Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment traces its beginnings to the founding of the Duke School of Forestry in 1938. In the 1990s two other entities, the Duke Marine Laboratory and the Duke Department of Geology, were combined with Forestry to form the Nicholas School. The Records of Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, 1916-ongoing, contain materials created from the school's inception as the Duke School of Forestry (1938) through all its subsequent names: the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the School of the Environment, and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The collection also includes material about the history of Duke Forest and its use as a teaching and research facility. The earliest materials comprise the papers of Clarence F. Korstian, first director of the Forest and first dean of the School, including his correspondence, early reports about the Forest and the School, and his involvement in the Ecological Society of America, the North Carolina Forestry Association, and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. The bulk of the collection consists of the School's general administrative records, including annual reports, admissions records, enrollment statistics, information on degrees granted, faculty history and meetings, and surveys and meetings of the School's alumni. Visual materials include posters, color and black-and-white photographs, negatives, slides, and digital photographs that document the School of Forestry and the Duke Marine Laboratory.
The Records of Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment contain materials created during the school's entire history, from its founding as the Duke School of Forestry, in 1938, through all its subsequent names: the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the School of the Environment, and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The collection also includes materials about the closely-related Duke Forest, especially its history and the School's management and use of it as a teaching and research facility. The earliest materials here comprise the papers of Clarence F. Korstian, first director of the Forest and first dean of the School; his files include his personal correspondence, early reports about the Forest and the School, and material about several professional organizations, particularly the Ecological Society of America, the North Carolina Forestry Association, and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. Following Korstian's papers, the bulk of the collection consists of the School's general administrative records, including all the following: annual reports, admissions records, enrollment statistics, and information on degrees granted; faculty history, curricula, and meetings; and extensive data on the School's alumni, especially alumni surveys and newsletters and meetings of the Alumni Association. The administrative records are supplemented by extensive visual materials; these contain a small selection of posters and other promotional materials about the School, but primarily consist of approximately 5000 color and black-and-white photographs, negatives, slides, and digital photographs that document a wide variety of faculty and student history and activities at both the School of Forestry and the Duke Marine Laboratory. Arranged in order by accession number, with several small, related accessions merged into single series.
