February 13, 2012 Talking Open Space on Boise Community Radio
“Boise Yesterday and Today,” Elemental Idaho on Boise Community Radio
A one-hour radio program on the history of the Boise Foothills and the Boise River Greenbelt, featuring Jennifer Stevens, Anne Hausrath, Judy Ouderkirk, and Elaine Clegg.
Dec. 12, 2011 So You Love History?
I was recently asked to speak at a Rotary meeting about the history of the Boise Foothills and the city’s Greenbelt and River preservation. The meeting was a treat to attend. I participated in the Pledge of Allegiance (not sure the last time I recited that!), and the singing of My Country Tis’ of Thee. All of it brought back memories and a bit of nostalgia for my childhood. We met in the beautiful Crystal Ballroom at the Hoff Building, an art deco building in downtown Boise. The Hoff Building The most interesting and exciting event at the meeting was Rotary’s “History Minute,” where one member interviewed another. The interviewee, in this case, was a woman whose family had a long history in Boise. The answers she gave to the questions gave the 80+ people in the room a glimpse of Idaho’s development history, and I appreciated the respect this organization gave to our ties to the past. Thanks to Rotary for keeping people engaged in their communities and in history!
I also was recently asked to write a column for the newsletter of the Coordinating Council for Women in History. The column focuses on what a person can do with a degree in History, and why the subject still matters in our modern lives. As I tell my students, I think it’s critical to follow your passion and to realize along the way that you might have to get creative to make it work. But to pursue something that doesn’t interest you simply because there’s a market for it has never made a lot of sense to me. Happy reading, and Happy Holidays!
What Can I Do With a Ph.D. In History?
10/06/2011 Visionaries in Boise History
My involvement in the Boise civic community and knowledge of the city’s history sometimes brings me welcome invitations to participate in things that I really love. Last week, I was asked by the Boise Chamber of Commerce to conduct a tour for their 2013 Leadership Boise class, a program from which I graduated in 2005. Leadership Boise takes existing and future leaders and spends two years teaching them about Boise and its inner workings. Throughout the first year, the class meets once a month to tour facilities and hear experts talk about subjects such as business, education, politics, and infrastructure. The group’s focus for the day in which I participated was Boise’s quality of life, and I was asked to give two 1-hour tours focused on the history of the Greenbelt, Boise parks, and the Boise foothills.
National magazines have frequently written about Boise over the past 8-10 years, praising its entrepreneurial culture and its outdoor accessibility, including biking and hiking trails, 43 miles of riverside greenbelt, ample park space, and the surprisingly clean (yet urban) Boise River. It is important to remember that these things didn’t just happen spontaneously. By the middle of the 20th Century, Boise was on a path of least resistance that included polluting rivers and overbuilding in the foothills. But starting in the 1960s, elected and non-elected leaders in the larger Boise community offered a different vision for what this valley could be for its residents, and the size and relative youth of our town meant that the town’s political and business structures were (and remain) accessible to just about anyone. Many people who had a vision for Boise were able to achieve it in that supportive civic environment. For example, a history of successful entrepreneurship in Boise produced a philanthropic legacy in turn, particularly visible in Boise’s “string of pearls” parks along the Boise river named for influential women in Boise’s history, including: Julia Davis, whose husband represented pioneer agricultural success; Ann Morrison, whose husband founded Morrison Knudsen which became the preeminent dam builder in the West; and Kathryn Albertson, whose husband started the Albertson’s grocery chain.
In this relatively open community with no history of Tammany Hall-like graft and corruption, average citizens like Bill Onweiler, who spearheaded the Greenbelt idea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dskPRdi2k9I), ran successfully for City Council in the late 1960s on a platform of open space and parks. Others like Ward Parkinson (co-founder of Micron) worked from inside the business community to ensure that private landowners along the Boise River understood the vision and provided easements to the City. Still others like Anne Hausrath, who emigrated to Boise from the eastern seaboard, aimed to protect the City’s foothills from overdevelopment in the 1980s. The openness and accessibility of the City has caused citizens to feel protective of what they have; people here feel fierce pride over what the town has done for them and feel a need for continued improvement and preservation.
Talking to new and future leaders in the community gave me the opportunity to share the vision and history of Boise’s trailblazers, conveying that the stories of great places are written by visionaries, and that there’s usually a long list of them. I hope that this class of Leadership Boise, as the ones that have come before it, continue to advance a vision for our community that will ensure its special qualities remain and grow for generations to come.
08/28/2011 Dr. Stevens Appointed to State Historical Records Advisory Board
Idaho Governor Butch Otter recently named SHRA’s Dr. Jennifer Stevens to the Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board.
The mission of the fifteen-member Board, which is funded in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), is to advocate for the creation, preservation, dissemination and use of information that accurately chronicles the people and institutions of Idaho, both public and private.
The Board meets four times a year to review new NHPRC grant applications and to coordinate statewide historical records concerns.
For more information on the Idaho State Records Advisory Board, please visit: http://history.idaho.gov/shrab.html
Dr. Stevens’s appointment runs through October 2013.
8/11/2011 Local Water Organizations Hosting October 18 Conference on Boise River
Boise-area residents value and love the Boise River for its proximity to downtown, the recreational opportunities it offers, and the water it provides for local farmers. But the Boise River is not the same river it once was. The meandering series of shallow channels that criss-crossed the valley floor in the late 19th century has been replaced with a far more defined river channel bordered by residential and other urban uses. The Boise River now receives storm run-off containing pollutants which people in the 1890s could not have imagined. The local irrigation districts have to contend with keeping the water clean in their canals, as well, faced with runoff from the fertilizers used on their members’ fields. And, the specter of climate change has rendered all users uncertain of their water supply’s future. This messy set of concerns only begins to describe the complex web of issues related to Boise River management. (If you examine this historic video narrated by former Boise City Council member Bill Onweiler you will get a sense of the River’s history and its significance to the City of Boise 1970: The Boise River Greenbelt.)
To encourage conversation and collaboration, a group of local organizations is hosting a series of Brown Bag lunches leading up to their October 18th conference on private and public opportunities for ecosystem restoration on the Lower Boise River. SHRA is pleased to be a sponsor of these programs.
The Lower Boise River was the subject of a recent Feasibility Study by the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Feasibility Study was aimed in part at evaluating potential sites for additional water storage infrastructure – i.e. dams. Now, the group of local water leaders hosting this program series are going to talk about other opportunities which the river presents. Participants include members of the non-profit community such as Idaho Rivers United, as well as members of the irrigation and scientist communities. The series presents the opportunity for the myriad people and groups that use the Boise River to talk about and envision its future. Please plan to come to the Brown Bag lunches and especially the event on October 18, which will feature a keynote address by Boise State University president Bob Kustra.
Click here for details on the Brown Bag Lunch series: Idaho Rivers United brownbagflyer
Click here for information on the October 18 Vision to Reality workshop (more…)
7/26/2011 The Evolving Historical Profession
The NY Times printed an article today (7/26/2011) about how Geographic Information Systems have helped historians “see” the past in more unique and arguably more accurate ways.
Although the article does not specifically discuss SHRA’s specialty – environmental history — the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, represents a major leap forward in the search for historical accuracy in this field. SHRA’s clients often utilize GIS consultants to provide visual representations of the area in question. Their maps are incredibly helpful to our historians when reading primary sources such as General Land Office field notes and survey plats or even simple historical maps. GIS maps help us to understand historical changes in stream beds, watercourses, and any other physical changes in the land such as tree coverage or accumulation of mining waste. We have worked with many of these GIS firms over the past eight or so years to create our own maps, as well, showing changes in land ownership over time, road locations and changes over time, and any other number of important historical events. GIS is an incredible tool in legal settings where visual representation can help tell a story to opposing lawyers or to a judge who may have stacks of paper to read but for whom “a picture tells a thousand words.” That one perfect map — done in consultation with a GIS expert – can make your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Stevens Historical Research Associates (SHRA)?
SHRA is a full-service historical research firm with special expertise in land use and water history in relation to environmental disputes. Our historians and researchers conduct primary research to illuminate and analyze a wide range of historical and legal issues for corporate and government clients, as well as individuals. Our clients often request analysis and full reports, although we can also provide basic document retrieval. We begin with the collection of archival material and provide critical interpretation of that material in our reports. We also provide expert witness services for our clients when needed. SHRA can meet all of your historical research needs.
Can’t I do historical research on my own? Isn’t everything on the internet now?
Thorough and professional archival research is the skill of trained historians. Often, the documents we uncover can mean the difference between winning and losing a case. When it comes to litigating a dispute with historical components, there are often hundreds of documents out there that are extremely useful for proving your case, but that are only available through archival research.
Our firm conducts the great majority of research in archives where the materials are not now and likely will never be available electronically. Although some of the collections and archives we use do have indices available on-line, the documents themselves are stored in special archival facilities. Our historians have more than 25 years of collective experience doing historical research, and we are accustomed to communications with archivists that result in finding the materials that we need. We often are able to locate records and sources that non-historians are unaware exist and have not yet been digitized.
Most importantly, SHRA provides seamless professional examination and interpretation of all available primary research results to ensure that you have the entire picture presented to you in an easily understandable and usable product that is tailored to your specific needs.
What is “primary research”?
Primary research involves locating, examining and interpreting original source materials. From historic government records (land grants, survey maps, etc.) to private, corporate and public materials (correspondence, reports, journals, contracts, etc.), we search for all relevant documentation to ensure that no stone is left unturned. From those varied sources, we abstract information germane to your inquiry and offer professional analysis of what the historic records show. Historians are professionally trained to examine human motivation, which means that we can offer expert opinions about original intent of legislation, contracts, and other events.
Where does SHRA do its research?
Although our offices are located in Boise, Idaho, SHRA routinely conducts research in archives across the country, including in Washington, D.C. and throughout the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest. We have special expertise in the workings and contents of the National Archives, as well as state archives, historic newspapers, municipal collections, and academic and corporate archives, among many other sources. SHRA also conducts field visits to inspect physical spaces or geographic areas when that is the best way to get the information we are seeking.
Does SHRA have specific areas of expertise or interest?
In general terms, SHRA specializes in uncovering information about environmental history in relation to:
- environmental liability under CERCLA (Superfund), RCRA, and the Clean Air and Water Acts;
- access issues, such as road and ditch validations under the 1866 Mining Law;
- water rights, including reserved rights, surface and ground water development, irrigation districts, and Reclamation and Carey Act projects;
- mining history, including gold, silver, phosphate, and other minerals and metals of historic importance in the West.
We have extensive experience in researching these matters. Please visit our “Areas of Expertise” tab on our home page.
The matter I need assistance with is sensitive. What are your disclosure practices?
Each of our contractors and researchers signs a confidentiality agreement with SHRA. Your investigatory requests will not be discussed outside of our offices or with a third party. In addition, any research analysis or findings that we provide in response to your contract will not be shared without your express consent. Because a large portion of our work is in support of pending litigation, we are familiar and comply with the requirements of attorneys and established legal procedure in the provision of our services.
How does SHRA take on new clients? What are the “next steps”?
If you are interested in discussing your specific historical research needs, we would be pleased to assist you. The first step is contacting SHRA, either by phone at 208-850-1553 or through our contact page. After an initial consultation, usually by phone, we will assess your needs and provide you with a written proposal that covers the scope, time and estimated cost for project completion. Once the proposal has been agreed to and signed by both parties, our research will begin. We look forward to hearing from you!
12/10/2010 SHRA in The Advocate
SHRA client Moffatt Thomas recently used the information in a report prepared by our firm for an article in the Idaho Bar Association’s newsletter. Attorney Scott Campbell cited the SHRA report in his article, “Irrigation Water Drainage Development in the Treasure Valley.” History of Irrigation and Drainage in the Treasure Valley
The report, entitled, A History of The Pioneer Irrigation District, 1884-1938, An Initial Report, was written for the purposes of litigation between Pioneer and the City of Caldwell. We conducted research in the National Archives in Denver to obtain much of the information on which this report was based. The Denver (Rocky Mountain) branch of the National Archives holds the records of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. We also did research locally at both the Idaho State Archives and various irrigation districts in the valley.
The history of Pioneer Irrigation District represents the history of irrigation and settlement in the West during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The pioneers who settled the lands were brave souls who had visions of bounty where only sagebrush and rattlesnakes existed. The story of Pioneer Irrigation District tells us of the entrepreneurs that created many of the towns in the western valley and who were almost single-handedly responsible for encouraging the migration. It tells us of the coming of the railroad, and how critical the siting of the railroad was to the development of the West. It tells us of the manipulation of resources to support human life, and the ingenuity of those who came.
Pioneer Irrigation District and Moffatt Thomas continue to be clients of SHRA.
11/12/2010 County Records and Haunted Hotels
I had occasion to be in Baker City, Oregon last week on a research trip. The city itself has made a concerted effort to preserve its historic architecture, and the small downtown is charming. City Hall is a beautiful turn-of-the-century (20th) quintessential stone hall with a clock tower, and there are many National Register plaques gracing other buildings, as well. I even was treated to staying at the 100+ year old Geiser Grand Hotel, which is rumored to be haunted. Fortunately I am not able to confirm that point one way or the other…
What really struck me during my time in Baker, however, was how incredibly well-preserved the Baker County records were. My colleagues and I do a lot of historic research in County Courthouses across the West. County records are vitally important to environmental research in the West. An incredible amount of stuff happened at the county level in the 19th century. Mining claims were filed at the county, water claims were filed at the county, roads were built with county money, and many, many other things. But unfortunately, many states have done a poor job at preserving these records. Oregon is an outstanding exception to the rule.
I originally discovered the wealth of county material through the Oregon State Archives web site, which does a fine job of making the records searchable. I then discovered that much of the archival material was actually kept at the county courthouses around the state instead of at the State Archives in Salem. That discouraged me because of my long experience in other courthouses which are disorganized, unkempt, and easily compromised. That was until I actually arrived at the Baker County Courthouse. The two vaults where the records were kept were immaculate and incredibly well-organized. I had a finding aid from a few years back, but when I arrived I was told that the Oregon State Archives staff had just been there to do an audit, and that there was an updated finding aid. What state spends money on these things anymore? None I had been to recently, that’s for sure! But Oregon has done its citizens a huge favor by keeping these records accessible and easily searchable. Having these records so accessible to researchers like me and other SHRA historians will go a long way toward helping judges and lawyers sort out the difficult answers that lie in the past, and I firmly believe that it will save the state a great deal of money in the long run. So hats off to Oregon for keeping a budget alive for archives in these difficult times! I look forward to going back and examining in more detail the county surveyor books, court records, and water rights filings and knowing exactly where to find it all!