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Will D. and Mildred Jenkins Family Papers, 1861-2015

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Jenkins, Will D. (Bob)--1899-; Jenkins, Mildred; Hunley, Charles--1878-1933
Title
Will D. and Mildred Jenkins Family Papers
Dates
1861-2015 (inclusive)
1923-1995 (bulk)
Quantity
5 linear ft.
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0344
Summary
Biographical, personal and family papers from long-time Whatcom County (Washington) residents, historians and authors, Will D. “Bob” and Mildred Jenkins.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

The Jenkins family has deep roots in Whatcom County. Will D. Jenkins III, born in 1852, migrated to Washington from Kansas and in 1883 co-founded the Whatcom Reveille (later the Bellingham Morning Herald and then, the Bellingham Herald). In 1887, Will D. and his son David Calum (D.C.) named and filed the plats for the Geneva neighborhood on Lake Whatcom.

D.C. Jenkins had two sons with his wife Mabel: Sidney (born approximately 1897) and Will D. “Bob” (1899-1997). In 1900, D.C. was caught up in gold rush fever and moved his family briefly to the Okanogan Highlands, returning to Whatcom County in 1903. Bob Jenkins and his brother Sid spent their teen years living with their mother in the Upper Skagit. Will served in the U.S. Navy in WWI, returning in 1920. In 1922, Bob Jenkins became a cub reporter for the Bellingham Herald where he met Mildred Modena Brooks (d.1991) who worked as a stenographer for the paper. They married on December 24, 1926, and had two sons: Will D. Jr. (1929-2002) and Sidney Charles “Chuck” (born in 1932). Bob and Mildred lived on the Geneva property until retiring to the Chilcotin Wilderness in British Columbia where they had built a cabin. Both were historians, writers and published authors: Bob’s works included Last Frontier in the North Cascades and Chilcotin Diary, published in 1984 and 1997, respectively. Mildred Jenkins authored a children’s book, Before The White Man Came: Pacific Northwest Indian Culture in 1951, with illustrations by her husband.

Mildred and Bob’s youngest son Chuck married Wilma Olsen of Lummi in 1956, and the couple built a log home near Rockport, Skagit County. Chuck was an avid hunter and worked as a mule packer for Mt. Baker National Forest, stationed initially out of Glacier, and later the Marblemount and Darrington districts.

Mildred Jenkins' mother, Mary (1889-1978, née Noland), married Charles Hunley in 1915, following the deaths of her first and second husbands (James Arthur Brooks and John Sampson Vickery). Charles Hunley was an engineer and surveyor for the Canadian National Railway, and later (working for Bert W. Huntoon) was in charge of the Mount Baker Development Company’s camp at Heather Meadows during the construction of the Mount Baker Lodge. Hunley passed away in 1933.

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Content Description

The collection comprises a range of biographical and personal papers documenting the history of two interrelated Whatcom County families, and individuals related to Will D. “Bob” and Mildred Jenkins.

Correspondence includes letters and holiday cards written between family members, as well as a 1926 letter to Charles Hunley from Mount Baker Forest Supervisor, C. Park. Biographical materials include a handwritten history of the Geneva neighborhood, and biographies and genealogical materials for various family members.

Journals include Charles Hunley’s Mt. Baker Development Co. diary from 1925-1927 documenting life at Heather Meadows, and several of Chuck Jenkins’ journals documenting his mule packing trips from 1949-1992. Photographs and art work include several images of Mount Baker and vicinity, and the Mount Baker Lodge (many taken by Bert W. Huntoon).

Newspaper articles and clippings include several Bellingham Herald articles spanning 1919-1934 and covering the construction of Mount Baker Highway, the Mount Baker Lodge, bootlegging cases, and social events attended by members of the Jenkins and Hunley families. Research materials include plans for the 1996 Concrete (WA) Museum project.

Audio-visual materials include CDs and cassette tapes of Bob Jenkins’ vocals and nature sounds from Eagle Lake, B.C. There are also several maps of Mount Baker National Forest spanning 1922-1960, an 1897 map of Washington and southern B.C. mining districts.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Will D. and Mildred Jenkins Family Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9123

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Will D. and Mildred Jenkins Family Papers are organized according to the following series arrangement:

  • Series I. Biographical Materials, 1933-2015
  • Series II. Correspondence, 1923-2012
  • Series III. Journals and Notebooks, 1925-1992
  • Series IV. Photographs and Artwork, 1917-2004
  • Series V. Newspapers and Clippings, 1861-1994
  • Series VI. Research Materials, 1990s
  • Series VII. Audio-Visual Materials, 1990s
  • Series VIII. Maps, 1904-1953

Processing Note

About Harmful Language and Content

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content

Acquisition Information

The collection was formally donated to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies by John Parent in August 2015, with the transfer of materials by local historian Michael G. Impero.

Separated Materials

Copies of select published works by Will D. Jenkins and Mildren Jenkins are avaialble through Western Libraries. A box of illustrations for Before The White Man Came (some used in the final published version, some not) is also housed at Western Libraries as part of Special Collections' Children's Collection.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Finding aid prepared by Ruth Baacke.
2016

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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