William E. Osgood (1926- ) Papers, Doc , MSA 219

Transcription

1 William E. Osgood (1926- ) Papers, Doc , MSA 219 Introduction William Edward Osgood (1926- ) is a librarian, writer, and outdoorsman from Northfield, Vermont. His papers represent a broad cross section of activities and include journals kept intermittently since 1946; notes on family history; correspondence; official Northfield, Vermont, weather records, ; records relating to his work as an active member of the 10th Mountain Division Association, New England Chapter; and extensive research notes gathered for various writing and teaching projects. Osgood donated his papers to the Vermont Historical Society in 1998 (ms. acc. no. 98.2) and intends to make additions to his collection during his lifetime. The collection is stored in five storage boxes and one archival flip-top box; it occupies 6.5 linear feet of shelf space. Biographical Sketch William Edward Osgood was born on March 24, 1926, in Nashua, New Hampshire, the fifth and last child of Horace Edward and Ethel Hale (Trow) Osgood. He was educated in the Nashua public schools. In 1944 he was inducted into the U.S. Army and volunteered for service with the 10th Mountain Division where he was a combat infantryman during the Italian campaign of World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and in 1947 matriculated as a student at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. He graduated cum laude in He received a Master s degree in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, in Osgood married Thelma Slabaugh of Akron, Ohio, in They have two children; Kathleen, born in 1951; and Deborah, born in The Osgood family moved to Ohio in 1952 where Osgood was the Tuscarawas County Librarian. In 1953 the Osgoods relocated to Hanover, N.H., where Osgood was a Reference Assistant at Baker Library of Dartmouth College. The next move was to Vermont. Osgood was Adult Services Librarian for the Vermont Free Public Library Service from Osgood was appointed Librarian at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, in 1957 and remained there until During the years the family lived in Finland while Osgood was on sabbatical leave. In 1972 Osgood became the Librarian at the Center for Northern Studies in Wolcott, Vermont, where he also served as the Editor of the Center s quarterly publication, Northern Raven. He taught several courses there and organized the Center s monthly seminar series. Osgood s last professional library appointment was at the Vermont Historical Society where he was the Special Project Cataloger working on the Harold Goddard Rugg Collection of Vermontiana. Osgood retired in 1990 but has continued to work on manuscript projects as a volunteer for the Society. He has also been an active volunteer on trail and archival projects for the Green Mountain Club. The Osgood family has lived at Ravencroft in Northfield, Vermont, since 1956.

2 William E. Osgood Papers 2 While Osgood was working as a Reference Assistant on the staff of the Baker Library of Dartmouth College during he became acquainted with the Arctic explorer and scholar Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who greatly influenced Osgood s later career as a writer and researcher on cold weather topics and outdoor life. Osgood has had five books and numerous articles published on these subjects. For further biographical and genealogical information see Doc 438:1-6. Scope and Content The William E. Osgood Papers include journal entries for day to day activities in Vermont, primarily for the period 1960 to date. The journals also record foreign travels to northern regions. There is correspondence of a general nature as well as letters exchanged in the course of research into special topics. Family history notes cover the Osgood, Hale, and Trow ancestry. The collection includes official records of temperature and precipitation in Northfield, Vermont, which Osgood kept as an observer for the U.S. National Weather Service between 1974 and There are also monthly weather summaries discussing trends and unusual phenomena. Osgood has been an active member of the New England Chapter of the 10th Mountain Division Association; the collection includes documention of his work with this group. The remaining part of the collection consists of research notes for published works as well as several unpublished manuscripts. There are teaching notes generated for courses taught at Goddard College, The Center for Northern Studies, and the Mount Washington Observatory. Also there are memoranda and notes for projects for a wide variety of other projects such as: a research paper of the influence of the early issues of the Atlantic Monthly magazine in the development of American poetry; plans for a circumpolar expedition; efforts to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons; work for the preservation of Vermont scenery and historic sites; etc., etc. Organization The papers have been divided into seven series: I. Biographical II. Family histories III. Journals IV. Correspondence V. Northfield Weather Records VI. 10th Mountain Division Association VII. Research, Writing, and Teaching

3 William E. Osgood Papers 3 Related Collections Other items in the Vermont Historical Society collection by William E. Osgood include: The Harold Goddard Rugg Collection at the Vermont Historical Society, Vermont History News, vol. 41, no. 6 (Nov. - Dec. 1990): pp How To Make A Living in the Country. Charlotte, Vt.: Garden Way Publishing, [301.35/Os3] Paine Mountain Guidebook. Northfield, Vt.: Northfield News and Printery, [ N81pm] Ski Touring, with Leslie J. Hurley. Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle Co., nd. ed., [ Sk32] The Snowshoe Book, with Leslie J. Hurley. Brattleboro, Vt.: Stephen Greene Press, nd ed., rd ed., [ Os3] Wintering In Snow Country. Brattleboro, Vt.: Stephen Greene Press, [640 Os3] Another related item is the scrapbook and photo album describing a series of winter bivouacs conducted by veterans of the Tenth Mountain Division in Vermont and New Hampshire which is in the Special Collections of the Kreitzberg Library of Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. [ O82e] Inventory I. Biographical Doc 438:1 Biographical II. Family Histories 2 Hale Family 3 Osgood Family Correspondence 4 Osgood Family Notes 5 Osgood Family Records 6 Trow Family III. Journals 7 Journals, 8 Oct June , 2 Apr Dec , 1 Jan Dec , 4 Mar Nov , 4 Jan Aug , 17 Feb Dec , 1 Jan Oct , 2 Jan Feb Doc 438:15, 1 Mar Dec. 1965

4 William E. Osgood Papers 4 16, 2 Aug Dec , 19 Dec Feb , 10 Jan June , 20 July Apr , 27 Jan July , 10 Aug Oct , 14 Feb Feb , 20 Apr July , Dec Mar , 14 Feb Oct , 3 May Aug , 22 Aug Sep , 22 Jan Nov , 21 Apr Sep , 16 Feb Mar , 26 July Nov , 23 Mar May , 15 May Mar , 21 Mar Nov , 8 Nov Aug , 13 Aug Nov Doc. 439:1, 7 Nov Sep , 11 Sep May , 25 May Sep , 12 Sep Apr , 8 Apr Mar , 21 Mar Dec , 1 Jan Aug , 1 Sep Oct Field Notes, IV. Correspondence 9 Correspondence, , , , , , , 1993, Jan - May 16, 1993, June - Dec. 17, 1994, Jan - June 18, 1994, July - Dec. 19, , 1996 Doc 439:21, , 1998

5 William E. Osgood Papers 5 MSA 219:1, 1999 V. Northfield Weather Records Doc 440:1 Northfield Weather Records, Correspondence and Notes, , Daily Observations, July Apr. 3, Monthly Summaries, Feb Apr VI. 10th Mountain Division Association 4 Tenth Mountain Division, Brochures, programs 5, Clippings 6, Correspondence, ,, ,, ,, Jan. - June ,, July - Dec ,, ,, ,, 1998 MSA 219:2,, 1999 Doc 440:13, Directors Meetings 14, Military Mountaineering Advisory Group, 12 Aug May ,, 13 June Sep , Poetry 17, Pogonip, Correspondence, 20 May Dec ,,, 6 Jan Mar Reunion, Roster, , Trail System 20, Whittemore MS VII. Research, Writing, and Teaching 21 Agricultural Conservation Program MSA Anyplace Wild Doc 440:22 Atlantic Monthly 23 Baker Library Tower Panoramic Map 24 Bees 25 Bicknell s Thrush Survey, Brunswick Springs 27 Camping,Winter 28 Center for Northern Studies 29, Catalogs Doc 440:30 CircumPolar Clothing, Winter 32 Crag Camp

6 William E. Osgood Papers 6 33 Deer Camp 34 English Conversation Class 35 Finland, Class 36, Correspondence Doc 441:1 Garden Way Publishing 2 Goddard North 3 Green Mountain Heritage republication Correspondence and memoranda, , Market survey, Green Trails 6 Ice, Correspondence 7, Notes 8 Imagines Agemus [Goddard College Library newsletter] 9 InterPolar Fest 10 Lapland, Correspondence 11, Notes 12, Report 13 Libraries 14 Living with Winter 15 Man and Winter 16 Man in the North MSA Maps Doc 441:17 Monandnock Mountain (Lemington, Vt.) 18 Mount Washington Observatory, Correspondence, , EduTrip Notes, Part I 20,, Part II 21, Miscellany 22, Unpublished MS 23, Weather reports 24 Mountain of the Month Club 25 North Woods Ways 26 Northern Themes in Folklore and Literature 27 Nuclear Arms Freeze 28 Organic Gardening 29 Orienteering 30 Paine, Charles, Charles Paine House 31 Paine, Elijah, Paine Mountain Guidebook, Correspondence 33, Geology 34, Hiking Logs 35, Maps 36, Notes Doc 441:37, Photos 38, Public Relations 39 Paine s Mills

7 William E. Osgood Papers 7 40 Polar Osgood s Gazette [Center for Northern Studies library newsletter] MSA 219:5 Ravens Doc 441:41 Research and Writing Class 42 Robinson Brook MSA 219:6 Russo-Finnish War, Doc 441:43 Scenery and Historic Sites 44 Seminar on War and Peace 45 Ski Patrol 46 Ski Touring Book, Correspondence, , Royalty Statements 48 Ski Touring Council 49 Sleds, Correspondence 50, Notes 51, Photos 52 Snow Fence 53 Snow Walkers Rendezvous, Snowcraft Book, Correspondence, ,, , MS, Part I 57, MS, PartII 58, MS, Part III Doc 442:1 Snowshoe article for Backpacker magazine 2 Snowshoe article for Yankee magazine Audio Tape M-38 Snowshoe Club. Northfield, Vt. Doc 442:3 Snowshoes -Babiche 4, Bindings 5, Clippings and reprints, Part I 6,, Part II 7, Conference, , Correspondence, ,, ,, ,, ,, , Heilman manual 14, History and distribution 15, Catalogs, Part I 16,, Part II 17,, Part III 18, Snowshoe Makers Correspondence, ,, 1980 Doc 442:20, Making Tracks [United States Snowshoe Association newsletter, 1977] 21,, ,, 1983

8 William E. Osgood Papers 8 23,, ,, ,, ,, , Notes 28, Photos 29, Snowshoe Racing Newsletter 30, Snowshoe Racing results 31, Snowshoe Racing rules 32, Book, 3rd edition 33, Union Canadienne des Raquetteurs 34, United States Snowshoe Association, Correspondence, ,,, , Miscellany 37 Trails 38 TransPost 39 Utopias 40 Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences 41 Victory Bog, Victory, Vt. 42 Wherwell, Hampshire, England 43 Winter/Spring Transition 44 Woodcraft William E. Osgood April 1998 rev. March 1999 rev. April 2000