Papers of Everett V. Richardson

Collection

Identifier: WEVR

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Everett V. Richardson consists of documents dated 1892 to 2013, with the bulk falling from 1963 to 2000. Materials from Richardson's research and international and domestic consulting work involving irrigation, river hydraulics, and bridge scour dominate the collection. The documentation of Richardson's career with the USGS, Federal Highway Administration, and Colorado State University is extensive but not comprehensive. Very little material associated with courses he taught as part of CSU's engineering faculty is present; there are no student files. However, teaching materials for several short courses on mitigating bridge scour for the Federal Highway Administration make up the largest part of this collection. The collection also holds a significant portion--though not all--of Richardson's publications and writings. Personal files related to Richardson's interests and family are minimal and can be found in Series 7, Subseries 3.1, and Subseries 5.1. Material types include notes and data, correspondence, reports, legal testimony, publications, maps, slides, photographs, audiotapes, floppy disks, and CDs. Researchers should take note of the multi-media project files in Subseries 5.1, which contain overviews by Richardson as well as reference materials, photographs, slides, and CDs and are especially useful for those seeking narrative explanations for Richardson's biography and USAID-sponsored trips abroad.

Dates

Creation: 1892-2013
Creation: Majority of material found within 1963-2000

Creator

Richardson, E. V. (Everett V.), 1924- (Person)

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection. However, this collection is stored off-site, so advance notice is required. All "confidential" markings on correspondence or other materials have been determined to be for administrative purposes, not national security information; therefore, these materials are open for access.

Restrictions on Use

Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.

Biography

For over 60 years, Everett Vern "Ev" Richardson worked as an internationally recognized engineer with expertise in river mechanics, bridge scour, hydraulic modeling, alluvial channel flow, and sedimentation. Richardson's work as a professor of civil engineering at Colorado State University (CSU) and his involvement with international projects contributed to CSU's reputation for engineering research excellence and garnered Richardson numerous awards.

Everett Richardson was born January 5, 1924, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He lived and worked on the family farm until he joined the Army in 1943. He served in the ASTP and 44th Infantry Division, 7th Army in France, and was wounded in 1945. In 1949, he graduated from Colorado A & M (now CSU) with a B.S. in civil engineering. He then began a 19-year career with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as a hydraulic engineer and associate director of research. From 1954 to 1956 he worked for the USGS water quality program in Iowa before returning to Fort Collins to earn his M.S. in civil engineering from CSU in 1960 and his Ph.D. in 1965.

In 1968, Richardson joined CSU's engineering department, where he worked as a professor for 20 years. From 1968 to 1983 he administered CSU's Engineering Research Center (ERC) under the direction of fellow professor of engineering Daryl Simons. Richardson became the director of the CSU hydraulics laboratory and the professor in charge of the hydraulics program in 1984. He held both positions until his retirement from teaching in 1988. In 1994 he was appointed professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering.

During his tenure at CSU, Richardson worked on several large, collaborative water management projects searching for solutions to agricultural problems around the world. Beginning in 1968, Richardson conducted field work for the Venezuelan International Meteorological and Hydrological Project (VIMHEX), an Army contract studying the interaction of meteorology and hydrology. In 1969, he took over the West Pakistan On-Farm Water Management Project (OFWM) from Maurice Albertson. For Richardson, OFWM marked the beginning of over a decade of involvement in projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and in 1973, he joined Albertson and others in the Consortium for International Development (CID), a group of universities, including Texas Tech, and the Universities of Arizona, Utah, and California at Riverside, that coordinated USAID projects. Richardson lead irrigation projects in Egypt beginning in 1975, including the Egyptian Water Use and Management Project (EWUP). He also worked on water projects in Bangladesh.

Richardson consulted for government and private organizations throughout the United States, too. Since 1969 he has been a senior associate at the Fort Collins engineering firm, Ayres & Associates. Organizations, such as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID), have solicited his services to develop educational courses, conduct research, and provide legal testimony.

Richardson authored or co-authored over 100 books, articles, and papers. He was a professional engineer (P.E.) with the state of Colorado and a member of the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), Colorado Water Congress (CWC), Sigma Xi, Chi Epsilon, and Gamma Sigma Delta. His awards include the 1961 ASCE JC Stevens Award and 1996 Hans Albert Einstein Award, as well as the 2008 CSU Alumni Association's 50-Year Club Award. Richardson was a Fellow of the ASCE and has earned the American Association of Water Resources Engineers' (AAWRE) title, Honorary Diplomate, Water Resources Engineer (Hon.D.WRE).

Everett Richardson married Billie Kleckner on June 23, 1948. They had three children Gail (Frick), Thomas E., and Jerry R. Everett Richardson died on August 6, 2013.

Extent

49.25 linear feet (28 record cartons, 1 document box, 21 photo boxes, 2 flat boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Everett Richardson (1924-2013), a graduate of Colorado State University, was an emeritus professor of civil engineering at CSU. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey as a hydraulic engineer and associate director of research for nineteen years. He joined the CSU engineering faculty in 1968. His research interests include river mechanics, hydraulic modeling, alluvial channel flow, sedimentation, and bridge safety. Over the course of his career, he developed and taught several courses on scour for the Federal Highway Administration. He was instrumental in organizing the Consortium for International Development and consulted in a number of countries including Egypt, Pakistan, and Venezuela. The collection consists mainly of international and domestic project files. Slides, photographs, CDs, and publications are also present. A portion of the collection is digitized and online.

Arrangement

Some portions of the collections had an inherent arrangement that was retained; other portions were arranged for the ease of research use.

The collection consists of 7 series in 52 boxes:

Series 1: Consulting work, 1892-2013 and undated

Subseries 1.1: USAID projects, 1892-2013 and undated

Subseries 1.2: Other projects, 1965-2008 and undated

Subseries 1.3: Federal Highway Administration projects, 1954-2010 and undated

Subseries 1.4: Professional contacts, 1957-2009 and undated

Series 2: Legal consulting, 1904-2005 and undated

Subseries 2.1: Snake River Ranches, 1904-1983 and undated

Subseries 2.2: Keystone Ranch v. CNPPID, 1948-1987 and undated

Subseries 2.3: WSSC/NCWCD, 1976-1991

Subseries 2.4: Other projects, 1977-2005 and undated

Series 3: CSU administration and teaching materials, 1963-2005

Subseries 3.1: Administration, 1983-2005

Subseries 3.2: Teaching materials, 1963-1989

Series 4: Printed materials, 1949-2011 and undated

Subseries 4.1: Materials by Richardson, 1949-2011 and undated

Subseries 4.2: Materials by others, 1953-2004 and undated

Series 5: Visual materials, 1938-2012 and undated

Subseries 5.1: Projects, 1949-2012 and undated

Subseries 5.2: Photographs, 1963-2006 and undated

Subseries 5.3: Slides, 1938-1997 and undated

Subseries 5.4: Media, 1961-2005

Series 6: Professional service, 1961-2005 and undated

Subseries 6.1: Fort Collins Water Board, 1963-1986 and undated

Subseries 6.2: Professional committees and conferences, 1961 and 1993-2005

Series 7: Personal items, 1943-2010 and undated

Acquisition

The Papers of Everett V. Richardson was donated in nine different accessions by Dr. Richardson between 2009 and 2013. A small addition was made by his son Jerry R. Richardson in 2016.

Online Materials

Some reports, data, slides, photographs, and other materials have been scanned and are available through the Colorado State University Libraries website. Other born digital materials in this collection, including photos, videos, digital presentations, and documents, have also been made available. Note that not all links are to the exact documents in this collection, but scans from the donor. In the electronic version of this document, direct links appear in context.

Related Collections

Researchers may find the Papers of Maurice L. Albertson, the Papers of Daryl B. Simons, and the Papers of James R. Meiman useful. Richardson worked extensively with fellow CSU engineering faculty, Albertson and Simons, and Director of the Office of International Programs, Meiman, administering CSU's Engineering Research Center and USAID-funded international engineering projects. Those interested in Richardson's work on the Snake River Ranches cases near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will also find the Papers of Edwin W. Mogren useful. Mogren was a CSU forest science professor and fellow witness for the ranches.

Processing

Processing was completed in December 2012. Two boxes of USGS reports were removed before processing began. More than a dozen boxes of publications were returned to the donor because the publications were not by Richardson or because they were easily accessible elsewhere. Most drafts of publications by Richardson and others were also returned to the donor. Materials were re-housed in acid-free boxes and folders. Minor spelling errors were corrected for research convenience. Early accessions required significant reorganization. Documents were removed from plastic sleeves and binders, and newspaper clippings were interleaved with acid-free paper. Some metal fasteners were removed, as were rubber bands. Duplicates beyond two copies were removed. Overheads used for Federal Highway Administration short courses, "Highways in the River Environment" (HIRE) and "Stream Stability and Scour at Highway Bridges," (SS and S) for which there were duplicate images in print materials or digital files were also removed and returned to the donor. Class rosters from short courses showing grades and social security numbers were also removed and returned to the donor. Social security and tax identification numbers were redacted from administrative files related to Richardson's travel to teach short courses, and pages with substantial amounts of personal information were removed. Photographs, negatives, and slides found with papers were relocated to their own series. All slides and loose photographs were sleeved and stored in photo album boxes. Any floppy disks or CDs found interfiled with papers were relocated and stored together; duplicate and corrupt disks were returned to the donor. Digital files were backed up on a server. Four boxes of material primarily from USAID projects in Egypt were added in April 2013. Most items were added to Subseries 1.1, but additions were made to Subseries 1.4, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4. Materials related to Richardson's military service and to professional contacts were processed in November 2013. Correspondence, reports, and visual materials were added to Subseries 1.4, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, and Series 7. The final accession was incorporated in 2021.

Inventory Note

Note: Title information supplied by the archivist is bracketed. Estimated pagination is preceded by an "e." Two identical copies of the same item are indicated by the phrase "2 copies" at the end of the entry, following the number of pages of each copy. Authored articles, books and studies are listed in bibliographic form.