PODCAST · history
What Did We Get Ourselves Into?
by National Museum of Forest Service History
There is an old adage that “it takes a village to raise a child.” This is also true for the United States Forest Service, a sprawling outfit that employs 30,000 people spread over nine regions and across 600 ranger districts ranging anywhere from 50,000 to more than 1 million acres. This expansive organization has always required the help of an army of unpaid wives, sons, and daughters. ”What Did We Get Ourselves Into?” tells the stories of those intrepid women who gave their lives to “the outfit” without any expectation of notoriety or reward. Over the course of several episodes, listeners will hear stories of rugged terrain, unforgiving dirt roads, spartan housing accommodations, difficult childbirths, wild animal encounters, and much more. They will be taken inside a world that time has left behind, a world powered by loud diesel generators, crank telephones, and wood stoves. And amidst all these obstacles and inconveniences, Forest Service wives stood resilient, ready to overcome
Episodes
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"Nothing I Couldn't Handle": The Perseverance of Joanne McElfresh
For our sixth and final episode of this series, we turn to the remarkable story of Joanne McElfresh. Joanne was born in 1934 and bounced around the country as an army brat before returning to Missoula to attend the University of Montana, where she earned a forestry degree, a rare feat for a woman...
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”Amen and Amen”: The Enduring Love of Joyce and Sonny O’Neal
In our fifth installment of "What Did We Get Ourselves Into?" we look at the world through the eyes of Joyce O’Neal, a southern belle who married her childhood sweetheart Sonny and began a lifelong journey through the outfit. As husband and wife, they grew alongside the forests that Sonny called...
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”But For The Grace Of God”: The Saga of Carl and Vicki Pence
In our fourth episode, we take a journey alongside Carl and Vicki Pence, two Idaho natives who ventured hand-in-hand through the peaks and valleys of life. Over a forty-year career together in the Forest Service, Carl and Vicki survived historic blizzards, menacing wildfires, and moments of…
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”Hail to the Chief”: The Rise of Carma and Dale Bosworth
In Episode Three we look at the world through the eyes of Carma Bosworth. From her small-town beginnings, Carma went on to travel the Mountain West with her husband Dale, a second-generation forester who would go on to become Chief of the whole outfit. Throughout his 41-year stint in the Forest...
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”Southern Discomfort”: The Odyssey of Linda Hicks
In the second episode of "What Did We Get Ourselves Into?" we explore the life of Linda Hicks, who married into the Forest Service in 1967 and started a journey that swept her from the banks of the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana to the mountains of Missoula, Montana, and everywhere in…
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”We Feminine Foresters”: Putting Forest Service Wives in Historical Context
In the debut episode of "What Did We Get Ourselves Into?" NMFSH Oral Historian James Wall interviews Dr. Rachel Kline about her forthcoming history of the role of women in the United States Forest Service and the experiences of the early wives who "married the outfit." Additional Sources: What…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
There is an old adage that “it takes a village to raise a child.” This is also true for the United States Forest Service, a sprawling outfit that employs 30,000 people spread over nine regions and across 600 ranger districts ranging anywhere from 50,000 to more than 1 million acres. This expansive organization has always required the help of an army of unpaid wives, sons, and daughters. ”What Did We Get Ourselves Into?” tells the stories of those intrepid women who gave their lives to “the outfit” without any expectation of notoriety or reward. Over the course of several episodes, listeners will hear stories of rugged terrain, unforgiving dirt roads, spartan housing accommodations, difficult childbirths, wild animal encounters, and much more. They will be taken inside a world that time has left behind, a world powered by loud diesel generators, crank telephones, and wood stoves. And amidst all these obstacles and inconveniences, Forest Service wives stood resilient, ready to overcome
HOSTED BY
National Museum of Forest Service History
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How many episodes does What Did We Get Ourselves Into? have?
What Did We Get Ourselves Into? currently has 6 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is What Did We Get Ourselves Into? about?
There is an old adage that “it takes a village to raise a child.” This is also true for the United States Forest Service, a sprawling outfit that employs 30,000 people spread over nine regions and across 600 ranger districts ranging anywhere from 50,000 to more than 1 million acres. This expansive...
How often does What Did We Get Ourselves Into? release new episodes?
What Did We Get Ourselves Into? has 6 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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What Did We Get Ourselves Into? is created and hosted by National Museum of Forest Service History.
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