192,228 research outputs found
Jabez Norton to James C. Furman
No full textA circular from Jabez Norton to James C. Furman on behalf of T. Goldsmith with a one page letter of explanation and enelope
Letter from William Redfield to Heman Norton, 5 September 1827
No full textWilliam Redfield writes from New York City to introduce Alden Partridge and his cadets, who are on a pedestrian excursion to Niagara Falls, to Heman Norton in Rochester, New York.Transcription by Raymond Bouchard. Transcriptions may be subject to error
Margaret C. Norton Reconsidered
No full textMargaret C. Norton (1891-1984) served as the first state archivist of Illinois (1922-1957). As a founding member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), she served as its first vice president, as a council member, as president, and as editor of American Archivist. The common perception has been that Norton aligned her views with Hilary Jenkinson and European theorists in opposing the American historical manuscripts tradition and the dominant role of historians. A closer examination of her career and her unpublished writings, however, challenges this interpretation. An appreciation for Margaret Norton as a pragmatic archivist dedicated to the needs of public officials enables us to see her as a bold and consistent advocate for the significance of records in administration of state government. Norton adopted European archival principles such as provenance and the moral defense of archives, but she adapted them to the requirements of modem American records. She pleaded for recognition of archives as legal records, but she also recognized their secondary importance for historical research. Rather than pulling the profession apart into separate camps of historian-archivists and archivist-administrators or of practitioners and theorists, Norton’s legacy should remind archivists of their twin responsibilities for archives: to maintain both their legal and administrative integrity and their usefulness for historical research
Interview with James Engel by Dorothe Norton, June 5, 2002
No full textOral history interview with James Engel with Dorothe Norton.
Mr. Engel started out as a Fish Biologist for the Service. In addition to the many positions he held, his most rewarding was being one of the first people to be appointed as an Endangered Species Coordinator of the Region. Mr. Engel also spends time talking about the individuals who influenced him and helped shape his career.
Organization: FWS
Name: James Engel
Years:
Program: Hatcheries, Endangered Species
Keywords: History, Biography, Biologists (USFWS), Employees (USFWS), Fisheries management, Fishes, Fishing, Hunting, Scientific personnel (USFWS), Wildlife management, Wildlife refugesINTERVIEW WITH JAMES ENGEL
BY DOROTHE NORTON JUNE 5, 2002
MS: NORTON: My name is Dorothe Norton and I am on the committee to collect
interviews from retirees. And I am happy that I got to come here this morning and see
you again because it’s been a long time. I think you have a wonderful place here and lots
of antiques. When the tape is completed, we’ll send it in to the national archives at the
National Conservation Training Center. So if you don’t object, I’ll start the interview
now. Can you give me your birthplace and date?
MR. ENGEL: November 2, 1937 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: What were your parent’s names?
MR. ENGEL: Glen and Maxine Engel.
MS. NORTON: What were their jobs and education?
MR. ENGEL: My father was a very skilled Machinist. He was a machinist foreman at
the Byrne [sic?] paper mill; at least that’s where he ended up. He had a fourth grade
education. My mother Maxine, I think she went through possibly eighth grade, possibly
ninth grade. She was a homemaker.
MS. NORTON: Where did you spend you early years?
MR. ENGEL: Right in Wisconsin Rapids. We hardly moved out. We made few trips to
Illinois during my youth, but for the most part, we stayed right in Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: How did you spend your early years?
MR. ENGEL: There was an awful lot of play in my early years. My first job was
picking strawberries and I graduated into picking beans and peas, and working the fields.
From that, I went into the minnow business. I worked for a bait dealer for several years.
That took me through High School. Then in college as a summer job I worked in the
Highway Patrol, and worked out on highway crews.
MS. NORTON: Did you hunt or fish?
MR. ENGEL: I hunted and fished very much, five days a week during the week, and two
days on the weekend. It was a continual thing. There were four of us about the same age
that hunted and fished together. We developed lifelong friendships from that. The three
of us that are still living still get together.
MS. NORTON: What hobbies, books or events influenced you the most as a child, and
as you were growing up?
MR. ENGEL: Probably, the field of music. My folks had me start in a band and
orchestra. I played saxophone, clarinet and drums. The bait dealer that I worked for
certainly influenced me in terms of outdoor activities. And a High School Biology teacher
probably was the greatest influence that made me decide to go to college.
MS. NORTON: What High School did you graduate from, and where is it?
MR. ENGEL: Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids. I graduated in 1955.
MS. NORTON: What University did you attend?
MR. ENGEL: The University of Wisconsin, at Stephens Point. When I first started of
course, it was Wisconsin Teacher State College or something like that, but it did convert
over to the University of Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: Did you go directly from high school into college?
MR. ENGEL: Yes.
MS. NORTON: What degree did you earn?
MR. ENGEL: I earned a bachelor’s degree. Then I went down on a scholarship to
Houston, to the University of Texas to work on my master’s.
MS. NORTON: Oh, and when did you get that?
MR. ENGEL: I didn’t get it. I had a disagreement with my major professor and I left a
little early.
MS. NORTON: What was your bachelor’s degree in? What field?
MR. ENGEL: For my bachelor’s, I had a triple major; Biology, Conservation and
General Science.
MS. NORTON: What aspect of your formal education equipped you for your future?
MR. ENGEL: The Biology/Conservation degree, and the training that I received at the
University of Wisconsin. I had a number of job offers; anything ranging from the Corps
of Engineers out in California to the State of Wisconsin wanting me to become their
Entomologist. The Fish and Wildlife Service offered me a job in Nashua, New Hampshire
at the Fish Hatchery.
MS. NORTON: Did you have any mentors or courses that especially stuck with you?
MR. ENGEL: Probably Entomology. To a certain degree I still follow that today.
MS. NORTON: Were there any adverse influences?
MR. ENGEL: Dorothe, you that that I am a very nice guy, so there couldn’t have been
anything adverse about me!
MS. NORTON: Of course. Let’s try the Military. Were you even in the Armed
Services?
MR. ENGEL: No.
MS. NORTON: What about your wife? When was she born, and what were her folk’s
names?
MR. ENGEL: She was born in 1942 in northeast Minneapolis. Her name was Jane
Luendowsky. [sic?]
MS. NORTON: How did your career with the Fish and Wildlife Service or any other
jobs affect your family after you got married?
MR. ENGEL: When we got married, I was already working for the Service in Nashua,
New Hampshire. I had been working there for six months. The career, with it’s many,
many moves; I believe we moved eleven times during our time, drew us to be a very, very
close, tight family.
MS. NORTON: When, where, and how did you meet your wife?
MR. ENGEL: I decline to answer that.
MS. NORTON: O.K. When and where did you marry?
MR. ENGEL: We married in Wisconsin Rapids in 1962.
MS. NORTON: You said you had one child, a daughter?
MR. ENGEL: Gretchen.
MS. NORTON: What is she doing now?
MR. ENGEL: She is a lawyer. She works for the Death Penalty Center in Durham,
North Carolina.
MS. NORTON: Why did you want to work for the Service?
MR. ENGEL: The Service was a very, very professional organization that demanded the
absolute best of the individuals. It had very high standards. Of course, I felt very much
in tune with its mission.
MS. NORTON: What was your first professional position, State, Federal or other?
MR. ENGEL: It was Federal, working for Region 5 National Fish Hatchery in Nashua,
New Hampshire. I was a Fish Biologist. That was the title, but like everybody else, I
ground liver. We fed liver at that time. And we reared Trout.
MS. NORTON: Where did you go from there, from Region 5?
MR. ENGEL: I stayed in Region 5. I went from Nashua to Pittsford, Vermont also a
National Trout Hatchery. Then to Courtland, New York the training school for Fisheries.
From there to Craig Brook, Maine. Then I left Region 5 and went to Pink Bank [sic],
Virginia. From there, which was also a Trout Station, I went up to Jordon River,
Michigan, which was a Lake Trout Station. From there, I went into Washington, D.C. for
the training program. I came back for a very short duration at Jordan River and then came
into the Regional Office in Minneapolis.
MS. NORTON: What were the pay and benefits like when you started?
MR. ENGEL: I started out at the large sum of $4,040.00 a year. That was some total. I
can tell you Dorothe; after we got married we lived from paycheck to paycheck.
MS. NORTON: What year did you start?
MR. ENGEL: That had to have been in 1962.
MS. NORTON: Were there promotion opportunities?
MR. ENGEL: Oh yes. There were promotion opportunities. All of those moves that I
went through provided opportunities for upward mobility and movement.
MS. NORTON: That’s good. Did you socialize with the people that you worked with?
MR. ENGEL: Oh yes, very much. I made some lifelong friends. I knew many. I got to
know almost everybody in the Service at one time.
MS. NORTON: What did you do for recreation in the field?
MR. ENGEL: I hunted and fished, played music. I played a lot of cards. I know that
you were from the drinking social. I never really got hooked up into that.
MS. NORTON: How did your career affect your family?
MR. ENGEL: We lived in some very remote areas. And the moving around during the
whole career made us a very close family.
MS. NORTON: That’s very good. Why did you leave the Service?
MR. ENGEL: I left the Service because I was diagnosed, and had a very severe case of
Lyme disease. I simply could not work any more.
MS. NORTON: That’s too bad because they would have liked to have kept you longer
I’m sure.
MR. ENGEL: It wouldn’t have been too much longer because I was getting fairly close to
retirement anyhow.
MS. NORTON: What kind of training did you receive for your different jobs?
MR. ENGEL: I had some superb training. When I was in Fisheries I went to Courtland,
New York to the Fishery Training Center there. It was superb training. Art Phillips,
Pile, and all of those people were very, very dedicated and it was a wonderful
opportunity. I also had the opportunity to spend a year in Washington, D.C. on the
Inter-Departmental Training Program. Again, that was just superb because I had a chance
to work for the State Department, for Congress, for Forestry. I worked all over the City.
I even worked directly for Spiro Agnew. It was just a wonderful opportunity and superb
training.
MS. NORTON: What hours did you usually work?
MR. ENGEL: Long hours.
MS. NORTON: What were your day-to-day duties?
MR. ENGEL: Well depended on what job I was in because I switched jobs. When I first
started out of course, I was the Fisheries Biologist. After I got through with Washington,
D.C. I became a Fish and Wildlife Biologist. I worked for the old Technical Services. I
worked on Indian Reservations. I did a multiplicity of things. Then, when I took my
last, and major job as Endangered Species Coordinator for the Region, that pretty well
grounded me in fish and wildlife and plants.
MS. NORTON: What tools or instruments did have to use, or did you use in your job?
MR. ENGEL: I still have calluses on my ear from the telephone. I think that was a
major, major instrument. It was a matter of communication. I’ve got calluses on my rear
end from the airplane rides. I was out on Monday morning, and back on Friday
afternoon. So between the airplane and the telephone, the rest were beside themselves.
MS. NORTON: Did you work animals or just fish?
MR. ENGEL: I worked with fish early on. But then I got into the real animals, the
humans, and my job became solving human problems.
MS. NORTON: What support did you receive locally, regionally or federally?
MR. ENGEL: I had the best of support from the Regional Directors. This went back to
Buell and certainly carried forward with Harvey Nelson, Jim Grittman. I could walk into
their office at any time and they would sit there and listen. And I had their ear. Likewise,
when I was in Washington, D.C.; and I spent much of my regional career in Washington; I
had the ear and support of the Director. I could walk down the directorate corridor and I
could walk into any one of their offices and I felt comfortable. They provided the
support.
MS. NORTON: How was the Service perceived by people outside of our Agency?
MR. ENGEL: Early on, it was perceived as the elite organization. There was no
question. We were perceived by other government agencies as the scientific arm of the
United States government. From outside agencies, like States, we were perceived to be of
the highest quality and having the highest integrity in the fields of wildlife, fisheries and
biology.
MS. NORTON: How were Agency, community relations?
MR. ENGEL: Many of the communities that I served in; communities is one thing that I
am not sure how much the Service at that time recognized it; but the Service played a
great deal in the line of community. In Pink Bank, Virginia for example, several of us at
the Pink Bank National Fish Hatchery actually started the local Fire Department, the
local Emergency Squad. It was a mountainous community, fifty miles from the nearest
Hospital. We took extensive, off-duty training in First Aide. And we became the center
focus of the community. As a result, they built the entire Fire Hall, and that became the
community center. This was true in many of the communities that I went to. From the
State perspective; this varied from department to department. Some of the departments
had a difficult time working with the States, and the States had a difficult time working
with the Service. In the Endangered Species Program, at least in Region 5, I had one of the
most beneficial coordination contacts of the eight States, of anybody in the Region. It
was absolutely superb, and to this day many of the old State Coordinators still contact
me. Most of them are retired. A few of them aren’t. I did go back to an Endangered
Species Coordinators meeting and was welcomed with open arms. I established superb
contacts there.
MS. NORTON: What projects were you ever involved in for the Fish and Wildlife
Service?
MR. ENGEL: I suppose the biggest project was the Endangered Species Program. The
2000 Program that we got into where we set up specific goals and specific monetary
needs for all of the endangered species within the Region. And I think that was one of the
major ones. Of course, depending on what part of my career; in Jordan River, Michigan
we were involved in Lake Trout Restoration Program for the Great Lakes. That certainly
was a fine program. I have been involved in many Dorothe, as you are well aware. I
worked all over the Service. There wasn’t any office in the Regional office that I couldn’t
go in and raise a little “Cain” and I did, generally. So whether you talk about Realty or
Engineering or Law Enforcement, we were all involved, and it was a team effort.
MS. NORTON: What were any major issues that you had to deal with?
MR. ENGEL: Major issues range from the Wolf, which was exceedingly controversial. It
was the Easter Timber Wolf. Early on in my endangered species career, Mr. Hodgins and
I were suddenly transported up to Eely, Minnesota and we had my bloodbath debut. It
calmed down after that but there were many people up there that just simply threatened
both he and I. Most of those folks, we calmed down. I became very good friends with a
number them.
MS. NORTON: How were those issues resolved?
MR. ENGEL: Some of them should have been resolved years ago. And I have to blame
the Service that they are not. The Wolf should have been declassified years, and years
ago. I started that project. The Eagle should have been re-classified and taken off of the
list years and years ago. I started that project. And because of one reason or another
they are still ongoing problems, or at least they are perceived as problems. From a
biological standpoint, I don’t think that anybody can argue with me that the Bald Eagle is
saved, the Wolf is saved and they should be off the list. And I don’t care what they say!
MS. NORTON: What was your most pressing issue?
MR. ENGEL: People. People and people problems. Whether is was financial problems,
biological problems; if you got down to the root of it, the problem was people and how
they perceived. It was a matter of changing people’s minds to solve the problem.
MS. NORTON: Has your perspective or opinion on that issue changed?
MR. ENGEL: No.
MS. NORTON: What was the major impediment to your job and to your career?
MR. ENGEL: The major impediment Dorothe, I would have to be honest, would be the
political correctness that descended upon the Service. It made the job exceedingly
difficult. Some of the government policies that were put into place; performance pay for
example, caused many, many problems with the staff throughout the Service. The
government had gone to this policy and it was a very, very difficult task to administer and
in a lot of cases, it was not administered appropriately. It simply wasn’t. Those were
the difficulties. It wasn’t the Biology. There were some fantastic Biologists out there.
And it wasn’t the Administration; it was government political correctness policies.
MS. NORTON: Who were your supervisors?
MR. ENGEL: I generally viewed my supervisor as the Regional Director. There were
some intermediaries there that sometimes helped me, sometimes got in the way. But the
bottom line was that I worked for the Jim Grittmans and the Harvey Nelsons.
MS. NORTON: Who were the individuals who shaped your career?
MR. ENGEL: If I had to pick one, I would say T. R. Chastain. He was a Hatchery
Manager at Pink Bank, Virginia. T. R. did not have a college education, but he was a fully
respected Manager, just a superb manager. He knew how to handle people. He knew
how to handle people problems. He and I worked very, very closely and he probably had
the most influence of anybody in the Service over me.
MS. NORTON: Who were some of the other people you knew?
MR. ENGEL: Like I said Dorothe, there weren’t many people in the Fish and Wildlife
Service that I didn’t know. There were perhaps a cadre up in the Lamprey Chokers, and
the animal chokers, I didn’t know all of those folks. But the Endangered Species Program
took me out to many, many of the field stations. And I spoke many, many times to
Refuge groups, to Ecological Service groups, to their field stations. There weren’t many
people that I didn’t know. And there weren’t many people who didn’t know me.
MS. NORTON: How about outside of our Agency? Was there anybody there that you
knew that should be could be able to work for the Service today?
MR. ENGEL: There were many, many people. And I brought in a few of those people
on training programs. Inga Berneilson from Wisconsin. Like I said, I had excellent
relations with the States. Whether it was the Ron Nickateras, or the Jim Wilsons. Jim
was from Missouri. Ron was from Wisconsin. Carol Henderson from Minnesota. Right
on down the line. In all eight states, those folks were just fantastic. Then we had to go
into Washington, D.C. I spent a lot of time there and I would be over at the Forest
Service and there were many people over there that were helpful. I worked with folks at
EPA, and they were helpful. There were any number. And I certainly can’t forget the
outside organizations. I was familiar with folks in the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club,
Help Our Wolves Live. There were many that Law Enforcement touched on. As you
recall I was, part of my job was on the Permit Committee so we got to know some of the
nuts that were out there trying to take care of baby Robins that fell out of the nest, to
genuine caretakers. There weren’t too many folks in the environment that I didn’t rub
elbows with at one time or another.
MS. NORTON: What Presidents, Secretaries of the Interior and Directors of the Fish
and Wildlife Service did you serve under?
MR. ENGEL: C. B. Morton was in Washington in 1972, along with Spiro Agnew,
Richard Nixon. I met C. B. Morton. He was a very memorable old man because he stood
probably seven feet tall. He was just a huge man, and when he shook your hand it was
like putting your whole arm in an envelope. He was a very likeable person. Several of
the Secretaries following that. Some of the more conservative Secretaries. I had an
opportunity to meet several of them.
MS. NORTON: Did changes in Administration affect your work at all?
MR. ENGEL: To a certain degree the Endangered Species Program was somewhat
controversial. It didn’t get reauthorized always on time. It was treated differently
throughout; before I got into the Regional office no. The Administration really didn’t
affect me. It might dry up some of the funding for field stations, but over all it was the
Regional office interface that caused more of an interaction, whether it was trying to cram
through budgets, or policies or whatever. But the various Administrations did indeed
affect the Endangered Species Program. The reauthorization of the Act. The views of the
regulatory agencies, especially Ecological Services, Endangered Species and to a certain
degree, Law Enforcement were distinctly affected by whichever Administration came in.
And your support groups for those three that should…[end of tape]
But changes in the Administration, for example in the Solicitor’s Office when the
Administration would change, the Solicitor would certainly be affected and this would
impact on your daily activities.
MS. NORTON: In your opinion, who were the individuals who shaped the Service?
MR. ENGEL: The Service was shaped by the politicians from the political correctness,
and the political correctness policies, which were put on the Service. The Universities
certainly shaped the Biologists who in turn had a direct impact on the quality that was
provided by the Service people. In later years, and today, I think the States have a major
impact upon the Service. And they have a major impact on whether the Service is
working or not working.
MS. NORTON: Now, we’re going to get into some fun stuff. What was the high point
of your career?
MR. ENGEL: The high point of my career Dorothe, was Endangered Species
Coordinator. There’s no question. I loved the job. I was in there for twelve years. I was
once of the first Endangered Species Coordinators appointed. I came out of a very good
job; Technical Services, and was the Acting Branch Chief of that. We had both the
Animal Damage Control; we had the Wildlife Management and Fisheries Management
under that group. And that was a superb job, but Endangered Species gave me much,
much more freedom. And if you can have a highlight of twelve years, I was on a high for
twelve years. Of course, I certainly wouldn’t knock the year that I spent in Washington,
D.
Interview with Ruth Janke by Dorothe Norton, November 11, 2003
No full textOral history interview with Ruth Janke; Dorothe Norton as interviewer.INTERVIEW WITH RUTH JANKE
BY DOROTHE NORTON, NOVEMBER 11, 2003
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
MS. NORTON: Today in November 11, 2003. This interview will be between Ruth
Janke and Dorothe Norton. Ruth retired from the FWS Bureau of Law Enforcement in
2002. Ruth, what is your birthplace and date?
MRS. JANKE: I was born in Superior, Wisconsin on June 5, 1939.
MS. NORTON: What were your parent’s names?
MRS. JANKE: My father’s name was Gust Luostari. Luostari of course was my
maiden name. My Mother’s name was Mabel Pearson. Luostari is a good Finnish name.
MS. NORTON: Where did you spend your early years? Where they all in Wisconsin?
MRS. JANKE: Yes, I grew up on a farm in Maple, Wisconsin, which is east of Superior.
I graduated from high school there. Then I went on down to Minneapolis to work.
MS. NORTON: While you were younger, and still in school did you every have any
jobs?
MRS. JANKE: My junior and senior year I worked in the Co-op store in the area as a
check out girl.
MS. NORTON: Did you have any hobbies, activities or books that influenced you a lot?
You probably didn’t play golf back then!
MRS. JANKE: No, I didn’t play golf then. Growing up on a farm I was outside a lot; in
the woods. Nature was a big thing in my life. Our hobbies back then were that we would
go roller staking. We lived in the country. We weren’t in the city so it wasn’t going to
the movies or that type of thing.
MS.NORTON: So your Dad was a farmer and your Mom was a housewife?
MRS. JANKE: Right.
MR. NORTON: Did you ever hunt or fish when you were younger?
MRS. JANKE: No, I didn’t really. My father hunted and did a little fishing but other
than that; we had a creek going through our property and we would make fishing poles
out of string and a little hook and fish for “chubs” as we called them.
MS. NORTON: What were chubs?
MRS. JANKE: I think they were small suckers that weren’t developed yet, or smaller
fish. Of course we would catch tadpoles and butterflies and all the other normal things
that kids do outdoors.
MS. NORTON: So you graduated from high school in what year?
MRS. JANKE: In 1957 I graduated from Northwestern High School in Maple,
Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: Did you go to college after high school?
MRS. JANKE: No I didn’t. I had taken a secretarial course and went to work in
Minneapolis at Northwestern National Bank.
MS. NORTON: So you didn’t go to college, and you probably were never in the military
service?
MRS. JANKE: No, I wasn’t.
MS. NORTON: Can you tell me how when and where you met Roger?
MRS. JANKE: I worked in Minneapolis for two years. Then I went back home and
worked in Duluth for Minnesota Power and Light Company. While I was working there I
was Secretary to the Purchasing Agent. I met Roger while I was working there while I
was roller-skating back in my hometown. I think we were married a year and a half after I
met him. We got married in Poplar, Wisconsin, which is right near Maple in July of 1960.
MS. NORTON: How many children do you have?
MRS. JANKE: We have four sons. Rick in the oldest. He works for Schwing America.
He is a computer program manager. Rob is the second son. He works for Federal
Express. Rodney works for Northwest Airlines and Russell, the youngest, works for a
company out at Forest Lake. I am not exactly sure what he does, but it’s some type of
computer work.
MS. NORTON: So all of your boy’s names begin with an R, just like yours!
MRS. JANKE: Right!
MS. NORTON: Well, that’s all of the personal information. Now we’ll go to your
career. You told me the different companies that you were with, the bank and the power
company. Why did you want to work for the Service? Did you really know anything
about the FWS before you came to work for us?
MRS. JANKE: It was kind of strange how I got there because I had worked for H. A.
Rodgers Company right after we were married. Then when the kids were growing up I
worked part-time for Montgomery Ward. When Montgomery Ward closed in January of
1986, we were all given the chance to further our education in computers, which was all
going to be paid for. I took some computer and typing courses and different things at St.
Paul Technical College, which was called TVI at the time. They were offering the federal
test during all of that summer. Everyone was taking it so I thought I might as well take it
too. I did and got on the list. I was still taking some computer course in the fall of 1986
and I had gotten to know a lot of different people. One of the girls said that she had been
called and was now working for the Federal Aviation Administration; FAA. I said that it
was strange that I hadn’t been called. She asked me what areas I had put down. I told
here Minneapolis and St. Paul. She told me to call back and make sure I got on for the
airport and Fort Snelling. There were a number of different lists I needed to get on so if
there were openings they would look at my resume. A couple of weeks after I got that
straightened out; I received a letter from the Housing Authority and one from another
agency. I got one from the FWS and I got all excited and said, “Oh, that’s where I want to
work!” Anyway, I right away signed up for an interview and it was with Refuges. It was
Jerry Schotzko who interviewed me. He hired me! So I started in Refuges in 1986.
MS. NORTON: Where did you go from there?
MRS. JANKE: I moved over to Law Enforcement in February of 1990. I stayed there
and liked it, so I was there until I retired.
MS. NORTON: When you came to work for the government, how did you feel about the
pay and benefits?
MRS. JANKE: I guess I felt like I had a secure position when I came on. That made me
feel good. I think the pay was equal to what I would have been getting from the courses I
had taken; had I gone in as a beginning position at that time. The one thing I know, and
Jerry always used to tease me about, I had been used to a “crack the whip” situation.
You had to be so busy all of the time and you never had a chance to breathe.
Jerry used to laugh and say, “Slow down, you have time to do this!” I guess I just wasn’t
used to that part of it. But I enjoyed in.
MS. NORTON: What grade were you?
MRS. JANKE: I started as a GS-4.
MS. NORTON: But you had promotion opportunities, right?
MRS. JANKE: Right. I think I moved to a GS-5 shortly after I was in Refuges. And I
think when I went in to Law Enforcement I got a GS-6 right away. When I retired I was a
GS-8.
MS. NORTON: That’s great! Were you still considered a secretary? Or, what was your
title?
MRS. JANKE: I was Executive Assistant to the Assistant Regional Director for Law
Enforcement.
MS. NORTON: That’s a nice title. And you had to earn it, I know! Did you socialize
with some of the people you worked with?
MRS. JANKE: Oh yes. I am quite a socialite anyway; I talk a lot so yes, I made a lot of
friends.
MS. NORTON: What sort of recreation did you do with people from the office?
MRS. JANKE: Actually, that was mostly the different office/work parties and things. I
had my family and everything, and a husband. We didn’t get together so to speak like
going to the movies, or play cards at each other’s houses, or anything like that. But it
was the Christmas parties and picnics and different things like that.
MS. NORTON: But you did enjoy seeing the people you worked with away from the
office?
MRS. JANKE: Right!
MS. NORTON: Did your career with FWS affect your family at all?
MRS. JANKE: If it did, it was for the better I think. In my family the boys are all great
fishermen and so is my husband. They enjoy their boats and hunting. I think they would
have had that anyway but… I don’t know. I just enjoyed it. I just enjoyed the subject
and being with wildlife and that type of thing. I should have gotten in to that when I first
got out of high school!
MS. NORTON: And when you left the Service in 2002 you were eligible for retirement?
MRS. JANKE: Yes.
MS. NORTON: What kind of FWS training did you receive for your different jobs?
MRS. JANKE: We got the computer training that we needed and I did get to go to
Shepherdstown to the Training Center for the Secretarial course. I am not sure what year
that was.
MS. NORTON: How did you like the Training Center?
MRS. JANKE: It’s a beautiful place. When I went there it was the first year they were
open to everything was brand new. We were all quite impressed.
MS. NORTON: It’s almost like being in a sanctuary because you don’t hear a lot of
airplanes, or telephones ringing. I hope you can make it next year to the meeting of all
retirees because it will be there. Possibly in the following year it will be on the other
coast. We try and move it like we do with Law Enforcement reunions to either side of the
Mississippi to try and get more people to come. Did you ever work any overtime hours?
MRS. JANKE: It was mostly just the regular Regional office hours; the eight-hour day.
MS. NORTON: What were your regular duties?
MRS. JANKE: My day-to-day duties were just about everything! I would usually start
at 7 am and work until 3:30pm. During the summer for a few years I worked a
compressed week so I’d get every other Wednesday off. So people started work at
6:30am. I’d get there and the phone would start ringing and I’d talk to the Agents. There
was a lot of work with the Agents in the field and the other secretaries. There was a lot
going on all day long, so it was a busy position.
MS. NORTON: Would you care to tell us what you did on Wednesdays when you had
that off?
MRS. JANKE: Well, I’ve belonged to a golf league for twenty or twenty-five years.
That’s what I would do on the every other Wednesday day when I had that off. I would
play golf. And I am still in the league!
MS. NORTON: When you retired, what was one of the best gifts you got?
MRS. JANKE: Of course, everybody knew I played golf, so they gave me a new set of
clubs, which I really am using and enjoying.
MS. NORTON: They must have thought a lot of you and your work! We all thought
you were a pretty good secretary!
MRS. JANKE: I was pleased! I couldn’t believe it when they brought them out! It was
just too much!
MS. NORTON: I never had any problems with you as secretary when you were there.
You were cooperative and you helped whenever you could. And if you didn’t know
something, you’d ask and then learn! That was very good. Did you every have any
special tools that you used other than the computers?
MRS. JANKE: I don’t think so. I know I had to keep track of the entire inventory. My
husband always used to tease me that I needed a gun safety course because I had to count
the guns and keep track of where they were.
MS. NORTON: Were you ever involved in any special projects?
MRS. JANKE: I am sure I was, but offhand I can’t think of them.
MS. NORTON: Did you have to deal with any major issues?
MRS. JANKE: I am sure there were. There were problems with vehicles. Those are
sometimes an issue. I don’t know.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever feel that there was ever a major impediment to your job or
career? Was there anything holding you back, or a promotion that you would have liked
to have gotten?
MRS. JANKE: Well, I worked pretty hard to get from GS-7 to 8. I was a 7 for years
and wanted to get to 8. I think the job qualified for it, but it took quite a while for it to go
through. One other thing was that I would have liked to have had the chance to see our
Washington, D. C. Law Enforcement office. I didn’t get a chance to go there in my career.
I think I would have enjoyed seeing that, and where everybody worked. I had met the
different people but it would have been nice to visit the office.
MS. NORTON: Who were your different Supervisors? I know that when you started
Jerry Schotzko was the Supervisor.
MRS. NORTON: Yeah, Jerry was in Refuges. Then I had Chuck Gibbons. I was his
Secretary while I was in Refuges. Then I went on to Law Enforcement. Dorothe Norton
was the Administrative Officer. At that time, Larry Hood was the ARD. Bill
Zimmerman was the Deputy. After Larry left, then came Dave Perrington. He was there
for two years and he retired. During that time, Gay Inman came in as the Administrative
Officer. After Perrington left, there was three months stints where we had Kevin Adams,
Rick Thornton and somebody else; he’s up in Alaska right now. He’s the ARD in Alaska
now. Then Richard Marks came on. John Neal came as the Deputy. When John Neal
left, Mary Jane Levine came on as the Deputy. When Dick went back to Washington
Mary Jane became the ARD. She is still in that position. Nick Chavez came from
Washington and he is now the Deputy.
MS. NORTON: So you had many supervisors! And they were probably all very
pleased with your work!
MRS. JANKE: Yes, and I liked all of them also.
MS. NORTON: Were there any particular individuals who helped shape your career?
MRS. JANKE: I don’t know. I think that everyone was so helpful. I got along with
everyone. I think we just worked all together.
MS. NORTON: That’s good! Do you remember who was President, Secretary of the
Interior or Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service during your career with the Service?
MS. JANKE: Senior moment! Gee, who was in when I came on? I know there was
Reagan and Bush, Sr.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever feel that changes in the administrations affected the work
that we were expected to do, as in Republicans versus Democrats?
MRS. JANKE: Yes, I think it did. But I don’t know how to pin point exactly how the
changes came. I know that it affected our budget with the different administrations. At
times we had more to work with and at times less. We had to pull in the reigns some
time. But other than that, I don’t know.
MS. NORTON: Who do you think some of the individuals were that we worked with,
that helped shape the Service and how it has improved over the years?
MRS. JANKE: The Service in general?
MS. NORTON: Yes. Or was there anybody that you worked with who you felt was
making a big impact?
MRS. JANKE: Well I know that Region 3 always had good Regional Directors because
we were always spoken of very highly by the other regions. I think that just the way the
Region was managed was good.
MS. NORTON: Are there any Regional Directors that you remember the most?
MRS. JANKE: The ones that I remember to have been….well, they were all friendly
with Law Enforcement. It seemed like Sam Marhler was good. Jim Grittman was there.
Harvey Nelson was before him. In fact, I would see Harvey in different places and he
would always say hello. I was rather impressed that he would remember the secretary in
Law Enforcement. I think that the Directors made a lot of difference in how the region
was run.
MS. NORTON: What do you think was the high point of your career?
MRS. JANKE: I don’t know, just the whole job. I just enjoyed it so much. I kind of
hated to leave but I felt that with my husband’s health problems and things that I needed
to do; I felt that I needed to retire and spend more time with him and the family.
Otherwise, I probably would have kept on for a few more years.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever get any special awards?
MRS. JANKE: Oh yes, every year I think I got performance awards. There were
different things each year. They were always substantial so that was nice.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever have a low point in your career?
MRS. JANKE: When I was back in Refuges there was a point that I felt that I didn’t get
a rating that I deserved and I did carry it a little bit further with Dick Tolsman. I felt that
I didn’t want to push any further and I accepted what I had gotten.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever have a dangerous or frightening experience?
MRS. JANKE: I was pretty much in the Regional Office. I really don’t think I had
anything that was dangerous or frightening to me.
MS. NORTON: That’s good. How about humorous?
MRS. JANKE: Oh, we had a lot of fun! There were a lot of laughs? I know that at the
last Law Enforcement district meeting that I went to down in Indiana; my birthday
happened to be during that time. I was given a shirt that said, “Happy Birthday—Give
me a Dollar!” I still have the shirt! Different agents were giving me dollars throughout
the day. That was kind funny.
MS. NORTON: That was kind of cute. You probably got enough so that you could
probably buy a golf ball or something! What do you like to tell others about your career
with FWS, your neighbors, friends and relatives?
MRS. JANKE: Like so many others, when I say I worked for the FWS, they think it’s
the DNR. Of course, I always have to correct them and say, “No, federal Fish and
Wildlife Service.” I like to tell them about what a wonderful place it is to work and what
a wonderful agency it is. That’s my opinion anyway. I think we do a lot of good for
wildlife and for the Service.
MS. NORTON: Did you ever notice any changes in the Service during the years that you
worked there as far as personnel and the work environment? Did you ever feel that they
had made some changes that you wished they hadn’t?
MRS. JANKE: Things always changed, but I don’t know that I ever noticed anything
that wasn’t right. Nothing sticks out in my mind that I was really upset about.
MS. NORTON: What are your thoughts for the future? Where do you see the Service
heading in the next decades?
MRS. JANKE: I would hope that they would continue. I get letters on this well drilling
up in Alaska and I’ve stated my opinion to Nick Coleman and others of our Washington
people on that. I get the magazine Defenders of Wildlife and I keep up on the magazines
and stuff. I read up on how things are going along.
MS. NORTON: So you feel that the Service is still on an upward swing?
MRS. JANKE: I feel it is, yes.
MS. NORTON: Do you have any photographs or documents that you would want to
donate to go with your tape into the Archives?
MRS. JANKE: No.
MS. NORTON: Is there anybody else that we should be interviewing?
MRS. JANKE: No, because I think you are doing a good job of covering everybody
Dorothe!
MS. NORTON: I am trying to get everybody I can in Region 3, especially and any
others I can get to. I want to thank you Ruth! I appreciate your time. It’s good to see
you! I haven’t seen you since last year, at your party!
MRS. JANKE: Thank you
Norton mainstreet redevelopment
No full textIntroduction -- Planning and Technical Studies -- Historical Context -- Entries -- Edges -- Land Use -- Landmarks -- Streetscape Character -- Street Furniture -- Lighting -- Plant Material -- Community Art -- Parking -- Architectural Character -- Signage -- Management -- Promotion -- Appendix "A" (Synopsis of Planning and Technical Studies) -- Appendix "B" (Historic Profile) -- Appendix "C" (Existing Land Use) -- Appendix "D" (Parking Demand Analysis) -- Appendix "E" (Commercial Facade Design)
Norton, C R, 24878
No full textThis record was harvested from a previous catalogue system and will be withdrawn in 2025. Information in this record may be superseded or incomplete. Visit this record in UMA's new catalogue at: https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/408077Surname: NORTON. Given Name(s) or Initials: C R. Military Service Number or Last Known Location: 24878. Missing, Wounded and Prisoner of War Enquiry Card Index Number: 51002.237229
Item: [2016.0049.40352] "Norton, C R, 24878
Mr. William C. Norton and Mrs. Sallie Coward Norton
No full textThis undated photograph shows William C. Norton (1856-1951) and his wife Sallie Coward Norton (1863-1940), sister of Jonathan David Coward. Norton moved to Cullowhee in 1886 from Macon County and was a sheriff of Jackson County. He was one of the Noble Nine, a group of men who pledged to support Robert Lee Madison's efforts in training teachers for the betterment of the western North Carolina region. This teachers college eventually grew to become Western Carolina University. Norton was responsible for collecting tuition and paying Madison's salary
Jazz Theory's Pragmatics
No full textFeaturing twenty-three essays by outstanding teacher-scholars on topics ranging from Schenkerian theory to gender, The Norton Guide to Teaching Music Theory covers every facet of music theory pedagogy.No Full Tex
Interview with Jack West by Dorothe Norton, February 18, 2003
No full textJack West oral history interview with Dorothe Norton. Mrs. Ruth West (Mr. West's wife) is also present.
Mr. West discusses getting started with the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Atlanta Regional Office, moving his family 19 times, projects he worked on, changes within the Service and how he feels Fisheries is/was perceived.
Organization: FWS
Name: Jack West
Years: 1968-1985
Program: Hatcheries
Keywords: History, Biography, Personnel, Fish hatcheries, military, Atlanta Regional Office, Regional Supervisor, Minneapolis Regional Office, Regional Supervisory in Fisheries, John Blausz, Russell Fielding, Charlie Malloy, Ray Vaughn, Jeff Fuller, Bill Dautherty, Lynn Greenwalt, Walt Schaffer, Bill Townes, Bob Burwell, E.G. Douglas, Abe TunisonINTERVIEW WITH JACK WEST
BY DOROTHE NORTON FEBRUARY 18, 2003
Also present Mrs. Jack West (Ruth)
MS. NORTON: Good afternoon, Jack. It’s good to see you!
DR. WEST: I’m glad to see you Dot, I’ve been looking forward to this.
MS. NORTON: That’s good because we’re going to do this interview and it will go into
the NCTC at Shepherdstown. It will be transcribed there and put into the Archives. If
you’d like a copy after they’ve transcribed it, we can have one sent to you.
DR. WEST: That would be delightful.
MS. NORTON: Okay. So we’ll start by asking you your birthplace and date.
DR. WEST: That would be November 3, 1925, outside of Anna, Illinois in the County of
Union.
MS. NORTON: What were your parent’s names?
DR. WEST: My mother’s name was Ferbia and her maiden name was Waller. She
married Corlis C. West. They were married on September 16, 1921.
MS. NORTON: What were their jobs and education?
DR. WEST: Mom was a homemaker. She started when her and my dad met at the
hospital, which was an insane institution. Mother worked out there as an Attendant at
the Institution. My dad lived on a farm with his folks out north of the Institution. He
got acquainted with Mom there and they got married. Dad went off to Chicago after they
got married and went through a technical training school for carpentry. He came back to
southern Illinois. We lived in several different places around Anna, in Union County and
he did carpentry work. Finally, he got on as a supervisor for the twenty-four inch
pipeline during World War II that went through from Texas to the east coast. It came up
through southern Illinois and he helped put in two relay stations there on the pipeline.
MS. NORTON: Where did you spend your early years?
DR. WEST: I stayed in Union County all of my life until I went into the military service
in 1944. I went through high school…well, I didn’t make it all the way through high
school. I was drafted by Uncle Sam in my last year of high school. I had to go into the
service and I think I lacked one and a half credits to get my high school degree. Uncle
Sam, thanks to my Uncle being on the Draft Board, wouldn’t defer me until I could get it.
So when I finished up my basic training I got two credits for that so my Company
Commander submitted the forms for the two credits to the High School and my Dad went
up and got my Diploma for me.
MS. NORTON: What High School was that?
DR. WEST: That was Anna Jones Borough Community High School in Anna, Illinois.
MS. NORTON: What year would you have graduated?
DR. WEST: I graduated in 1944.
MS. NORTON: What did you do during your early years?
DR. WEST: Dad worked on a farm and I helped on the farm early on. When he moved
into town, for two years of high school I worked for a Pharmacist and got my
apprenticeship pharmacy license from the State of Illinois. I helped in the drug store
there until I was drafted.
MS. NORTON: Did you have any hobbies or books that you enjoyed?
DR. WEST: Hunting and fishing! I loved to hunt and fish. Of course, I was a Scout. I
enjoyed Scouting and that went right along with the outdoors. My younger brother and I
used to always go hunting, and I was always out in the field. Or we were out mowing the
yard, or doing something around the house, but outside. My older brother was more on
an indoors type. He loved music and played the clarinet and did that sort of thing. He
helped Mom sewing. He loved to use the sewing machine. He stayed in the house, so
my younger brother and I were the raunchy ones!
MS. NORTON: So then you went in the Service? You were in the Service actually,
when your graduation day was. How long were you in the Service?
DR. WEST: Two years.
MS. NORTON: And what branch were you in?
DR. WEST: I was in the Army. I spent six months in the States after I went in to the
Service in February of 1944. First I was inducted up at Fort Sheridan outside of Chicago.
I went to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana and did my basic training. Then they shipped me
all of the way across to Oregon. In southern Oregon there was Camp White outside of
Grants Pass, or Medford, Oregon. We did training there. I was in an
Engineering/Forestry Company, 1390 1st Engineering/Forestry Co. We did our training
there for running a sawmill and doing forestry work; cutting down trees and this sort of
thing. We shipped back across the United States on a train to Massachusetts. Then we
shipped out of Boston to go overseas. We crossed the Atlantic on a ship that took us a
week to cross. There was no escort. That was in July of 1944. We went into Glasgow,
England and got on a train and went south to Wales down in Berry, Wales. We stayed
there for less than a month. Then we boarded a ship at Southampton and went across the
Channel on a landing craft infantry ship and hit Cherbourg Beach. We went into
Normandy.
MS. NORTON: That was quite a two years I would say!
MR. WEST: Yeah, I spent a year in Europe. Then I shipped back to the States and was
in Camp Bunter, North Carolina preparing with the 4th Infantry Division to invade Japan
when they dropped the Atomic Bomb.
MS. NORTON: Did you get any decorations while you were in the Service?
DR. WEST: Nah, nothing.
MS. NORTON: Did you come back then, and go to school after you got out of the
Service?
DR. WEST: Yes. I was discharged in February, almost two years exactly to date that I
entered the Service. In March, I entered Southern Illinois University. It was Southern
Illinois Normal University at that time. That was less than a month from the time I was
discharged and I started my education.
MS. NORTON: When did you get your degree, and what was it in?
DR. WEST: I finished my bachelor’s degree in 1949, in three years. Then I got my
master’s degree in 1950. In 1949, I picked up what was the jewel of my life! I married
Ruth!
MS. NORTON: Did you have any courses or mentors that especially stuck with you
while you were in school?
DR. WEST: I had a professor by the name of Willard Gershbacher who was the head of
the Zoology Department. He was the nicest individual I guess, that I’ve ever had as a
teacher. He ended up being my major “Prof.”. He encouraged me to get into the field of
Fisheries when Bill Lewis came down from Iowa State to set up the Fisheries School at
SIU. I was Bill Lewis’ first graduate student.
MS. NORTON: Can you tell me know how and when and where you met your wife?
DR. WEST: Ahah, sure I can!
MS. NORTON: You can listen Ruth if you want to!
MRS. WEST: I am going to listen and make sure he gets in right!
DR. WEST: Ruth’s mother ran what I guess you’d call a Boarding House where she fed
students two meals a day. There was no breakfast, but she would feed them lunch and
then the evening meal which we call supper in southern Illinois. A lot of people call it
dinner. Ma Bateman was who it was. She was Ruth’s mother. Ma Bateman fed about
eight of us students at the college. She did this all week until Friday night because most
of the guys lit out on the weekend to go home. Anyway, that’s where I got to know my
beloved, was through eating at Ma Bateman’s. After I had been eating there for oh, I
don’t know, a year or so, I was coming home one day and she was on the front porch. I
had with me, I was taking Comparative Anatomy, at the time; Internal Comparative
Anatomy. Part of that course is that you had to know the Cranial Nerves. I had a sheep
brain in this jar of formaldehyde so I could study the cranial nerves on this sheep brain. I
was quite proud of this, and I was walking up the street and this young lady over on the
front porch says, “Hey, I’ve got one of those!” I said, “No, I know everybody in the
Comparative Anatomy class and you’re not one of the students.” She says, “I’ve got one
of those anyway!” I said, “Oh you have, I’d like to see it!” She went in the house and
came out, and there it was. She had a sheep’s brain, same as mine. I said, “Well where in
the world did you get it?” She was going with a guy that was in my Comparative
Anatomy class by the name of Bill Martin. He brought it home and left it with her while
he was off doing something else. So she did have one, but it wasn’t hers. So that’s how
we got acquainted, over a sheep’s brain!
MS. NORTON: When and where did you get married?
DR. WEST: We got married in Carbondale, Illinois on February 12, 1949 at a Missouri
Synod Lutheran Church.
MRS. WEST: Dorothe, we had our first date on Thanksgiving and we were married the
very next February. Three months!
MS. NORTON: Well, that’s all right! It’s lasted this long Ruth, it much be good!
DR. WEST: And she started gaining weight. From a small town of five thousand or less
people began to talk. People said, “Oh, yeah, umhum! They started going together in
November and got married in February, look at that weight that she’s put on, there must
be a cause for this!” Well, it took her two and a half years to have the kid! So the rumors
got squelched in a hurry!
MS. NORTON: Yeah, they sure do don’t they?! So how many children do you have?
DR. WEST: We have three. The oldest one is Jacquelyn. She and her husband now live
out in Helena, Montana. They have two boys. Both of them are in college. The oldest
of her boys is at Marquette University studying in the Medical field. The younger one is
a Montana State University a Boson.
MS. NORTON: What does Jacquelyn do?
DR. WEST: She is a teacher. She teaches in Elementary Education as a Counselor and
Special Ed teacher. Her husband got his degree in Geology and now he is working for the
State of Montana. The next child is Douglas. He works for Grief Brothers at Rosemont,
which is a cartage industry that makes boxes and sacks and barrels and that sort of thing.
He has been there for pretty close to twenty-five years. He has one son. He’s not
married. The wife left him when the boy was eighteen months old. So grandma helped
out in raising the young man. He will be twenty-three this spring. They lived here in
Apple Valley. The youngest one is Corlis Wayne. He’s named after his grandpa. He
now is living between Duluth and Two Harbors on a hobby farm. They have two boys.
The oldest one is a graduate of Milwaukee School of Engineering as an Electrical Engineer.
The other boy is Benjamin. He is in his senior year at University of Minnesota. He is
going in to the Biological field. He is hoping to be a teacher one of these days. Corlis’
wife is Pamela. She teaches Elementary School at Superior, Wisconsin. She’s working on
her Master’s degree.
MS. NORTON: It looks they inherited some of your genes, as far as getting smart!
DR. WEST: Well, I don’t know, it’s probably an accident!
MS. NORTON: I don’t think so.
MRS. WEST: You didn’t say what Corlis does.
DR. WEST: Corlis works for the EPA lab in Duluth. He’s a Biologist. He got his degree
from Bemidji State and works now with the EPA in the big lab right out on the east side
of Duluth.
MS. NORTON: Oh that’s great. Now, we’re going to move on to your career. Why did
you want to work for the FWS?
DR. WEST: Well, I got my start like I say, after I finished my bachelor’s degree;
Gershbacher and Lewis who were my major “Profs” during my bachelors and masters
degree recommended that I go up so they could get me a teaching assistantship at Iowa
State University. So I went up there and worked on my Doctorate at Iowa State. After I
finished up, up there I went to North Carolina. I worked for the North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Department. I worked there for three years. Then I went to South Carolina
with the Resources Commission. I worked for three years as an assistant to the head of
Fisheries in South Carolina. In North Carolina, I was a Hatchery Manager on a dual
purpose hatchery which raised both cold and warm water Trout. In South Carolina I was
in the State office at Columbia. I was the Assistant to the Chief of Fisheries there. I was
in charge of all the fish hatcheries in South Carolina. I left South Carolina in 1968. I then
transferred over to the FWS.
MS. NORTON: Where did you start with FWS?
DR. WEST: In Atlanta, Region 4. I was there for eleven years.
MS. NORTON: What did you think the pay and benefits were like?
DR. WEST: I was quite impressed after working with the States for six years. I thought,
“Gee whiz, if I can get on as GS-9 I’m really stepping up in the world.” I had been told
that the retirement benefits were something that you just absolutely couldn’t beat
regardless of where you went. The increase in pay and the retirement benefits influenced
me considerably in leaving the state and going in to the federal government.
MS. NORTON: So, you started with FWS in Atlanta, and were there for eleven years?
DR. WEST: Yes, I was in the Regional Office. I was Assistant Regional Supervisor
there.
MS. NORTON: Where did you go from there?
DR. WEST: I moved up here. The Deputy Regional Director come to me and says,
“You have a choice, you’ve been here long enough now and your next position will either
be in Boston or in Minneapolis. If you want to draw your next check, you’ve got to
make a decision about which one you want to go to.” I came home and talked to Ruth and
we both agreed that Boston wasn’t going to be one of the choices so we decided to take
the position in Minneapolis. They told me that’s where my next check was going to
issued to. So I left a wife and three teenagers in Atlanta; or actually our in Decatur, a
suburb of Atlanta and moved up here under Ray Vaughn as a Regional Supervisor in
Fisheries.
MS. NORTON: So you spent the rest of your career here in Minneapolis Regional
Office?
DR. WEST: I most certainly did.
MS. NORTON: That’s very good. How do you think your career affected your family?
DR. WEST: I guess for all of the time that we’ve been married; we figured out that we’d
moved nineteen times! This was the nineteenth time, when we moved up here in 1968.
We got married in 1949, so… My family have been very supportive of me and I guess the
blackest hat I ever wore was when I took my daughter, who is the oldest child out of her
senior year of high school; and moved her from Atlanta to Minneapolis. That was one
mean old man; until she was almost a junior in college up at St. Cloud. Then she came to
me one day and said, “Dad, that was the best thing you could have done for me!” I asked
her what she meant. She said, “You got me out of a clique that was in Georgia where I
knew just the same group and no more than that. We all associated together and had been
together since first grade.” I pulled her out of that and brought he up here and set her
down in an environment that she was totally unaccustomed to. She knew nobody and she
adjusted so it and she thanked me for making the move and letting her see another side of
the world that she wouldn’t have seen if she had stayed in Atlanta.
MS. NORTON: That’s really good!
DR. WEST: It was tough and go there, I’ll tell you! For about four years!
MS. NORTON: Did you have promotion opportunities when you came with FWS?
DR. WEST: Yes! I started out as a GS-9 and ended up as a GS-12.
MS. NORTON: Did you socialize with people that you worked with?
DR. WEST: I had more fun with people that I worked with and people from Church.
We’ve never been; of all the nineteen places that we’ve lived, or moved to, we’ve never
found that we couldn’t make friends and socialize. We just had very enjoyable time with
people that I worked with, and also through the Church. We enjoyed every move.
MS. NORTON: So you retired when?
DR. WEST: 1985, in August.
MS. NORTON: What sort of training did you receive for your jobs after you came on
with FWS? Did you receive any training, or did you just learn it?
DR. WEST: Yes, when I was in Atlanta they sent me up to the Trout Nutrition School at
Courtland, New York under Dr. Arthur Phillips. At one time Abe Tunison headed up
that training school up there. Of course Abe moved on in to Washington and became
Deputy Director. Art Phillips took over and I was up there for a year in the in-service
training school. There were about six of us students from all over the United States who
were accepted into that training school for that year.
MS. NORTON: What hours did you work, just the regular office hours?
DR. WEST: No, when you’re out assigned to a field area, doing an inspection or doing an
inventory on the fish populations and this sort of thing, you don’t look at the clock. You
work and get the job done.
MS. NORTON: There’s not much you can do about it is there?
DR. WEST: You come on in and call it a day whenever that is. You don’t worry about
looking at the clock and figuring out whether it’s five o’clock in the afternoon. You get
the job done.
MS. NORTON: Did you use any special tools or instruments in your job working at the
Fisheries or wherever?
DR. WEST: No, I guess the thing in South Carolina where we were doing a lot of
population studies out on the lakes. We were going out and using rotenone and poisoning
out areas of the lake. Then we’d come in and determine what the population was and
how much there was of the sunfish and carnivores or predators. We were making
recommendations and putting those recommendations in to practice afterwards.
MS. NORTON: Did you witness any new Service inventions during the time you were
with FWS?
DR. WEST: I guess computer stuff. I tried to stay away from that. I never did cotton to
the idea of setting down at a computer and trying to figure out stuff. The most
complicated thing I’ve got in my house is that push button phone over there! I don’t
email anybody, and nobody emails me!
MS. NORTON: Did you work with animals, or just with fish?
DR. WEST: Just fish.
MS. NORTON: Okay, and how did you feel toward the fish?
DR. WEST: Like I say, earlier in life that was one of my enjoyments going fishing. I just
got into a field, that I studied in and got educated in and something that I have just loved
all of my life; and I still do occasionally.
MS. NORTON: That’s great! How do you think the FWS was perceived by people
outside of the agency?
DR. WEST: I think that we had a program in South Carolina that was something that I
think the Service would have benefited from if they’d adopted it. It was to get out and
rub elbows with the people that was using the resource. If you were ready to go…in
South Carolina, the Director would encourage to go out deer hunting with the public and
ask them questions about what they thought of the population; or whether it was
healthy; and waterfowl hunting with the ducks and geese. He’d encourage you to go out
on opening day or something like that and rub elbows with the people who were utilizing
the resource. And it was the same way with fishing. I’ve been out several times and I
asked if I would draw pay for this. And they said, “Sure you do! How else are you
going to know whether we’re doing a decent job or not, or whether it’s something that the
public is satisfied with?” They told me to get out there and find out. And that’s the only
way to do it. Don’t rely on somebody writing an article in the paper and criticizing you
for not doing something, or for doing something that you shouldn’t have done. I think the
FWS, if they would have more public relations, with the public who are utilizing the
product that the Service is responsible for; I think it would be to our advantage.
MS. NORTON: What projects were you involved in?
DR. WEST: The big one I guess in FWS was the building of the Iron River National Fish
Hatchery in Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: Where is that, way up north?
DR. WEST: Yeah, it’s in northwest Wisconsin. It’s the only Lake Trout Hatchery in
Wisconsin.
MS. NORTON: What were the major issues that you had to deal with?
DR. WEST: Back then; I think the major issue was trying to acquire land. Gosh, that
was terrible. We had located the area that we wanted to put it on. We found the water
supply source, which was a huge, nice spring where we wanted to build the Hatchery and
have that as a water supply. But boy, we had one time trying to get a hold of the land!
Other than that; once we acquired that, I think we sold the idea that a fish hatchery was
needed and that we needed to replenish the Lake Trout in Lake Superior. If there was an
overabundance for Lake Superior, we’d use them over in Lake Michigan. After the public
was convinced that that was our purpose, it was resolved.
MS. NORTON: What was your most pressing issue?
DR. WEST: I don’t know about that one. I don’t know of any Dot, that I would
consider and issue, which I’d want to talk about.
MS. NORTON: Okay. Can you remember of your supervisors?
DR. WEST: Yeah, starting in the FWS the first one was John Blausz; he was the
Regional Supervisor for Fisheries. Assistant Regional Director was Russell Fielding. And
the Assistant Regional Supervisor was Arno Fuller. After Blaus retired and Fuller retired,
Charlie Malloy came in as Regional Supervisor and I was A
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