An introduction to the exhibit

by Ken Armson

As a professional forester at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto (1952-1978) I was engaged in research on the establishment of tree nurseries and in particular soil fertility and the nutrition of seedlings. As a result I travelled much of Ontario and became familiar with the forest management practices on Crown forests which were going through stages in the development of practices involved in forest regeneration especially during the 1960-1970’s. I was also consulted for forest companies and provincial forest departments on forest regeneration. From 1978 to 1989 I was with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and had further opportunities to view forestry practices, especially in Ontario.

This together with visits to forests and forestry in other countries, especially the United States, allowed me to photograph their forests, soils and practices. A collection which I used in my teaching at the university. I also realized that many might have historical significance showing the development of forest regeneration practices over those years and the changing history of forest land uses and the associated archeological and historical studies involved.

Thus during the period from the late 1950’s to 2000 I accumulated over three thousand catalogued slides which portrayed an historical record of forests and forest activities which might be of historical interest over time. The only forestry undergraduate degree program in Ontario in 2000 was at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and when I offered to donate my collection to the university they accepted and have made them publicly available and on the their Library and Archives website. In 2021 the entire collection was digitized.

A note from the archives

All of Ken's slides, 7206 in total, have been digitized and can be made available on request. This exhibit, presenting them to the public online, is still a work in progress. More images will be added regularly until the project is completed. 

Great thanks to Ken Armson, Primary Foto Source, and the Lakehead University Work Study Program for supporting this project!