Scope and Contents
The collection consists of an autobiography, diaries and notebooks for 1897, 1906-1916, 1920-1948 (52 volumes), outgoing and incoming correspondence, military documents, manuscripts, scrapbooks and photographs.
Correspondence contains both personal and professional. A portion of the personal correspondence is alphabetically organized by recipient and includes family, military, and subject correspondence. There is considerable correspondence on national park policy and conservation, especially about Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Documents include official orders, reports, and papers of the Philippine Constabulary.
Manuscript material includes writings on U.S. national parks and the Philippine Constabulary.
Photographs include prints, slides, negatives and photograph albums, and primarily document White's professional work for both the Philippine Constabulary and the National Park Service.
Dates
- 1879-1961
Creator
- White, John Roberts, 1879-1961 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
John R. White (1879-1961) was born in Reading, England and educated in private schools. He served with the Greek Foreign Legion in 1897, went to Alaska and the Yukon (1897-1899), and enlisted in the 4th U.S. Infantry in 1899, serving in the Philippines.
He joined the Philippine Constabulary in 1901, and rose to rank of colonel, retiring in 1914. He was superintendent of the Iwahig Penal Colony, 1906-1908. Between 1916 and 1917, he was in Europe working with the Red Cross and the Rockefeller Foundation. He joined the American Expeditionary Force as a Signal Corps pilot.
Beginning in 1920 White was with the National Park Service as Ranger, Chief Ranger, or Park Superintendent at Grand Canyon, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks, Death Valley National Monument, and as Director of Regions 3 and 4 from 1940 to 1941.
[Source: http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/ark:/99166/w6zm7zbf]
Extent
21.25 linear feet (34 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
John Roberts White (1879-1961), an English soldier who served with the Philippine Constabulary, was also superintendent of the Iwahig Penal Colony, and served in the U.S. National Park Service. The collection includes biographical material, diaries, correspondence, publications, clippings and ephemera, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into the following series: Biographical Materials, Correspondence, Diaries, Publications, Philippine Constabulary, Clippings and Ephemera, Scrapbooks, and Photographs.
Other Finding Aids
Paper finding aid with additional information is available in Special Collections and University Archives.
Processing Information
Collection initially processed by Archivists' Toolkit Project Team and Tanya Parlet. Additional physical and intellectual processing completed by Anna Fleming and Rachel Lilley, 2017.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Diaries Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Forestry and Forestry Products Subject Source: Archiveswest
- National parks and reserves -- California Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- National parks and reserves -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Negatives Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Notebooks Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Park rangers -- California Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Park rangers -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Philippine Constabulary
- Photograph albums Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Police -- Philippines Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Scrapbooks Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Slides (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- United States. Army
- United States. National Park Service
- White, John Roberts, 1879-1961
- White, John Roberts, 1879-1961
- Title
- Guide to the John R. White papers
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by University of Oregon Libraries, Archivists' Toolkit Project Team and Tanya Parlet.
- Date
- 2011, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
- Sponsor
- Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
