Harry Harrison Caldwell papers
Scope and Contents
The papers of Harry Caldwell span the years 1941 to 1990, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1950 to 1985.
Included are materials reflecting his involvement with University of Idaho committees and the Geography Department, professional research and consulting activities, personal material including his work with Shhh, an organization for the hearing impaired, and a folder documenting the development of his cancer. The final series contains slides taken on trips throughout the Northwest and around the world.
Dates
- Creation: 1943-1990
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Harry Caldwell, professor of geography at the University of Idaho for 35 years, was born October 31, 1920, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received his B.A and Ph.D degrees from Clark University in 1941 and 1951, and his M.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1946. He married Shirley Grossman in 1946; they had two children. During World War II he served for three years in the Army Air Corps Weather Service in Alaska and Canada.
He taught briefly at Nebraska Wesleyan and Texas A & M before coming to the University of Idaho as the first full time geographer in 1948. While at the university he served on a number of committees, including Faculty Council, the Borah Foundation Committee, Library Committee and Budget Liaison Committee. He also helped initiate programs in urban studies, the Freshman experimental year, the University Year in Action, the In-Service Training Committee, the MAT Social Studies program, and the Black studies program.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities he served as a consultant for the Stanford Research Institute in Thailand, the U.S. Air Force, the Board of Regents, and was a planning consultant for the cities of Lewiston, Kamiah, Orofino, and Post Falls.
He was president of the University of Idaho American Association of University Professors, Sigma Xi, Northwest Science Association, and vice-president of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. He was also a charter member of the Idaho Academy of Science.
After suffering an almost total hearing loss in 1983 he decided to take an early retirement. He then became actively involved in helping hearing impaired individuals. He formed the Palouse area group of Shhh (Self Help for Hard of Hearing Persons, and at the Shhh national convention in 1989 was awarded the "Spirit of Shhh" award in recognition of his work. He also served on the Governor's Task Force for the Hearing Impaired and was instrumental in placing amplified listening devices in pay phones, governmental offices, and at the University of Idaho and Washington State University.
Caldwell died December 25, 1990 following a 5 year battle with cancer.
Extent
6 cubic feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Correspondence, reports, notes, minutes, and other papers relating to the Department of Geography at the University of Idaho, teaching, research in recreation and urban planning, consulting, and involvement with groups for the hearing impaired, particularly Self Help for Hard of Hearing Persons (SHHH). There is also a collection of slides taken on trips throughout the Northwest and around the world.
Arrangement
The papers were received over several years and were in no perceived order, therefore a series order was imposed during processing.
The first series reflects Caldwell's involvement in university affairs and contains minutes and reports of the various university committees on which he served, minutes of the meetings of the geography department as well as other departmental material, and notes used in his teaching.
The second series contains publications by Caldwell, reprints and photocopies of other articles concerning different aspects of geography, maps and research notes.
The professional activities series contains directories and convention programs for geographical societies, city planning activities in which he was involved as a consultant, and material relating to several workshops he gave.
The personal papers include correspondence, his official university curriculum vita and several self-evaluations, newspaper articles about him, theses of his graduate students, material concerning deafness, hearing devices, and a history of his hearing loss as well as a history of his cancer. The final series contains a group of slides taken on trips throughout the Northwest and around the world.
Most published material was removed from the collection and set aside for review; only items with notes were retained. Material in loose-leaf binders was removed to file folders, and the slides were transferred from metal storage boxes to archival slide storage pages. In this way the collection was reduced by 2 cubic feet.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers of Harry Caldwell were donated to the University of Idaho library by Dr. Caldwell and his wife Shirley between January 1987 and February 1991.
- Title
- Guide to the Harry Harrison Caldwell Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Erin Geslani in 2024.
- Date
- 1991;2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository