Edward Augustine Sherman papers

The Edward A. Sherman papers record the travels of Edward Sherman in Alaska in 1915, 1921, and 1922. Sherman, who worked for the forest service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, became assistant forester in charge of lands in 1914, and in 1915 traveled to Alaska as representative of the Agriculture Department in company with Forester Henry S. Graves, later dean of the Yale School of Forestry. He made his second and third visits (1921 and 1922) in his capacity as chairman of the Interdepartmental Alaska Board.

The papers consist of Sherman's detailed typescript journals of these three trips, copiously illustrated with photographs, and of two memoranda Sherman wrote describing his findings. The memoranda and much of the journals discuss Alaskan agriculture, forestry, and industry, as well as potential development of natural resources and hydro-electric power, but the journals also reflect Sherman's sensitivity to the beauty of the countryside and his interest in both the native and the white population.