Robert Foster Collins (1906-1999) was born in Lansing, Michigan to Frank Noble and Grace Foster Collins. He received his formal education in the public schools of southern Michigan and graduated with a B.S.F in 1928 from Michigan State University. In 1929 he obtained a M.F. degree from the Yale Forest School of Yale University.
After a stint in the military and other forestry related jobs he was assigned in 1953 as forest supervisor of the Cumberland National Forest (renamed Daniel Boone National Forest in the 1960s) in Kentucky. During his tenure the Forest Service successfully resisted the encroachment of strip miners in the forest and saw the rise of an active conservation movement in the region. Most of the materials in this collection relate to Mr. Collins' occupation as a United States Forest Service administrator. Of particular interest to the researcher is Collins' research notes and draft of his manuscript on The History of the Daniel Boone National Forest. In addition, there is information about pioneer Kentucky history and material about conservation and environmental issues in Kentucky during the last quarter of the 20th century. Included is a large collection of color slides which Collins took of Winchester and Clark County historical sites and structures and of field and streams and flora and fauna of Kentucky. The papers also contain information about weapons a favorite subject of Collins.
Only a portion of this collection has been digitized. See the
Finding Aid for a description of the entire collection.
