Collection is open for research.
Howard Newton Magness was born in Dayton, Oregon, in 1906. In 1929, he and Panzy Withee were married; they later had four children. In 1977, the Magness family donated a large tract of land to the Western Forestry Center; the land is now known as the Magness Memorial Tree Farm. Magness died in 1986.
An incomplete transcript (10 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oral history interview with Howard N. Magness, by Charles Digregorio, SR 9238, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Howard Newton Magness was conducted by Charles Digregorio at the Magness Farm in Wilsonville, Oregon, on December 21, 1977, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. Edmund Hayes, Dr. Arch W. Diack, John L. Blackwell, Sir James McDonald, Peter McDonald, and Panzy Magness were also present, and often contributed to the interview.
In this interview, Magness discusses the 1977 donation of his 63-acre farm to the Western Forestry Center, now known as the World Forestry Center, for the purposes of an experimental tree farm and education with public access. He talks about his original purchase of the land in 1955, and his reasons for donating it. The group talks about the donation process, and about the Western Forestry Center's plans for the land.
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and the estate of Howard N. Magness. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted,