Hoedads Cooperative Inc. records

The Hoedads Cooperative Inc. collection contains the working papers, audio and visual records of the cooperative, member and co-op correspondence, original newsletters, minutes and photographs. This material was gathered together from many members to use in writing the Hoedads history book. Consequently this collection documents the democratic character of the Hoedads, the adversity facing a cooperative business, the hardship involved with tree planting and other reforestation work, gender inclusion and exclusion in a heretofore male-only occupation and the surrounding influence the Hoedads had on other Northwest cooperatives and reforestation groups.

Series I: Correspondence, 1973-1987, is divided into three subseries: Incoming, Outgoing and Subject. Incoming and Outgoing correspondence are both organized by date. The subject correspondence is the largest subseries of the three and is organized alphabetically. It includes the bulk of job/contract related communication.

Series II: Meetings and Minutes, 1973-1993, is divided into 4 subseries based on meeting type, and then is organized by date. Minutes, notes and other documents from weekly and/or monthly Council meetings, General meetings and the Board of Directors meetings can be found within their respective Subseries. Researchers can find more meetings, notes, and minutes under Subseries D: Miscellaneous meetings.

Series III: Cooperative Management, 1971-1993, is comprised of many types of documents detailing the work of the cooperative. Subseries A includes records of the day-to-day activities of reforestation work, including member’s personal notebooks, contracts, new member orientation notebooks, resignations, and also some correspondence. Subseries B is comprised of documents that explain the history and structure of the Hoedads Cooperative and includes some legal information. However, the bulk of the legal documents will be found in Subseries C. Subseries D is a subject file listing of many topics of research and personal interest to the Hoedads co-op, from herbicide and pesticides, to Jerry Rust’s political campaign, and scrapbooks and articles about the Hoedads. Financial information for Hoedads Inc. can be found in Series V: Financial Records, 1972-1994.

Series IV: Literary Manuscripts, 1970’s-1990’s, includes the research records, drafts and revisions created to write the Hoedad’s book(s). Records are split between Subseries A and B based on the two working titles of the Hoedads history book: Hands in the Earth (HITE) and Birth of a Cooperative (BOAC). Whenever possible drafts and notes were matched up with the correct title, but often this could not be discerned. Subseries C: covers the research and writing of a book about the Yew tree and Subseries D contains all other writings, poetry and similar documents. Subseries E: Transcripts consists of the numerous oral history interviews conducted to assist in writing the Hoedad’s history book. The corresponding audio and/or video recordings can be found in Series VII – VIII.

Series V: Financial Records, 1972-1994, includes financial statements, contracts and invoices, contributions to Jerry Rust’s commissioner campaign, payroll and tax information among other financial documents.

Series VI: Newsletters includes the original Hoedads Inc. newsletter “Together,” organized by date (1974-1984), and the working papers used to produce the newsletter.

Series VII: Video and Series VIII: Audio both contain numerous recordings of meetings, conferences, and member, officer and crew interviews, recorded during the 1970s-1990s.

Series IX: Photographs includes photos, negatives and slides. Images reflect Hoedads members working, meeting, playing and posing; whenever possible we attached member, crew, and place names to an image (Thanks to former Hoedads President Greg Nagel for his help in identifying these images).