Dates: 1934-1980
The papers of Roy F. Bessey consist mainly of documents relating to his career as Chairman of the Pacific Northwest Field Committee of the Department of the Interior, including reports, journal articles, research notes, public statements, and lectures.
Size: 1 linear foot, 9 linear inches (about 2,800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Roy F. Bessey donated to the U.S. government his copyright interest in all writings in this collection, and in any other collection of papers in the custody of the Harry S. Truman Library. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1973).
Updated by: Shawn Peters (2009) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
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1889 (September 30) |
Born Roy Frederic Bessey, Brooklyn, New York |
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1909-1911 |
Part-time student at Northeastern University |
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1911-1919 |
Engineering Designer for the Isthmian Canal Commission, Panama |
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1915-1934 |
Engineer and official with various private firms and government agencies |
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1927-1928 |
Attended Columbia University |
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1928-1929 |
Attended NYU |
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1934-1943 |
Executive Officer, Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission, and Regional Officer, Natural Resources Planning Board |
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1943-1946 |
Special Advisor to Administrator, Bonneville Power Administration |
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1946-1953 |
Executive Director and Chairman of Pacific Northwest Field Committee, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior |
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1953-1980 |
Consultant for United Nations, Department of the Interior, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and other agencies |
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1980 (July 28) |
Died, Portland, Oregon |
The papers of Roy F. Bessey are arranged in one series, a Subject File, and are comprised of reports, journal articles, research notes, lectures, and other items concerning natural resources and economic opportunity in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the documents relate to Bessey’s career as Chairman of the Pacific Northwest Field Committee in the Department of Interior, from 1946 to 1953, while the rest relate to Bessey’s activities before and after this period, as an official with the Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission and as a consultant to government agencies on resource development.
Much of the collection consists of published reports from the Department of the Interior, the Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission, the Hoover Commission, the state of Washington and other government agencies, referring to the Pacific Northwest with regard to natural resources conservation, development, and management; economic opportunities through resource management; water resources; and environmental pollution.
Included in the collection are many journal articles, drafts, notes, statements, and lectures written by Bessey that discuss the development of the resources of the Pacific Northwest. Some letters, personal memorandums, and a tribute to Bessey can also be found in the collection.
Related materials at the Truman Library include the oral history interviews of William E. Warne and C. Girard Davidson, and the Daniel L. Goldy Papers.
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1-4 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1934-1980 Reports, journal articles, research notes, lectures, and published items relating to development of the resources of the Pacific Northwest. Arranged alphabetically. |
Box 1
- Department of the Interior—“Summary of Estimates and Program Requirements for the Pacific Northwest Region for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1951”
- Development of Resources and of Economic Opportunity in the Pacific Northwest, October 1942—National Resources Planning Board
- Drafts and Notes—Statements and Lectures by Roy F. Bessey, 1954-1973 [1 of 2]
- Drafts and Notes—Statements and Lectures by Roy F. Bessey, 1954-1973 [2 of 2]
- Hoover Commission Report (Water Resources and Power)
- Journal of Politics, Vol. 13, August 1951
- Miscellaneous Articles and Reports on Development of the Resources of the Pacific Northwest, 1934—1973 [1 of 3]
Box 2
- Miscellaneous Articles and Reports on Development of the Resources of the Pacific Northwest, 1934—1973 [2 of 3]
- Miscellaneous Articles and Reports on Development of the Resources of the Pacific Northwest, 1934—1973 [3 of 3]
- Miscellaneous Articles by Roy F. Bessey Concerning Pacific Northwest Region and Waterways
- Northwest-Southwest Water Diversion Issues (Seminar), Oregon State University, Water Resources Research Institute, July 1967
- Notes on Resources Policies and Planning in Perspective [1 of 4]
- Notes on Resources Policies and Planning in Perspective [2 of 4]
Box 3
- Notes on Resources Policies and Planning in Perspective [3 of 4]
- Notes on Resources Policies and Planning in Perspective [4 of 4]
- Pacific Northwest Development in Perspective—Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Commission, National Resources Planning Board- Region 9, June 1943
- Pacific Northwest Needs, Resources and Development—Proposal of an Integrated Program for the Department of the Interior in the Pacific Northwest, June 1949
- Pacific Northwest Region Industrial Development—National Resources Planning Board, December 1942
- Pacific Northwest Regional Planning--A Review by Roy F. Bessey— Division of Power Resources, State of Washington Bulletin, 1964
- Planning and Decision-Making—Reports and Correspondence, 1936-1975
- Public Issues of Middle Snake River Development by Roy F. Bessey—Division of Power Resources, State of Washington Bulletin, 1964
Box 4
- Public Power, American Public Power Association, October 1959
- Reservoirs: Problems and Conflicts (Seminar), Oregon State University, Water Resources Research Institute, January 1969
- “Social and Economic Aspects of Water Resource Quality Control” (Symposium), U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Portland, Oregon, November 1962
- Tribute to Roy F. Bessey, 1980
- “Water Resources and Economic Development of the West,” Report No. 4, Conference Proceedings, Committee on the Economics of Water Resources Development of the Western Agriculture Economic Research Council, Pullman, Washington, June, 1955
- “Water Resources and Economic Development of the West,” Report No. 10, Conference Proceedings, Committee on the Economics of Water Resources Development of the Western Agricultural Economics Research Council, Portland, Oregon, December, 1961