Vanez T. Wilson papers
Scope and Contents
Vanez T. Wilson's manuscript collection is divided into five series and documents his career with the Bear River Bird Refuge through correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, journals, reports, and calendars. The "Personal" series chronicles his life beginning as a young student and engineer. Included are correspondence with friends and acquaintances as well as papers he delivered and articles he authored. Wilson's personal papers also include awards and certificates from his career and involvement with community groups.
The series entitled “Bear River Bird Refuge” contains papers, articles, maps, etc. that pertain to the refuge but which were not authored by Mr. Wilson personally. The series also includes various newspaper and magazine articles which often feature Mr. Wilson in his role as refuge manager and the work he did there. “Field Diaries and Travel Records” provides a valuable look at Mr. Wilson’s daily work at the Refuge in his own words, from 1929 to 1957. The “Narrative Reports” series documents the conditions, progress, and affairs of the Refuge between 1938 and 1963. Finally, the volumes held within the “Calendars” section are similar to Mr. Wilson’s field diaries and travel records in that they record Mr. Wilson’s personal and professional business, though not in as much detail.
Dates
- Creation: 1918-2002
Language of Materials
Material in English
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Vanez T. Wilson papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.
Biographical Note
Vanez Theurer Wilson was born September 13, 1895, in Logan, Utah. From 1918 to 1919, Mr. Wilson served in the United States Army and fought in World War I. Mr. Wilson received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Utah State Agricultural College in 1920, with a specialty in irrigation. On July 14, 1921, he married Margaret Ann Budge in the Logan Latter-day Saints temple. Together they had five children, four of which survived to adulthood.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Mr. Wilson was employed in the private sector for a number of years. In 1927, he began his career with the Department of the Interior helping to survey and establish what was to become the Bear River Bird Refuge just outside of Brigham City, Utah. He was appointed to the position of refuge manager on April 1, 1937, a job which he held until his retirement on August 5, 1965.
Mr. Wilson was an active member of his community. He held many leadership positions in the Rotary Club (where he was president for a number of years), the American Legion, the Boy Scouts of America, the Chamber of Commerce, and his local LDS congregation, where he served in a number of ecclesiastical positions.
Extent
11 boxes (5 linear feet)
Abstract
Vanez T. Wilson's manuscript collection is divided into five series and documents his career with the Bear River Bird Refuge through correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, journals, reports, and calendars.
Arrangement
This collection is largely arranged by document type.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated to USU Special Collections and Archives by Vanez T. Wilson’s son, Vanez T. Wilson, Jr., in 2011.
Separated Materials
The photographs were separated from the manuscripts and housed in the Vanez T. Wilson Photograph Collection (PO468)
Processing Information
Processed in August of 2011.
Geographic
- Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (Utah)
- Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (Utah)--Maps.
- Great Salt Lake (Utah)
Topical
- City and Town Life
- Civil Procedure and Courts
- Clubs and Societies
- Colleges and Universities
- Correspondence
- Disease
- Environmental Conditions
- Fisheries and Wildlife
- Home and Family
- Images
- Maps
- Media and Communication
- Medicine and Health
- Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
- Public Works
- Science
- Scrapbooks
- Sports and Recreation
- Technical Plans and Drawings
- Technology
- Texts
- Water and Water Rights
- Wildlife managers--Utah--Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
- Wildlife refuges--Utah--Box Elder County.
- Title
- Guide to the Vanez T. Wilson papers 1918-2002
- Author
- Finding aid/Register created by Andrew Izatt
- Date
- ©2011
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English.
Revision Statements
- 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu