Library Record

Metadata

Title

Russell Mack Little Carson miscellaneous papers, 1928-1929

Author

Carson, Russell M. L. (Russell Mack Little), 1884-

Year Range from

1918

Year Range to

1961

Object Name

Manuscript

Control Number

02595

Call Number

MS 61-101

Physical Description

.21 linear ft. (1 box)

Summary

Arrangement: There is no apparent arrangement scheme.

Summary/Abstract: Russell Mack Little Carson was an insurance agent in Glens Falls (Warren County), N.Y., a very active Adirondack Mountain climber, an energetic conservationist, and an author. These papers consist of research material, correspondence, newspaper clippings, periodicals, 50th year of N.Y. State Conservation materials and Foot Path articles from August 25, 1928 - June 1929.

Biographical/Administrative Statement: Russell Mack Little Carson was born in 1884 in Glens Falls (Warren County), N.Y. He was the son of Charles Herbert and Katherine Luella Little Carson. He graduated from Glens Falls Academy in 1901 and later married Mary Isabelle Goodman. The couple had three children and made their home in Glens Falls. Carson became an insurance agent in 1904 and worked with his father in the agency of Charles H. Carson and Son. He was head of the agency (renamed Carson Insurance Agency in 1916) from 1915-1946. Concurrently, he served as Captain of Company K, 105th Infantry, New York National Guard, 1918-1924. He became president of his own insurance company, the Carson-Duffy Agency, Inc, in 1946. Following the death of his first wife, Carson married Ann Elizabeth Tymchyn.

Carson was an avid mountain climber and conservationist. From 1928-1929, he edited a column for the Lake Placid News called "Footpath," regarding Adirondack subjects and Adirondack Mountain Club outings. Carson served in a variety of capacities for the Adirondack Mountain Club including vice-president (1928); president (1930-1931); member of the Committee on Education, Publications and Information; and editor of High Spots, the club's magazine. He served as a trustee for the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks for over twenty years. In 1935, he served as a member of the executive committee of the New York State Commission on Fifty Years of Conservation. Carson authored Peaks and People of the Adirondacks (1927), a book on the history of the high peaks and the people associated with them, and A Mount Marcy Anthology (1937). He was vice-president of the Adirondack Historical Museum in Brant Lake (Warren County), N.Y., a member of the Wilderness Society of New York, and a member of numerous other state and local organizations. Carson died in 1961.

Scope and Content Note: These papers consist of research material, correspondence, newspaper clippings, periodicals, 50th year of N.Y. State Conservation materials and Foot Path articles from August 25, 1928 - June 1929.

Finding Aid Note: Item-level list is available at the repository.

Additional Physical Forms: No other form exists.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Provenance: Russell M. L. Carson donated the papers to the Adirondack Experience Library.

Processing Statement: This collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental History Virtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.

Finding Aid updated April, 2014.

Subjects:Donaldson, Alfred L
Hosmer, R. S
Luther, T. F
Mead, George
Osborne, Lithgow
Spring, Samuel N
Whipple, Gurth
Phelps, Edmund
Photoprints
Correspondence

See also: Ralph Sheldon Hosmer papers, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Russell Carson papers (MS 72-8), Camp Riverdale records and Harry Wade Hicks papers, Adirondack Experience Library, Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.

Container List:

BoxDescription
11Papers relating to a celebration of fifty years of conservation in New York
State, 1885-1935. [May 15 1935]
12Correspondence: Carson with Alfred C. Donaldson, Elizabeth C.
Donaldson, and Henry H. Donaldson[Feb.5 1923 - Apr. 7 1924]
13Collected newspaper clippings, historical articles, laws of NYS, and
correspondence regarding book and controversy over naming of peaks.
[1918-1941]
14Correspondence regarding historical research on the Adirondack peaks
and people.[1919-1961]
15Correspondence: Hicks with Carson regarding the history of the
Adirondacks, Carson's book, and personal topics.[1926-1935]
16"Footpath" columns from Lake Placid News, 1928-1929[1928-1929]
17George Marshall article: "Guyot and Sandoz in the Adirondacks and the
Seward Range"[undated]

Legal Status

This collection is unrestricted.

Search Terms

Adirondack forty-sixers (organization);
Adirondack Mountain Club.;
Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)--Environmental conditions.;
Carson, Russell, M. L. (Russell Mack Little), 1884-;
Conservationists--New York (State);
Correspondence.;
Donaldson, Alfred S.;
New York (State). Conservation Department.;

Notes

See also: Russell Mack Little Carson correspondence (MS 72-8).

Collection

Adirondack Experience Library

Credit line

Gift of Russell M.L. Carson