Carpenter Collection open for public study
The Water Resources Archive at CSU Libraries is pleased to announce that the papers of Delph E. Carpenter and family are now open for public study.
The "Father of Interstate River Compacts," Delph Carpenter is one of the most influential figures in western water management. His papers relating to this work found a welcome home at the Water Resources Archive in spring 2004. To make the collection available for public study, an archivist and student assistants eliminated damaging mold spores from the collection and then organized the materials and created a descriptive listing of them.
To view this historically significant collection, visit the Water Resources Archive located in the Archives and Special Collections Department in room 202 of Morgan Library on the CSU campus. The complete description of the collection is available online at http://lib.colostate.edu/archives/water/.
A celebration to commemorate this historic collection will take place on Friday, Nov. 18, on the third floor of the Morgan Library at 4:30 p.m.
The event, free and open to the public, will feature Emeritus History Professor Dan Tyler and Archivist Patty Rettig. Exhibits on display in Archives and Special Collections, Room 202 of Morgan Library. RSVPs appreciated at (970) 491-1844.
Delph Carpenter was a Greeley water lawyer who identified the compact clause of the U.S. Constitution as a way to resolve water conflicts among western states. Carpenter's work, in particular the Colorado River Compact, provides an important model for numerous compacts that followed. "That compact was your conception and your creation, and it was due to your tenacity and intelligence that it succeeded," wrote President Hoover in a 1929 letter to Carpenter. The influence of Carpenter's work is still felt today in many water rights negotiations.
The papers of Carpenter and his family were donated to the CSU Water Resources Archive in 2004 by Carpenter's grandsons Ward and William Carpenter. Carpenter's papers are an important addition to the Water Resources Archive as they shed light on interstate water treaties, prior appropriation, water-rights adjudication, the role of the federal government, and state sovereignty. The materials, including correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, compact drafts, diaries, maps, photographs and artifacts, are contained in 127 boxes. Family documentation includes materials on the Union Colony of Colorado, pioneer life, Civil War veteran Captain M. J. Hogarty, Weld County Court Judge Donald Carpenter, the Eaton family and more.
The Water Resources Archive at CSU Libraries houses and makes available many significant collections associated with the development of water resources throughout Colorado and the West. The WRA welcomes the donation of materials (papers/records) related to the history of water resources in Colorado and is open to the public for research.
The restoration and preparation of the Carpenter collection was made possible in part by The McKee Charitable Trust; the water conservancy districts of Ute, Southwest, Colorado River, Northern Colorado, Yampa, Conejos, Roxborough Park, and Tri-County; Norlarco Credit Union; the Colorado Department of Natural Resources; a variety of water law and engineering firms including the Colorado Bar Association Water Resources division; Dr. Dan Tyler, who championed this project and devoted much time and effort to this cause in which he believes so deeply; and other generous private donors.
For more information, contact Archives and Special Collections at (970) 491-1844 or visit the Web at http://lib.colostate.edu/archives/water/.
Category: University Announcements
Submitted: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Subject: Water Resources Archive-Carpenter Collection
Contact: Judea Franck
E-mail: Judea.Franck@colostate.edu
Phone: (000) 000-0000
