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Charles R. Batten papers

 Collection
Identifier: UUS_COLL MSS 426

Scope and Contents

This collection is divided into three main categories. The first contains Charles Batten’s written work, which includes numerous articles relating to conservation and forestry. This section contains reports from his schooling at Idaho State University and forestry research from his employment with Potlatch Forest, Inc. and the Chicago and North Western Railway System. Much of Batten’s written work is organized topically. Additional items in this section include a run of his Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph column, “Battin’ Around,” as well as Batten’s autobiography.

The second section, called “Charles and Barbara Batten’s Correspondence and Personal Files,” contains letters to and from numerous relatives and family friends. Most of this material consists of letters from Charles and Barbara Batten’s children: Andrea Stalker (who later divorced and remarried Lemuel Oehrtman), Al Batten, and David Batten. There are also many letters from Judy Watkins-Bentley, Bobby’s sister. This section also contains Barbara Batten’s correspondence with pen pals from all over the world, her scrapbooks and yearbooks, and Charles’ journals dating from 1978 to 1988.

Charles Batten was an avid learner and researcher and this is evident in the contents of this collection. The final section contains research materials and books about topics in which Charles was interested and researched. As in the first section of this collection, these materials are loosely grouped into categories such as Forestry, Conservation, History, Politics, and others.

Dates

  • 1925-2010

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 Charles R. Batten papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Biographical Note

Charles R. Batten was born on September 18, 1922 and raised on a farm in Adel, Iowa. He volunteered for the United States Navy during World War II, serving on the PCE 885, a battleship in the Southern Pacific. He married Barbara Watkins, whom he refers to as “Bobby,” on September 14, 1944.

Following the war Charles and his wife worked for the Forest Service in Idaho operating a firefinder, a device used to spot forest fires. In 1946, he found a job in a planing mill belonging to Potlatch Forests, Inc., located in Potlatch, Idaho. He enrolled at the University of Idaho the following year and in 1950 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in forestry and was soon hired by the forestry section of the Chicago and North Western Railway System in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 1960, Batten began work for American Forest Products Industries, Inc., where he was employed in the public relations division. There, he worked to educate the public about the logging to create a favorable image of the industry. Beginning in the early 1970s, Batten wrote a weekly column for the Gazette Telegraph in Colorado Springs, which reflected libertarian ideals on the use of land and natural resources. In 1973 was appointed Director of Communications for the California Forest Protective Association in Sacramento, California. He moved to Logan, Utah in 1994, where he continued to write and became involved in organizations like the Cache Soil Conservation District and Blacksmith Fork Soil Conservation District. He passed away in Grand Junction, Colorado on April 1, 2015.

Extent

80 boxes (40 feet)

Abstract

This collection consists of research files, correspondence, and written works from Charles Batten. Batten worked for several timber companies and did some freelance writing from his libertarian, free market perspective.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into three main categories by document type: Charles Batten's Writings, containing articles and writings written by Charles Batten, Charles and Barbara Batten's Correspondence and Personal Files, and Charles Batten's Research, holding a variety of documents related to Batten's interests and research topics.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to USU Special Collections and Archives between 1997 and 1998 by Charles R. Batten.

Related Materials

Charles Batten Photograph Collection, P0473

Further materials, particularly related to Charles R. Batten’s work as Director of Communications for California Forest Protective Association, can be found at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bibliography

  • Batten, Charles. Beware! The Legislature is in Session: The Life and Times of Charles R. Batten, 1997.

Processing Information

Processed in October of 2014

Title
Guide to the Charles R. Batten papers 1925-2010
Author
Finding aid/Register created by Joanna Dobrowolska and Clint Pumphrey
Date
©2014
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

Contact:
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)