This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice.
News clippings, radio talks, articles, correspondence, field reports, and photographs relating to Robert Walter Graeber's thirty-two years spent in service of the North Carolina Agricultural Extension program. As head of the Forestry Extension, he influenced the founding of the North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) Forestry Department in 1929. Of major interest in this collection are Graeber's weekly field reports on several counties in North Carolina. These reports reflect Graeber's daily activities from 1926 to 1939. Other reports meticulously document plots of timber within several counties over the same period. Age, growth, volume, number, and price of standing trees represent the data gathered.
R. W. (Robert Walter) Graeber was a pioneer of North Carolina’s forestry extension service and a leader of the North Carolina Forestry Association for several decades. A graduate of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (which later became North Carolina State University), Graeber was appointed farm forestry specialist (or state extension forester) in 1925, specializing in the thinning and management of timberlands. He served in this role until his retirement in 1950. As the state extension forester he led hundreds of forestry demonstrations across North Carolina for farmers and sawmill operators. Graeber instructed them in the harvesting, timber scaling, planting and marketing of trees and lumber products. For those that Graber could not teach in person, he wrote extension circulars and numerous newspaper articles that were circulated nationwide. Graeber also was instrumental in establishing the Department of Forestry at North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University) in 1929.
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 & M 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 county 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 Graeber's 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.
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.
The collection is organized into six series:
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries’ “Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain,” the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy’s "Is It Protected by Copyright?," and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.
[Identification of item], Robert W. Graeber Papers, MC 00020, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Related Materials
Gift of Robert Walter Graeber, May 1967 (Accession no. 1967-0003).
Processed by: Greta E. Reisel; machine-readable finding aid created by: Nancy J. Kaiser and Katherine M. Wisser, 2001; finding aid updated by Brian Dietz and Molly Foley, 2015 September.
The collection is organized into six principal series:
These typed reports document the demonstrations Graeber gave in individual North Carolina counties about Farm Forest Management. He was primarily concerned with demonstrating thinning of Loblolly, Shortleaf, and Virginia Pines to farmers, but also frequently demonstrated timber stand improvement. The reports record the type of demonstration performed, the county and cooperating County Agent, the owner of the timber, type of soil ("character of the site"), purpose of the demonstration, data on the demonstration, reports from the owner about his wood harvest, including monetary values, specifics of the standing crop, and the farmer's income from wood harvest. Occasionally, Graeber worked with local 4-H clubs in giving his demonstrations, and these occasions are noted in the reports.
Reports are arranged in chronological order.
Weekly reports from Graeber to the Chief and Director of the Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics entitled, "Specialist's Weekly Report." This series contains Graeber's copies of the triplicate forms, and identifies the location and description of the work Graeber performed each day of the week, including number of letters written, office consultations, and miles traveled by automobile and railroad. The "General Remarks" sections of these reports allowed Graeber to elaborate on his activities, and he often included anecdotes and descriptions of his encounters with individual farmers he met while performing forestry demonstrations. In 1934 Graeber also began to file a more generalized monthly report, called the "Monthly Certificate of Service," which basically summarized his weekly reports.
The monthly reports are arranged at the end of the weekly reports, similar to Graeber's filing system. Occasionally, Graeber also filed his annual report drafts with these weekly and monthly reports.
Reports are arranged in chronological order.
Circular letters and informational materials sent by Graeber, as the state's Extension Forester, to County Agents about current forest topics in order to stimulate forestry activities in the counties. These typed letters and materials address forest fires, timber income, tree plantings, seedlings, deforestation, 4-H club involvement in forestry practices, and timber uses in the second world war effort. Topics are similar to those among other topics often reflected in Graeber's news articles and clippings.
Circular letters are arranged in chronological order.
Writings by Graeber include news articles, 1925-1949, and a research proposal probably written in 1929 or 1930.
Typed news articles, 1925-1949, by Graeber that were submitted to North Carolina, Southern, and national publications, including editor Clarence Poe's The Progressive Farmer, editor F. H. Jeter's The Southern Planter, The Southern Lumberman (Tennessee), The Southern Lumber Journal (Florida), and The American Lumberman (Chicago, Illinois). Topics typically addressed the forests of specific North Carolina counties, 4-H club involvement in forestry activities, forestry meetings, and special forestry events in North Carolina.
The second subseries is Graeber's "Outline of Study to be made by R. W. Graeber as a Graduate Student" for Forestry 402, "Problems in Research," [1929-1930?]. This study of the growth "of Even-Aged Shortleaf Pine in Relation of Soil Type and Stand Density to Determine Age or Period at which Trimming (artificial) should Begin" probably was submitted during Graeber's Forestry study at North Carolina State College from 1929 to 1930, when he graduated with a B.S. in Forestry.
Writings are arranged in two subseries: News Articles and Research Proposal.
Clippings of articles by Graeber and others, pertaining to agricultural and forestry topics in North Carolina.
News clippings are arranged in chronological order.
This series consists of negatives and photographs from Graeber's work as a dairy extension specialist in Pitt County, a county agricultural agent in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, and during his tenure as extension forester. From circa 1913 to circa 1917, photographs record the Mecklenburg County Pig and Poultry clubs. The 1920 to 1925 negatives and photographs depict Graeber's activities in Iredell County, North Carolina, particularly bee-keeping demonstrations, cattle and chicken shows, damaged corn fields, and peach trees. The photographs from 1926 to 1938 depict North Carolina forests and forestry demonstrations. Many of these photographs were taken by United States Forest Service photographer, W. R. Mattoon. A folder of written materials contains letters or other identifying keys that were received with photographs.
Photographs are arranged in chronological order.
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice.
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[Identification of item], Robert W. Graeber Papers, MC 00020, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries’ “Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain,” the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy’s "Is It Protected by Copyright?," and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.