Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Harvey Mack Sutter family, October 2023 (RL2024-007).
Harvey "Mack" Sutter was born in 1906 in Jennings, Louisiana. He began woodworking at age 12, when he was in the Boy Scouts, and later taught whittling and carving to Scouts and Scout leaders. In 1958, he came to Portland, Oregon, where he worked for the Bonneville Power Administration. After he retired, Sutter began carving intricate floral reliefs. He taught woodcarving classes through Portland Community College and the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. He was a founding member of the Western Woodcarvers Association. Sutter published two instructional books on carving floral patterns, one in 1985 and one in 1990. He died in 1997.
Sources: "Portland man, 78, carves niche in time-honored art," Oregonian, January 15, 1985; "Carvers shaping up works for Rose Festival exhibit," Oregonian, May 30, 1986; obituary in the Oregonian, June 24, 1997; collection materials.
Access to digital materials in the collection is provided only by advance request, and is limited to viewing in the library. Contact library staff for assistance.
Mack Sutter woodcarving design papers, Coll 1028, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
During processing, materials that had been in binders were removed from the binders and kept in original order. Original file folders for individual flower designs were maintained; photographs within these folders were separated from other contents with acid-free paper for preservation purposes.
The collection consists of materials relating to the woodcarving work of Harvey "Mack" Sutter, who lived in Portland, Oregon, during the latter half of his life and taught woodcarving there. The bulk of the collection consists of original and reproduced design drawings, black and white print photographs, color digital photographs with an inventory in Microsoft Excel format, and clippings relating to floral relief carvings that Sutter made and featured in instructional books. The collection also includes a proof for his first book, "Floral Wood Carving: Full-Size Patterns and Complete Instructions for 21 Projects," with some handwritten edits in the foreword; copies of "Floral Wood Carving" and Sutter's second book, "Easy-to-Do Floral Patterns for Woodcarvers"; book notes and drafts; and correspondence about the books' publication. Other materials in the collection consist of correspondence, primarily with tool companies; photographs of Sutter; and clippings about Sutter.
Wood carvings by Sutter and tools that he used were separated to Museum Collections, Oregon Historical Society.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.