MC 00020 Guide to the Robert W. Graeber Papers, 1911-1949

• MC 00020 Series 1. Demonstration Reports
• MC 00020 Series 2. Weekly and Monthly Demonstration Reports
• MC 00020 Series 3. Circular Letters
• MC 00020 Series 4. Writings of Graeber
• MC 00020 Series 5. News Clippings
• MC 00020 Series 6. Photographs

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Creator

Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967

Quantity

3.5 Linear feet 7 archival boxes

General Physical Description note

9 archival boxes

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff .

Language

English

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Robert Walter Graeber, May 1967 (Accession no. 1967-0003).

Processing

Processed by: Greta E. Reisel; machine-readable finding aid created by: Nancy J. Kaiser and Katherine M. Wisser

Scope and Content Note

Papers relate to Robert Walter Graeber's work, 1911-1912, as a dairy extension specialist in Pitt County, North Carolina, as a county agricultural agent in Mecklenburg, 1913-1917, and Iredell, 1920-1925, counties, North Carolina, and his tenure, 1925-1949, as the state's extension forester. The first series consists of Demonstration Reports, 1926-1942; the second series details Weekly and Monthly Field Reports, 1926-1949; the third series, Circular Letters, 1932-1946, circulated from the Forestry Extension located in Raleigh to county agents and residents of North Carolina; the fourth series, Writings of Graeber, 1925-1949 and undated, includes typed news articles and 4-H handbooks written by Graeber and his staff, as well as a five-page research proposal written by Graeber, probably when he was a student in North Carolina State College's forestry program from 1929 to 1930; the fifth series, News Clippings, 1921-1947, compiles articles by Graeber and others, pertaining to agricultural and forestry topics in the state; the sixth series, Photographs, circa 1911-1938 and undated, includes photographs and negatives taken by Graeber and by the United States Forest Service of forestry demonstrations, forests, and rural agricultural groups in North Carolina. Many photographs were taken by United States Forest Service photographer W. R. Mattoon.

There are no personal papers in this collection.

The researcher may be interested in cross-referencing the various series in this collection to gain a fuller and more detailed understanding of Graeber's work in North Carolina. For example, weekly reports reveal Graeber's daily activities, including travel around the state for demonstrations, the clippings from those years show community announcement and reaction, and the photographs visually display what Graeber was demonstrating and with whom he spoke. Unfortunately, many of the photographs do not provide individual names of those shown.

The collection is arranged in accordance with Graeber's original filing order. Therefore, within certain series and folders, some items are organized in reverse chronological order. Additionally, Graeber often filed his documents in year groupings that overlap into the next year, even if only one year is indicated in the folder title. It may be necessary, then, for the researcher to check files on either side of the target year to see all of the documents from this year. Some photographs were originally mounted on cardboard with a typed label on the back, indicating the photo's description, date, photographer, and number. These photographs have been removed from their backings, the typed information reformatted onto acid-free paper, and filed with the photo.

Biographical Note

Robert Walter Graeber was born January 1, 1888, in Mount Vernon, Rowan County, North Carolina. He attended Concord Public School and moved to Raleigh in 1907 to study at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University). He graduated from A & College in 1911, with a B.S. in agriculture and again, in 1930, with a B.S. in Forestry (but the name of the institution had in 1917 been changed to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering).

From 1911 to 1912, Graeber worked for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture as a dairy extension specialist and as a manager of Joyner Farms (private) in Pitt County. In 1913, he became a county agricultural agent in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where he started North Carolina's first Boys' Pig Club and held the state's first farm tour. He was the first North Carolina State College graduate to be employed as a full-time extension agent. After approximately four years as Mecklenburg's county agent, Graeber accepted a position in 1917 as county agricultural agent with Clemson College in South Carolina, and in that state's Lancaster County and Lee County. He returned to North Carolina, however, at the beginning of 1920, to serve as aounty agricultural agent in Iredell County until 1925. Major fertilizer companies credit Graeber with establishing the use of high-analysis fertilizer in the state as a result of a 1920-1921 campaign he conducted in Iredell County. During this time in Iredell County, Graeber also began a serious interest in forest management.

On December 1, 1925, Graeber became North Carolina's only extension forester. During his early years in this position, Graeber's efforts to educate North Carolinians about forest management stimulated the North Carolina Forestry Association to prompt the development of a four-year forestry curriculum at North Carolina State College in Raleigh. The Department of Forestry opened on September 19, 1929, and its first class of seventeen, including Graeber, graduated in 1930.

During his tenure as extension forester, the one-man extension program developed into a known and respected forestry program with a staff of eight, including the extension forester, by the time Graeber retired in 1949. Even though not a forester when hired, Graeber's enthusiasm and commitment for developing North Carolina's two fundamental resources of soil and forests buoyed the program as it grew into a recognized service to the state.

Graeber belonged to the Society of American Foresters, the American Forestry Association, the North Carolina Forestry Association, the Forest Farmers Association, Epsilon Sigma Phi (Extension Service Veterans), the Grange and Farm Bureau, and the Raleigh Executives Club. Graeber was active in the Lutheran Church and served as chairman of the council from 1946 to 1948. At the time of his retirement, Graeber resided in Raleigh and owned about 500 acres of woodland in Wake County and Guilford County, North Carolina.

Graeber was married to Margaret Emma Shepard of Guilford County, North Carolina. He died in Raleigh on July 19, 1967.

Controlled Terms

1. 4-H clubs--North Carolina--History
2. Agricultural extension work--North Carolina--History
3. Agricultural extension workers--North Carolina--History
4. Agroforestry extension--North Carolina--History
5. Clippings
6. County agricultural agents--North Carolina--History
7. Forest landscape management--North Carolina--History
8. Forest management--Citizen participation
9. Forest management--North Carolina--History
10. Forest thinning--North Carolina--History
11. Forestry extension--North Carolina--History
12. Forests and forestry--North Carolina--History
13. Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967
14. Iredell County (N.C.)--Rural conditions--20th century
15. Journalism, Forestry--North Carolina
16. Letters (correspondence)
17. Mattoon, Wilbur R. (Wilbur Reed), 1875-1941
18. Mecklenburg County (N.C.)--Rural conditions--20th century
19. North Carolina State College. School of Forestry.
20. North Carolina State University. Extension Forest Resources Dept.--History.
21. Photographs
22. Pitt County (N.C.)--Rural conditions--20th century
23. Timber--North Carolina--History
24. Tree farms--North Carolina--History
25. Woodlots--North Carolina--History

Access to Collection

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.

For more information contact us via mail, phone, fax, or our web form.

Mail

Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111

Telephone

(919) 515-2273

Fax

(919) 513-1787

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert W. Graeber Papers, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Access to Collection

The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.