Summary Information
Wakelin McNeel Papers
1926-1951
- McNeel, Wakelin, 1884-1958
Mss 150
0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Wakelin McNeel, a 4-H Club and conservation leader on the staff of the University of Wisconsin Extension Service. Included are correspondence, speeches and writings, and listener mail pertaining to Afield with Ranger Mac, an educational program which McNeel conducted for radio station WHA for 20 years.
English
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Biography/History
Wakelin McNeel was a 4-H club and conservation leader on the staff of the University of Wisconsin Extension Service. Born in Wisconsin Dells, February 4, 1884, he first became a school teacher in Tomah and Fort Atkinson. In 1922, he was appointed an assistant state 4-H club leader and moved to Madison. He advanced to state club leader in 1944.
In these positions his interest in forestry led him to promote the club's Junior Forest Ranger program and a system of school forests planted or cared for by students on lands owned by their school districts. He obtained a 318-acre tract called Upham Woods near Wisconsin Dells from the University of Wisconsin for use as a school forest. This became a youth camp for 4-H club members.
McNeel also conducted an educational radio program for 20 years on station WHA. Entitled Afield with Ranger Mac, the program was aimed at the state's school children and was concerned with a variety of nature and conservation topics. It received the 1942 George Foster Peabody award as the outstanding educational program in the country.
Other awards honoring McNeel's work were a 1950 American Forestry Association award for outstanding service to conservation and a 1953 award of merit from the National Association for Conservation Education and Publicity.
McNeel retired as state 4-H club leader in 1951. He died in July, 1958, at age 74, leaving as survivors his wife Dora and three children, Mrs. Harold Stoneman, Dr. Laird McNeel, and Wakelin McNeel, Jr.
Scope and Content Note
The Wakelin McNeel Papers, 1926-1951, consist of correspondence, writings and speeches, and a subject file of miscellaneous materials concerning school forests. They relate almost entirely to McNeel's 4-H and conservation work.
The correspondence is divided into general correspondence, 1926-1947, arranged chronologically, and “Ranger Mac” correspondence, 1941-1947, arranged chronologically. The “Ranger Mac” correspondence is entirely between McNeel and his listeners. The general correspondence mainly pertains to general conservation topics, school forests, and 4-H club events; included are a few family letters and letters on personal business matters.
The second group, writings and speeches, is also divided into two segments: general writings, 1928-1951, and “4-H Leader” writings, 1942-1950. The general writings mainly comprise typed copies of speeches and articles by McNeel on a variety of nature topics. Included are a series of articles done in 1936 for Hoard's Dairyman by “Ranger Mac.” The “4-H Leader” writings consist of the editorial pages written by McNeel for the Wisconsin 4-H Leader, a monthly newsletter.
The final folder of papers is a subject file on school forests and the Junior Forest Ranger program. Miscellaneous materials comprising the file include preliminary working plans for two school forests, statistical reports on school forests, policy statements on tree distribution, programs from forest dedication ceremonies, a 1931 proposal for conservation education, 1933 and 1941 reports on 4-H conservation work, and other items. Arrangement again is chronological.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Mrs. Wakelin McNeel, Madison, Wisconsin, October 10, 1958. Accession Number: M-140
Processed by 1967 archives students and Karen Baumann, February 10, 1971.
Contents List
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General Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1926-1940
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1941-1947; undated
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“Ranger Mac” Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1941-1943
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Box
1
Folder
4
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1944-1945
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Box
1
Folder
5
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1946-1947
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Box
1
Folder
6
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General Writings, 1928-1951; undated
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Box
1
Folder
7
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“4-H Leader” Writings, 1942-1950
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Miscellaneous Materials re: School Forests, 1928-1946; undated
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