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Thomas T. Aldwell papers, 1890-1951

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Aldwell, Thomas T., 1868-1954
Title
Thomas T. Aldwell papers
Dates
1890-1951 (bulk)
Quantity
1.26 cubic feet (3 boxes)
Collection Number
4082 (Accession No. 4082-001)
Summary
Papers of Thomas T. Aldwell, a public official, businessman, power company executive, and civic leader from Port Angeles, Washington.
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

The papers are open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Thomas Theobald Aldwell, born in Toronto on June 14, 1868, was trained as a banker and became a public official, businessman, power company executive, and civic leader. He moved to Port Angeles, Washington, in 1890 and eventually made a fair amount of money in real estate there, both through his own purchases and as a realtor. Aldwell was active in politics between 1894 and 1908, serving as Clallam County auditor, deputy customs collector, and chairman of the Clallam County Republican Party. He left politics in 1908 to pursue his real dream, the building of the Elwha Dam. Aldwell and his partners had slowly acquired many acres of land along the Elwha River, enough to accommodate a dam and the flooding it would cause. They formed the Olympic Power and Development Company and successfully raised the money for the dam, which was completed in 1913. The dam provided power to Port Angeles, Port Townsend, and the Bremerton Navy Yard.

Aldwell directed several other industrial development projects. As president of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, he convinced local businessmen to raise money to help pulp mills locate in the city after the construction of the dam. Aldwell and other leaders of the chamber of commerce later formed a port district. The voters elected Aldwell the district’s first port commissioner; he served from 1924 to 1932. Under Aldwell’s leadership the port district built a sea-wall that expanded the port and provided room for a plywood company to settle along the waterfront. After the creation of Olympic National Park in 1938, Aldwell was a leader in the fight to return some of the park’s land to the national forests to guarantee the region’s pulp mills a larger supply of trees. At age 82 he published his autobiography, Conquering the Last Frontier. He died four years later in 1954.

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Content Description

This collection spans 1890-1951. It includes correspondence, clippings, writings, and notes. The papers relate to Port Angeles, Washington, history and politics, and the Olympic Power Company of Clallam County, which Aldwell managed. The correspondence, which forms the bulk of the collection and is thoroughly indexed, runs from 1901 to 1951. The letters cover all aspects of Aldwell’s career, but especially his activities as a booster of Port Angeles. Major correspondents include George A. Glines; Crown Zellerbach Corp.; Peabody, Houghteling, and Company, Chicago; the Seattle Lighting Department; and L.L. Summers and Company, Chicago. The papers also contain the texts of some of Aldwell’s speeches and writings, and Port Angeles Golf and Country Club records regarding the club’s financial status from 1940 to 1943.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Literary rights have not been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Preferred Citation

[Title of item], [date of item if known], [box/folder number], Thomas T. Aldwell Papers, [Accession No.], University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by type of document.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Thomas T. Aldwell, May 1951.

Aldwell wrote in his autobiography ( Conquering the Last Frontier), “I have made arrangements for the newspaper clippings and correspondence, which verify the events [in this autobiography] from 1890 on, to be filed with the University of Washington.” It is not clear whether Aldwell gave all of his extant personal papers or only those which he used in writing his autobiography to the UW Libraries.

Processing Note

Four scrapbooks that were included in Aldwell’s papers were relocated to the Special Collections division's Pacific Northwest Scrapbooks Collection. The scrapbooks primarily contain newspaper clippings dating from 1878 to 1944 that Aldwell saved, apparently as a record of his career. A few telegrams and congratulatory letters also appear. One of the scrapbooks is devoted to the planning and building of the Elwha Dam, one to the activities of the Port Angeles Port District, and another to Aldwell’s political career from 1894 to 1908. The fourth scrapbook is a miscellany but contains a fair amount of material involving the fight over the proper size of Olympic National Park.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

  • Description: Biographical Material
    3 items
    Container: Box/Folder 1/1

  • Correspondence: Incoming

  • Description: Correspondence: Outgoing
    circa 750 items
    Dates: 1902-1951
    Container: Box/Folder 2/8-39, 3/1-17
  • Description: Memoranda
    22 items
    Dates: 1912-1934, undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/18
  • Description: Legal Documents
    10 items
    Dates: 1890-1917
    Container: Box/Folder 3/19
  • Description: Speeches and Writings
    10 items
    Dates: 1929-1943, undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/20
  • Description: Financial Records: Olympic Power Company Mortgage
    1 item
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Box/Folder 3/21
  • Description: Lists and Statistics
    19 items
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/22
  • Description: Notes for Book
    4 items
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/23
  • Description: Broadsides
    9 items
    Dates: 1902-1914
    Container: Box/Folder 3/24
  • Description: Blueprint (Ediz Hook)
    1 item
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/25

  • Clippings

    • Description: Personal
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: British Royalty
      Dates: 1939
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Olympic National Park
      Dates: 1939-1945
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Industry (Mills)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Port of Port Angeles
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3/26-31
      Location: Clippings
  • Description: Newspaper
    1 item

    Daily Telegraph and Morning Post Supplement

    Dates: 1939
    Container: Box/Folder 3/32
  • Description: Memorabilia
    9 items
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box/Folder 3/33
  • Description: Port Angeles Golf and Country Club Records
    22 items
    Dates: 1940-1943
    Container: Box/Folder 3/34


2006 (Last modified: 7/17/2017)

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