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Western Wood Products Association Records, 1909-1970

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Western Wood Products Association
Title
Western Wood Products Association Records
Dates
1909-1970 (inclusive)
Quantity
60 linear ft., (40 document cases; 28 record cartons; 3 boxes Oversize A—11x14; 6 boxes Oversize B-1—16x20)
Collection Number
Mss 1336
Summary
Records primarily document the activities and history of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association (WCLA), a lumber industry trade association which was incorporated in 1911 and was succeeded in 1964 by the Western Wood Products Association. The WCLA's territory extended throughout the Douglas fir region of western Oregon and Washington and also included northern California. The records (1909-1970) include accounting information, biographical and historical materials, correspondence, meeting minutes, membership lists, newsletters, press releases, promotional materials, scrapbooks, and statistical information.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public. Several folders in the Accounting/Finance Subseries contain personal employee information and are restricted until 2060.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

The West Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association was incorporated in 1911 in Centralia, Wash., with the merger of the Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association, the Southwest Washington Lumber Manufacturers Association, and the Oregon and Washington Lumber Manufacturers Association. The new trade association, headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., represented the Douglas fir industry, then centered in western Washington. By 1916 the organization had become the West Coast Lumbermen's Assocation (WCLA), and its offices moved to Seattle, Wash.

By the 1920s, the WCLA had become an important representative for manufacturers of Douglas fir, West Coast hemlock, Western red cedar, and Sitka spruce wood products. In 1928, Colonel William B. Greeley, former chief of the U.S. Forest Service, became the Secretary-Manager of the organization. His reforms brought loggers, wood preservation plants, mill-work plants and other related branches of the industry together into a stronger association. During the 1920s and 1930s, the center of lumber production gradually shifted from Washington to Oregon, and in 1946 the WCLA transferred its headquarters to Portland, Or.

The WCLA was incorporated under the laws of Washington as a stock corporation, with member companies each holding one share. Membership in the association was entirely voluntary. For decades the association was supported by dues assessed on logs and/or lumber produced by member companies. In 1949, the WCLA dues structure was changed to one based solely on lumber production.

The WCLA provided many services to its member companies, one of the most important being the rationalization of the largely chaotic West Coast lumber industry during the 1910s and 1920s. As the industry evolved, the association's activities became more sophisticated, and by the 1950s the WCLA supported its members in many ways. The Traffic Department negotiated with railroad, trucking and shipping lines for favorable freight rates. The Statistical Department produced regular reports about conditions within the West Coast lumber industry. The Accounting Service assisted member companies with accounting, cost analysis, and taxation problems. The Promotion Department produced literature and advertising publications, newspaper and radio spots, motion pictures, and a membership directory to market the products of the West Coast lumber industry. The Technical Service Department, staffed by engineers, conducted research to develop new and improved uses for West Coast lumber products and produced publications such as the Douglas Fir Use Book. The Public Relations Department produced stories and news releases about the positive impact of the lumber industry on the economy of the Pacific Northwest and attempted to counter negative publicity. James Stevens, Public Relations Counsel of the WCLA and author of stories about the legend of Paul Bunyan, produced hundreds of issues of Out of the Woods, a newspaper column about conditions within the industry. The Educational Program Department, which was closely related to Public Relations, provided literature, slides, filmstrips and motion pictures to schools.

The WCLA worked closely with the National Lumber Manufacturers Association (NLMA) and other regional and national organizations to advance the interests of the lumber industry. The West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (WCLIB), a separate but closely allied organization to the WCLA, established standard lumber grading rules, maintained uniform grades, trained and supervisied mill graders, licensed mills to use official grade stamps, and issued Certificates of Inspection when requested. The WCLIB concentrated on rail and truck shipments in the domestic and export markets. Another closely allied organization, the Industrial Forestry Association (IFA), promoted forest conservation practices through educational and public relations activities and served as the certifying agency of the tree farm program in the Douglas fir region of western Oregon and western Washington.

By the early 1960s, business leaders determined that a stronger regional association was needed in the face of growing national and international competition in the lumber industry. In 1964, the West Coast Lumbermen's Association merged with the Western Pine Association (WPA), a trade association which represented lumber interests east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, Washington and California. A new organization, the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA), was formed from this union, and in 1969 the WCLA was dissolved as a corporation.

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Content Description

Records documenting the activities and history of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association (WCLA) include accounting information, biographical and historical materials, correspondence, meeting minutes, membership lists, newsletters, press releases, promotional materials, scrapbooks, and statistical information. The collection includes biographical information about several principal members of the association, including Colonel William B. Greeley, Arthur W. Priaulx, Harold V. Simpson, and James Stevens. Board of Trustees and committee meeting minutes provide a comprehensive overview of the activities and inner workings of the organization. The Barometer, a weekly report prepared by the Statistical Department, provides information on lumber production, orders, shipments, gross stocks, unfilled orders, and operating mills.

The records include many examples of promotional materials, from pamphlets and booklets to color magazine advertisements for houses constructed of West Coast lumber. Many of the promotional items were produced from the 1940s through the early 1960s during the post-World War II housing boom. Promotional materials also include the membership directory, Where to Buy West Coast Lumber, which lists names and addresses of all member mills, managers and sales managers, facilities, species cut, and items and specialties manufactured.

The collection includes information about the West Coast lumber industry during the Great Depression, particularly meeting minutes concerning the WCLA's adoption and enforcement of lumber codes imposed by the National Recovery Administration (NRA) in 1933. The records also document the Pacific Northwest lumber industry's contributions during World War II and the Association's public relations efforts on behalf of the "Keep Oregon Green" and "Keep Washington Green" programs for preventing forest fires, a movement which began in the early 1940s. The collection contains materials, including annual reports, meeting minutes, and statistics, from other related organizations, such as the Industrial Forestry Association (IFA), the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (WCLIB), and the Western Pine Association (WPA).

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Western Wood Products Association Records, Mss 1336, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into two subgroups:

  • Subgroup 1: West Coast Lumbermen's Association Records, 1909-1970
  • Subgroup 2: Western Wood Products Assocation Records

Subgroup 2 currently includes a small quantity of unprocessed records and audio recordings. This sub-group will be processed as more materials from the Western Wood Products Association are deposited in the future.

Subgroup 1 is arranged into three series:

  • Series A: Governance and Membership Records, 1911-1970
  • Series B: Departments and Functions, 1909-1967
  • Series C: Branches and Associated Organizations, 1911-1965

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Western Wood Products Association, 1971, 1975 and 1997 (Accession nos. 11791, 13278 and 23494).

Future Additions

Additional records from the Western Wood Products Association will be added to the collection in the future.

Processing Note

Some documents and newspaper clippings have been photocopied for preservation purposes. Photographs have been photocopied and the originals transferred to Organized Lot 208.

Separated Materials

Photographs have been separated into the Western Wood Products Association Photographs Collection, Organized Lot 208, at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. A guide to this collection will be completed in the future.

Motion picture films have been separated into the Western Wood Products Association Collection in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Moving Image Collection. A guide to this collection will be completed in the future.

Bibliography

Lucia, Ellis. Head Rig: Story of the West Coast Lumber Industry. Portland, Or.: Overland West Press, 1965.

Related Materials

The Timberman Magazine Photographs Collection (Org. Lot 351), Oregon Historical Society Research Library. This monthly magazine (Research Library Serials Collection) covered all aspects of the timber industry, including logging operations, forestry practices, transportation, lumber production, and wood product manufacture.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Douglas fir --Pacific states
  • Forest products --Pacific states
  • Forests and forestry --Pacific states
  • Lumber --Pacific states
  • Lumber trade
  • Sitka spruce --Pacific states
  • Timber --Pacific states
  • Trade associations
  • Tree farms --Pacific states
  • Western hemlock --Pacific states
  • Western redcedar --Pacific states
  • Wood products

Corporate Names

  • Industrial Forestry Association (U.S.)
  • National Lumber Manufacturers Association

Form or Genre Terms

  • Business records
  • Scrapbooks

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Simpson, Harold V. (creator)
    • Greeley, William Buckhout, 1879-1955 (creator)
    • Priaulx, Arthur W. (creator)
    • Stevens, James, 1892-1971 (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • West Coast Bureau of Lumber Grades and Inspection (creator)
    • West Coast Lumbermen's Association (creator)
    • Western Pine Association (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Andrew N. Bryans
2004

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