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Walter H. Gardner papers, 1941-1947

Overview of the Collection

Title
Walter H. Gardner papers
Dates
1941-1947 (inclusive)
Quantity
5 boxes, (2 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 57
Summary
Reports of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey regarding documentation of effects of aerial bombardment of cities and industrial sites, chiefly in Japan during World War II. Manuals demonstrating the operation and maintenance of pilotless aircraft, type JB-2 "buzz" bombs. Reports and memoranda regarding the construction of a special hangar at Eglin Field, Florida, for testing aircraft under controlled climatic conditions.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to public research.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
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Biographical Note

Walter H. Gardner was born in Logan, Utah, in the 1910s. After graduating from the common schools of the area, Gardner studied soil physics at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and graduated in 1939 with a BS. With the advent of World War II, Gardner served as a member of the Army Air Forces Corporation, eventually working for the US Military in Japan studying the general effects of war on the soil and the radioactive contamination of soil near Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After completing his work in the Pacific, Gardner returned to Utah and continued his studies. In 1948 he received his MS and in 1950 his PhD in physics. Thereafter, Gardner taught at numerous universities in the West.

Agronomy News, in August of 1984, published the following profile of Gardner:

WALTER H. GARDNER, professor emeritus, Washington State University, assumed the office of president of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Gardner is also presently serving as past president of the Soil Science Society of America. He is widely known for his research and writing in soil physics and soil-water-plant relations. His time-lapse motion picture, "Water Movement in Soil," is used worldwide as a teaching aid. (p.5)

When Gardner retired in the 1980s, he returned to Logan where he has since resided.

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Content Description

This five-box collection contains nearly sixty rare publications about World War II and various government reports relative to US government projects after of war. Some of the publications in this collection are connected to Gardner's research. These publications consist of United States Strategic Bombing Survey reports published during 1944-1947. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey organization was established in 1944 by the Secretary of War and examined and amassed statistical and documentary material on World War II bombing sites in Germany and Japan. Most of the reports in this collection concern the effects of the United States' bombardment of cities and industrial sites in Japan, containing numerous graphic photographs and illustrations. These reports yield detailed information on the effects of bombing raids on the Japanese civilian population, economy, electrical power structure, food supply, and other similar topics.

Box 1 primarily contains reports and memoranda regarding the construction of a special hangar at Eglin Field, Florida, for testing aircraft under controlled climatic conditions. This box also contains a government publication entitled Guide to Japan, and a publication on a thermal spring in Japan, published partly in Japanese.

Boxes 2-5 contain nearly sixty publications by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey organization. Booklets 1 and 2 concern the European Theater, but the remaining 57 publications concern the war in the Pacific. These booklets have been organized by the division that conducted the bombing surveys. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey has also been abbreviated as USSBS.

Following the inventory of this collection, a reference index of subjects and locations has been provided for the aid of researchers.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Walter H. Gardner papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.

Preferred Citation

Walter H. Gardner papers, 1941-1947. (COLL MSS 57). Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives Department.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in numeric order according to box and folder or book number.

Acquisition Information

The materials in this collection were donated by Walter H. Gardner in two batches, one in 1980 and one in 2004.

Related Materials

Western Society of Soil Science records COLL MSS 267

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Atomic bomb--Japan--Blast effect.
  • Bombing, Aerial--Japan.
  • V-1 bomb.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--Japan.

Geographical Names

  • Eglin Air Force Base (Fla.)--History.
  • Hakodate-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Hiroshima-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Kobe-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Nagasaki-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Nagoya-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Osaka (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945.
  • Tokyo (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1944-1945.

Finding aid created by Special Collections and Archives.
2008

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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