Gifford Pinchot Papers - American Memory - Library of Congress

1928 The Power Monopoly. Milford, Pa.
1930 To the South Seas. Philadelphia and Chicago: John C. Winston Co.
1936 Just Talking Fish. New York and Harrisburg: Telegraph Press
1947 Breaking New Ground. New York: Harcourt, Brace
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) span the years 1770 to 1972 with the bulk of material
dating from 1870 to 1946. The papers reflect Pinchot's activities and interests as a conservationist,
professor of forestry, chief forester in the Department of Agriculture, two-term governor of
Pennsylvania, labor arbitrator, and author. Additions to the papers were appended in 1985 and
1998. The collection consists of fourteen series: Diaries, Engagements and Appointment Books,
Notebooks, and Journals; Family Papers; General Correspondence; Subject File; Speech File;
Article File; Books and Miscellaneous Writings File; Political Campaign File; Governorship: First
Administration; Governorship: Second Administration; Special Collections; Miscellany; Addition I;
and Addition II.
Much of the collection is composed of correspondence files, while most of the remainder consists
of subject files. Records concerning Pinchot's second administration as governor of Pennsylvania
are voluminous. Although both the Family Papers and General Correspondence series are arranged
chronologically, only the latter is further organized alphabetically by correspondent within the
chronological sequence.
Gifford Pinchot's diaries span the years 1872-1946, and his forestry journals cover the period from
1889 to 1907. Diaries of his mother, Mary Eno Pinchot, and one of his father, James W. Pinchot,
are in the Family Papers. This series also contains his parents correspondence and two groups of
letters from William T. Sherman to Pinchot's father. Correspondence from Sherman to Pinchot's
mother is in Addition II. Correspondence of Pinchot family members is filed in the Family Papers
series, though letters exchanged between Gifford Pinchot and the members of his immediate family
are also located throughout the General Correspondence series.
The General Correspondence contains material on the formation of the National Progressive
Republican League, Pinchot's support of Theodore Roosevelt and Robert M. La Follette for
president, the Progressive Party, progressivism in Pennsylvania, and Pinchot's dispute with
Richard Ballinger, secretary of the interior, in 1909, which resulted in Pinchot's dismissal as chief
forester.
The Subject File includes material on many organizations, such as the American Farm Bureau
Federation, the American Federation of Labor, the American Legion, and the American Liberty
League. There is a considerable amount of material on forests and forestry, conservation, flood
control, and public utilities. Pinchot's interest in prohibition is also reflected in material contained
in this series.
Pinchot amassed material on many public figures, including William Edgar Borah, Louis Dembitz
Brandeis, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, John Charles Frémont, and
William Randolph Hearst, as well as various presidents and cabinet members. He kept abundant
notes on his trip to the South Seas in 1935, as evidenced in his diaries, and on a trip to Russia in
1902, reflected in the Subject File series. The Subject File also contains material revealing
Pinchot's deep interest in the Church of God and his service on the Commission for Relief in
Belgium, 1914-1915.
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