Archive Record
Metadata
Title |
Oral History of James L. McConnell, Tree Improvement Forester |
Catalog Number |
2005.218.002 |
Object Name |
Manuscript |
Scope & Content |
Oral History of James L. McConnell, Tree Improvement Forester >> Transcript of an oral history interviews of James L. McConnell at his residence in Lilburn, Georgia. The interview was conducted by Elaine McConnell. Manuscript 1 on August 11, 2005, 2 on August 11, 2005; 3 on February 15, 2007 and 4 on May 31, 2007. McConnell began his Forest Service career in 1956 and retired in 1993. >> INTERVIEW No. 1 -- Life before Forest Service career - Born in West Palm Beach Florida in 1934. Grew up in New Orleans; Attended Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge and studied forestry; Accepted a job on the Kisatchie National Forest, Catahoula District, John Beal Ranger; Drafted into the Army, May 1957; Served until April 1959; Back to the Forest Service - assigned to Winn District on the Kisatchie NF; Joe Tannehill ranger; After about one year moved to the Catahoula District on the Kisatchie, Hugh Mobley ranger; Detailed to the Mississippi River & Tributary Study >> INTERVIEW No. 2 -- Southeast River Basin Survey; Railroad logging Atchafalaya River Basin; 1961 transfer to Regional Office, Atlanta to work on a Corps of Engineering project to survey potential lake impoundments; Transfer to Oxford Ranger District Mississippi March 1962; Building work center; Accelerated Public Works program; Yazoo-Little Tallahatchie River Basin Project (YLT) was run by Vic MacNaughton (planted 739 million trees 1948-1985); Forest Service involvement during the violence surround the racial integration of the University of Mississippi James Meredith; 1964 transferred to the Francis Marion National Forest, Moncks Corner, in South Carolina placed in charge of a seed orchard program, Oliver Buckles was a technician who worked on the program; Tree climbing for cones; >> INTERVIEW No. 3 - More about Oxford MS, James Meredith, President Kennedy and author William Faulkner; Tom Swofford, leader of the Southern Region Tree Improvement Program and selected for training: O. D. Smith, Jim Gates and Bobby Kitchens; Tree improvement work; November 1969 back to Mississippi, Leland; - the Southern Hardwood Lab was there at Stoneville where he working on cloning cottonwood trees; Sid McKnight ran the lab; 1971 transferred to Macon Georgia as Director of the Eastern Seed Lab (now National Tree Seed Lab); 1974 University of Georgia for soil courses to prepare to become a Tree Nursery specialist; Trip to Norway, Sweden and England in 1973; Foreign visitors to the seed lab; >> INTERVIEW No. 4 - Relations with China; Applying for Forest Service jobs; 1975 Southern Region job as Geneticist replacing Tom Swofford; Ralph Lewis as Zone Geneticist; Southern Forest Tree Improvement Committee; Region 8 Tree Improvement Program; Hired Timothy La Farge; Working with the Missoula Equipment Development Center with tree shakers, vacuum cleaner to pick up cones; Worked with Dick Hallman and Eli Milodragovich to develop a net retrieval system; National Silvicultural Report; Hurricane Hugo damage in South Carolina; Seed stores for the region and setting price for seed; New cone kilns at Ashe Nursery: Foreign trips for Tree Improvement programs: 1977 New Zealand and Australia and France on oak genetics; Retired from the Forest Service January 3, 1993 after 36 years which included 2 years in the Army; Addendum: Tom Tibbs came into the tree improvement program in the mid-1980s; In 1993 Tibbs became the Regional Geneticist |
Additional File |
Click Here to view Interview No. 1 PDF. Click Here to view Interview No. 2 PDF. Click Here to view Interview No. 3 PDF. Click Here to view Interview No. 4 PDF. |
Year Range from |
2007 |
Year Range to |
2007 |
People |
Beal, John Buckles, Oliver Gates, Jim Hallman, Dick Kitchens, Bobby La Farge, Timothy Lewis, Ralph MacNaughton, Vic McConnell, James L. McKnight, Sid Milodragovich, Eli Mobley, Hugh Smith, O. D. Swofford, Tom Tannehill, Joe Tibbs, Tom |
Subjects |
Biography Francis Marion NF Genetics History Hurricane Hugo Kisatchie NF Mississippi River & Tributary Study Missoula Equipment Development Center National Tree Seed Lab Oral History Railroad logging Atchafalaya River Basin Southeast River Basin Survey Southern Hardwood Lab Southern Region Tree Improvement Program Yazoo-Little Tallahatchie River Basin Project (YLT) |
Search Terms |
Oral History History - Forest Service Units Timber-Reforestation & TSI Equipment Development African American |
Catalog date |
2019-01-16 |
Extent of Description |
Letter size, printed single side, 92 pages |
Collection |
McConnell, James L. |