Summary Information
Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation Records
1932-1973
- Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation
Mss 394; Micro 622; PH Mss 394
1.2 cubic feet (3 archives boxes), 1 reel of microfilm (35 mm), 114 photographs, 1050 negatives, and 95 transparencies
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records, 1932-1973, of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation (WNRF) and its predecessor the Gordon MacQuarrie Foundation, a foundation set up after MacQuarrie's death in 1956 to encourage conservation journalism; as well as the papers of Gordon MacQuarrie. The records include general correspondence, financial reports, meeting records, and printed material providing a detailed account of the administration of the MacQuarrie Foundation and the creation of the WNRF. MacQuarrie's personal papers include a fairly complete run of magazine and newspaper articles on microfilm (1932-1960), correspondence, and subject files on the Brule River, turn-of-the-century woodsman George Washington Sears ("Nessmuk"), and other topics. Also includes photographs documenting hunting and fishing, primarily in Wisconsin.
There is a restriction on access to this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00394 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation, incorporated in 1968, was an outgrowth of the Gordon MacQuarrie Foundation. The MacQuarrie Foundation was organized and named in honor of the nationally known outdoor journalist, who for twenty years authored a column for The Milwaukee Journal and contributed regularly to numerous outdoor magazines.
MacQuarrie, son of Canadian Indian fighter William MacQuarrie and Mary Elizabeth Stevenson MacQuarrie, was born on July 3, 1900 in Superior, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism. After his premature death in 1956, his wife, Ellen MacQuarrie, and several close friends set out to establish a foundation as a lasting memorial to his work in conservation journalism.
The Gordon MacQuarrie Foundation was incorporated in 1957. Its primary purpose was to encourage conservation journalism. Each year the Foundation presented a $100 cash award and a bronze commemorative medallion to a Wisconsin resident “for outstanding achievement in telling the conservation story.” In addition, it granted a $200 scholarship to a University of Wisconsin student interested in conservation and journalism.
Ellen MacQuarrie remained active as secretary of the Foundation after moving to Washington, D.C. in 1962. Her direct participation, however, ended when she remarried and moved to England in 1964. The work of the Foundation was continued by the other organizers, especially its first president, Walter Scott, and his successor, Harry Nohr. After the death of William J. P. Aberg, who was one of the original directors, a decision was made to broaden the base of the Foundation. In November 1968 the officers combined the assets of the MacQuarrie Foundation with funds contributed as a memorial to Aberg, incorporated the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation, and continued the annual MacQuarrie Award and Scholarship.
Scope and Content Note
The records of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation are arranged in three series, MacQuarrie Foundation Records, the Gordon MacQuarrie Papers, and Photographs. This collection is the combination of two sets of complementary papers which entailed a good deal of duplication. They were donated by Ellen MacQuarrie, the organization's first secretary, and by its first president, Walter Scott.
The primary series, MACQUARRIE FOUNDATION RECORDS, covers the entire life of the organization. These records include organizational materials, general correspondence, financial reports and correspondence, meeting records, correspondence related to awards and scholarships, and press materials. The organizational records include draft proposals for the Foundation, minutes from pre-organizational meetings, and the Articles of Incorporation. The general correspondence, arranged chronologically (1956-1967), primarily covers the years 1956-1961, and contains a great deal of information concerning establishment of the Foundation and its operation. Many of the letters are between Ellen MacQuarrie and Walter Scott. There was a noticeable decline in the correspondence after Mrs. MacQuarrie went to Washington.
The financial records are divided into two parts, financial correspondence and financial reports. The financial correspondence consists mostly of letters of thanks to contributors, but it also illuminates the solicitation program and details the manner in which the assets of the Foundation were administered. When supplemented with the financial reports from 1957-1962, the correspondence gives a good picture of how the Foundation funds were obtained and disbursed.
The awards and scholarship section includes subseries of correspondence and medallion materials. The correspondence contains letters from award nominees and winners, Foundation members, and award judges. It sheds light on the decision making process, the nature of the awards, and ultimately the purpose of the organization. The single file of medallion materials deals with the origin, design, and production of the commemorative medallion.
The press releases, printed materials, and newspaper clippings represent only a small portion of the collection. These records serve primarily to round out the image of the Foundation's operations. When all the correspondence, meeting minutes, press releases, and organizational materials are viewed as a whole, the record of this organization is remarkably complete. In addition, there is one folder which pertains to the creation of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation.
The second series, THE GORDON MACQUARRIE PAPERS, should be of interest to anyone concerned with Wisconsin conservation or conservation journalism. There is some brief biographical information which includes obituaries but the major portion of the series consists of his articles arranged in three categories: 1) Manuscript articles, most undated, but appeared to be in chronological order at the time of processing, and have been left as they were found. 2) Magazine articles, 1932-1960, and provide the student interested in MacQuarrie's writing with a thorough representation of his style and interests. 3) Newspaper articles, principally of “Off the Reel” columns from the Milwaukee Journal (1936-1950 and 1952-1956), and have been microfilmed.
Besides the articles, this series includes a small amount of correspondence and several subject files. Of most interest is the file on the Brule River. Combined with his numerous magazine articles on the subject, this file depicts an interest which spanned his professional career. The materials on Chuck Morgan pertain to a dog-handling book Morgan planned to write and to his consultations with MacQuarrie about the project. The file on Nessmuk deals with the turn-of-the-century conservationist-woodsman, George Washington Sears. All of the subject files contain some pertinent correspondence.
The PHOTOGRAPHS series include prints, color transparencies and negatives documenting hunting and fishing, primarily in Wisconsin, and are related to articles written by MacQuarrie.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Ellen MacQuarrie, Washington, D.C., March 3, 1964 (now Mrs. Henry S. Wilson, Aberystwyth, Wales), and by Walter Scott, Madison, Wisconsin, November 6, 1972. Accession Number: M64-70, M72-417
Processed by Rick Pifer (archives intern) and Joanne Hohler, March 22, 1977.
The negatives and transparencies are in cold storage, please contact the archives reading room in advance for access.
Contents List
|
Mss 394
|
Series: MacQuarrie Foundation Records
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Organizational materials, 1957 January 7-1957 April 7, undated
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2-7
|
General correspondence, 1956 November 16-1967 April 12
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
8
|
Meeting records, 1957 September 11-1965 April 4
|
|
|
Financial records
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
9
|
Correspondence, 1956 November 20-1963 June 6
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
10
|
Reports, 1957-1962, undated
|
|
|
Awards and scholarships
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1-4
|
Correspondence, 1957 January 13-1967 April 17, undated
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
5
|
Medallion materials, 1957 February 26-1962 March 26, 1965 April 5-1966 August 15
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
6
|
Press releases, 1957 May 29-1966 May 8
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
7
|
Printed materials, 1957 November-1963 May
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
8
|
Newspaper clippings, 1957 June 2-1966 December 9, undated
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
9
|
Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation (WNRF), 1968 December 3-1973 July 9
|
|
|
Series: Gordon MacQuarrie Papers
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
10
|
Biographical information, 1936 April-1961 June 25
|
|
|
Articles
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
11-12
|
Manuscripts, undated
: In approximate chronological order.
|
|
|
Magazine articles
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
13
|
1932 January-1939 December
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1-2
|
1940 January-1960 November, undated
|
|
|
Micro 622
|
Newspaper articles, 1936 April-1950 December, 1952 January-1956 December, 1960 November 11, undated
|
|
|
Mss 394
Box
3
Folder
3
|
Printed materials, not by MacQuarrie, 1954 August 16-1957 January, undated
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
4
|
Correspondence, 1954, 1956
|
|
|
Subject files
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
5
|
Brule River, 1946 January 12-1953 January 22, undated
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
6
|
Chuck Morgan, circa 1945
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
7
|
Nessmuk (George Washington Sears), circa 1953, 1956
|
|
|
PH Mss 394
|
Series: Photographs
|
|
|
Box
1
|
Prints
|
|
|
Box
2
|
Prints, oversize
|
|
|
Box
3-4
|
Negatives
: The negatives are in cold storage, please contact the archives reading room in advance for access.
|
|
|
Box
5-8
|
Transparencies
: The transparencies are in cold storage, please contact the archives reading room in advance for access.
|
|
|
