sandmeyer in 2006.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.