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Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
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Papers of William Homer Wisely, Accession #12778, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
The William Hoper Wisely Papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by his widow, Mrs. William H. Wisely, in August 1985.
William Homer Wisely (1906-1982) was born in Coulterville, Illinois. He married Hazel A. Steinburg in 1930, and they had two children, Janet Lee and Nancy Ann. Wisely received his B.S. in Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1928 and pursued graduate studies in Civil Engineering there until 1941. Subsequently, he received his doctorate in Engineering from Norwich University (1967). While an undergraduate, he worked as an assistant engineer for the Illinois Walter Survey (1926-1928). After graduation he was hired by the Illinois Department of Public Health (1928-1940) as an assistant sanitary engineer and later became the engineering manager for the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary district (1940-1944). He was the Commissioner of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission from 1952-1954.
Wisely was a director, fellow, and honorary member of numerous national and international engineering societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE), the United Engineering Trustees, Inc. (1960-1972), Chi Epsilon, and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), for which he chaired the International Organizing Committee. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Florida from 1972-1978 and a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia from 1978-1982. His professional writings included numerous articles and editorials as well as several monographs, including The American Civil Engineer 1852-1974 .
The William Homer Wisely Papers comprise approximately 2,600 items (4.5 shelf feet) and include professional correspondence; drafts of speeches and books; reports, articles and notes relating to environmental conservation, the engineering profession, and urban planning; documents of engineering societies; and pedagogical materials. Various published items found with these materials, both monographs and serials, have been transferred to the University of Virginia Science and Engineering Library (see Appendix).
The majority of Wisely's correspondence concerns the formation of a new world engineering society ultimately known as the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. Also included in the correspondence are comments by his colleagues on the professional literature, including Wisely's own editorials and speeches, and responses to surveys and questionnaires on ethics. Among the writings are speeches and editorials by Wisely and others on the engineering profession, ethics and environmental conservation, as well as copies of the newsletter The Digester and drafts of a book on the history of the ASCE from 1852-1974. A list of Wisely's publications appears in the "Offprints" folder.
The research materials include articles and notes on the High Aswan Dam, ethics, engineering, solid waste management, water pollution control (including documentation of European conferences held in 1954), the population explosion, and urban growth. The teaching materials include lectures and handouts on similar topics.
The collection is organized into five series. The first of these, Correspondence (1958-1980), is arranged chronologically. Series II, Writings, contains drafts and notes for the American Civil Engineer 1852- 1974 , copies of The Digester , a newsletter that Wisely edited, and correspondence related to that publication; offprints of articles and addresses by Wisely; and writings by others, arranged alphabetically by author. Series III, Research Files, includes mainly magazine articles and newspaper clippings. The file on ethics contains ethical canons for various professions and societies. Series IV consists of minutes, pamphlets, and newsletters of various engineering societies. The ASCE material contains editorials by Wisely which are arranged by date. The ASCE correspondence has been removed from this series and placed in Series I. Series V, Teaching Materials, is composed of course outlines, lecture notes, handouts, and exams from courses taught both at the University of Virginia and also the University of Florida.
Headings Wisely assigned to his files have been retained when possible: High Aswan Dam, Ethics, Engineering, Engineering as a Profession, Environmental Conservation-General, Solid Waste Management, Water Pollution Control, Urban Planning, Slums, Case Histories, New Towns, CE 492, ENGR 531, Speech Materials, Editorials, ASCE, ASCE History, Conference of Engineering Societies of Western Europe and the United States of America (EUSEC), Panamerican Federation of Engineering Societies (UPADI), and WFEO. Other headings have been added as necessary to refine the original arrangement.