GLMS 46 - Henry N. Barkhausen Collection
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| Title | GLMS 46 - Henry N. Barkhausen Collection |
|---|---|
| Introduction | The Henry N. Barkhausen Collection was transferred to the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes on April 11, 1981. The instrument of gift was signed on April 30, 1981. Literary and property rights have been dedicated to the public. Copying of materials is permitted for the purposes of conservation and scholarly research. Numerous publications and 1,555 photographs were donated with the current collection and have been separated for inclusion in the cataloged print materials and photographic images general collection. Processing was completed in July 1992 by Mark J. Barnes. |
| Biographical Sketch | Henry N. Barkhausen's life has been one of continuing involvement in the use and preservation of natural resources. A native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Barkhausen was born in 1914 into a community actively engaged in the commercial and recreational exploitation of the Great Lakes environment. A keen eye for visualizing the interconnected state of the human and natural resources near Lake Michigan led from a boy's youthful enjoyment of sailing to the directorship of the Illinois Department of Conservation (1970-1973). Retired since 1981, Barkausen and his wife of over fifty years, Alice, still spend one month annually sailing the Great Lakes with their five children. As a boy, the association with Illinois' natural resources began with a move from Wisconsin to the Chicago area. Following service in World War II as a lieutenant commander in the Navy, Barkhausen's business interests in heavy machinery sales and limestone quarrying from 1963 to 1981 revolved around balancing resources with preservation. With a growing reputation as an effective business manager and as a committed environmentalist, Barkhausen was able to enter the Illinois political structure with a goal of harmonizing seemingly incompatible constituencies. His quarrying interests prospered and he also effectively preserved large sections of Illinois wetlands. Many years of effort as a state agency director and as a member of private conservation groups led to the designation of 30,000 acres as the Cypress Creek Federal Refuge. Barkhausen received the third annual National Wetlands Protection Award for his efforts. With his quarries located near the federal wetland area, Barkhausen was able to show businessmen and environmentalists a clear example of harmonized goals coming from antagonistic sources. As an author, Barkhausen has used print media to advocate environmental preservation in numerous articles. His boyhood days in Wisconsin gave rise to an interest in the maritime history of the Great Lakes. In 1948, Wooden Sailing Ships of the Great Lakes was published as an expression of Barkhausen's accomplishments in documenting lake vessel history. The work is now considered a collector's item. The chronicling of Great Lakes vessels has also made Barkhausen a skilled documentor of the photographs of commercial traffic on the Great Lakes taken since the nineteenth century. His donation of such materials to research centers is much valued and appreciated. Retirement found Henry Barkhausen as busy as ever. Construction of full-size replicas of historic lake vessels (31 feet and 16 feet so far) at his farm near the Cypress Creek Refuge occupied much of his time. He was also instrumental in forming organizations such as the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History. Barkhausen past away in the fall of 2018. |
| Scope and Content | The Henry N. Barkhausen Collection contains subject files, newsclippings, and architectural drawings documenting the maritime history of the Great Lakes. The Barkhausen files date primarily from about 1879-1940. Items of note in the collection are the architectural drawings of fourteen schooners built for the Great Lakes trade from 1867 to 1918. Numerous sail plans are included to document this aspect of marine technology. Clippings regarding vessel sinkings in the 1930s and in 1940 offer views of reactions to these tragedies in the newspapers of the Great Lakes area. Printed material and 1,555 photographs have been separated for inclusion in the main HCGL collections of such research materials. |
| Series Description | CORRESPONDENCE SUBJECT FILE CORRESPONDENCE SCRAPBOOKS, CLIPPINGS CLIPPINGS MAPS, CHARTS, DRAWINGS ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS |
| Inventory | Box 1 1. Subject File Correspondence letterheads, ca. 1879-1908 Oversize Materials Folders
Drawings Inventory
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