Collection number: UA 10/5/5
Size: 1.5 boxes
(0.53 cu.ft.)
About Clark L. Stevens
Clark L. Stevens was born in Stratford, New Hampshire in 1895. After graduating from Colebrook Academy in 1911, he attended UNH and was among the first students of forestry, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1917.
After serving as a US Army infantryman, he returned to Durham as a teacher in 1919. He also established a ranger school for disabled veterans using the White Mountains as their field training area for six months of the year. He emphasized practical experience as a part of forestry education and in 1924 opened the first summer camp for UNH forestry students at East Brighton, Vermont. After operating in several locations, the camp was permanently established in 1929 on a site in the Passaconaway Valley of the White Mountains where it continued until 1964 when the site was sold to the White Mountain National forest. The 550-acre tract was named the Clark L Stevens Forest and a plaque along the Kancamagus Highway commemorates his service.
In 1926 he was granted a 2-year leave from UNH to study at the Yale School of Forestry where he earned the M.F. degree. Further study at Yale led to the Ph.D. in Botany in 1930. In 1938, he became Chairman of the UNH Department of Forestry, a post he held until reaching mandatory retirement age for department heads, but he continued with his teaching, research, and summer camp responsibilities. Among his studies were those on the sweetness of maple sap and the culture of the “super sweet” tree, and those on deer, moose, fishers and beaver populations. Following retirement in 1964, he continued to teach at the University and pursued his 20-year research in the economic importance of the bobcat in New Hampshire.
Stevens died on August 17, 1973 following a short illness. He was 78.
About the Clark L. Stevens Diaries
The bulk of this collection is made of the diaries kept by Prof. Clark Stevens during the summers he managed the UNH forestry summer camps program, 1938-1961. There is also a typed transcript of the diary he kept while attending Yale in 1926.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the University of New Hampshire.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Clark L. Stevens Diaries, 1926-1961, UA 10/5/5, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
These diaries were purchased from the Schoolhouse Trading Post in Chesterville, ME in Nov. 2009.
Related Material
Forestry Summer Camp Journals, UA 10/5/4
Collection Contents
Series 1: Forestry summer camp diaries, 1938-1961
These pocket-size diaries were designed specifically for the University of New Hampshire Forestry Camp program. Stevens recorded the daily weather changes and kept notes on the animals within the region, from sightings to tracking their movements. Stevens also commented on the daily camp responsibilities he fulfilled. The majority of diary entries are a page in length and most are written in pencil. At some point he transcribed the diaries (1938-1954) into a typed volume with keywords--mostly names of animals--in the margins.
| Box 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 1, Folder 1 | 1938-1939 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 2 | 1940-1941 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | 1942-1943 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 4 | 1944, 1946 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 5 | 1947, 1949 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 6 | 1950-1951 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 7 | 1952-1953 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 8 | 1954-1955 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 1, Folder 9 | 1956-1957 | Forestry camp diaries of C. L. Stevens |
| Box 2 | ||
| Box 2, Folder 1 | 1958-1959 | Forestry camp diaries of C.L. Stevens |
| Box 2, Folder 2 | 1960-1961 | Forestry camp diaries of C. L. Stevens |
| Box 2, Folder 3 | 1938-1954 | Typed transcript of Forestry camp diaries of C. L. Stevens |
Series 2: Yale diary, 1926
This folder contains a typed transcript of the diary he kept while attending Yale University. It begins on January 1, 1926 and ends on Dec. 31. He recorded the daily weather and his activities both social and academic. It also includes programs and newspaper clippings on campus activities, opinion pieces from the local newspaper and photographs of people.
| Box 2, Folder 4 | Jan-Dec, 1926 | Typed transcript of Yale diary of C. L. Stevens |
