{"id":2062,"date":"2020-02-28T11:30:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T19:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/library\/?post_type=stories&p=2062"},"modified":"2020-05-09T14:02:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T21:02:05","slug":"library-resource-highlight-the-smokejumper-digital-archive","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/library\/news\/library-resource-highlight-the-smokejumper-digital-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"Library Resource Highlight: The Smokejumper Digital Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0group of men gathered at\u00a0a United States Forest Service station near Winthrop, Washington to test a theory. Was it practical to deliver\u00a0trained\u00a0wildland\u00a0fire fighters\u00a0and their equipment via air? Smokejumping was born from these experiments. The Eastern Washington University Libraries, through a partnership with the National Smokejumper Association, is pleased to host\u00a0the Smokejumper Digital Archive<\/em><\/a>, which contains photographs and digitized footage from those first experiments.<\/p>\n

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Pilot Harold C. King with two test jumpers in Winthrop, WA, 1939.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even\u00a0in this day and age\u00a0vast areas of the\u00a0West are difficult, if not impossible, to access via automobile. Not coincidentally, these areas of\u00a0wilderness often contain our nation\u2019s largest forests.\u00a0Many of these forests were even more inaccessible in 1939, thus making a new method of firefighting necessary to contain\u00a0the negative impacts of forest fires.\u00a0As fires have grown more severe in recent years, the importance of\u00a0smokejumpers and other wildland firefighters has grown.<\/p>\n

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Lieutenant Clifford Allen with smokejumper gear in Pendleton, OR, circa 1945.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Smokejumper Digital Archive<\/em><\/a> contains materials that document this history of\u00a0smokejumping\u00a0from its origin in 1939 to the current decade through photographs, film, and publications, such as Smokejumper <\/em>magazine. To view the original documents, one would need to travel across the Northwest and to\u00a0Washington, D.C. The digital archive\u00a0exists as a central point of access for people to use these materials for educational purposes.\u00a0The Smokejumper Digital Archive provides a glimpse into the\u00a0evolution of this innovative practice and\u00a0the men and women\u00a0who perform the grueling work that saves lives and our forests.<\/p>\n

– Steven Bingo, Digital Projects Archivist<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n