Personal Materials

INTRODUCTION The Richard E. Dahlberg papers were donated to the University Archives in July 1997 following the death of Dr. Dahlberg, and additional material added in 2008.  Literary rights on all materials not under copyright are dedicated to the public.  There are no restrictions on access to the collection. SCOPE AND CONTENT The materials in this collection document the career of Dr. Richard E. Dahlberg from 1962 until his death in December 1996.  Most of the material included here relates to Dahlberg’s professional interests as a professor of Geography at Northern Illinois University. This collection is organized into five series.  The first series, Personal Materials (1967-1996) contains Dahlberg’s handwritten journals of daily events from April 1978 thru Sept. 1996.  In addition, there is a folder containing biographical information, a folder containing several of his published articles, and a folder dealing with his editorship of the 3rd Edition of the Prentice-Hall World Atlas.  Dr. Dahlberg’s Correspondence files make up the second series.  These files (1962-1996) include personal correspondence as well as letters of recommendation and copies of e-mail messages from 1994-1996.  Series three, Syracuse University (1963-1970) contains material relating to the Geography Department, as well as class material and several student papers.  The fourth series, Northern Illinois University (1970-1996) includes departmental business, information on NIU’s Cartography Laboratory, as well as examples of Dahlberg’s classroom materials, reading lists, tests, and student papers. There is extensive documentation for his GEOG 356 class for the Spring 1996 semester, however it lacks information for chapters 12 and 15.  The final series, Professional Organizations and Activities (1985-1996) contains information on Dahlberg’s involvement with several professional organizations including the American Association of Geographers, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, International Cartographic Association, and the Illinois Geographic Information Systems Association.  Also included here are files on some of the conferences and meetings he attended, and his editorship of Illinois GIS and MapNotes.  The final item in this collection is a small stereo viewer made by the Keystone View Company.  However, there are no accompanying view cards.  An addendum to the collection contains four books, one contains an article he co-wrote, one of which he was the series editor, he is mentioned in the text of the third, and the fourth was a text he used in one of his classes. For additional information on Dr. Dahlberg’s career at Northern Illinois University researchers should also consult the following collections: Faculty Records, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Richard E. Dahlberg was born August 26, 1928 in Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania.  Dahlberg served as a topographic draftsman for the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948.  While stationed in Washington, D.C. he began his Geography studies at George Washington University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950.  He continued his studies in the field of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received his master’s degree in 1952, and attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison from 1952 to 1955, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1959. He began his professional career as a lecturer at Southern Illinois University in 1955-1956.  From 1956 to 1962 he was at UCLA, first as an acting assistant professor in the Geography Department, and then as assistant professor following the attainment of his Ph.D.  In the fall of 1962 he became an associate professor at Syracuse University, a position he held until 1970.  In September 1970 Dahlberg came to Northern Illinois University as professor and chairman of the Geography Department.  He followed Dr. Lloyd D. Black who served as the first chairman of the department when it was established in the fall of 1969.  Dahlberg served as chair until 1977.  In 1978, in addition to his professorial duties, he became the Director of the NIU Laboratory for Cartography and Spatial Analysis, and held these positions until his retirement June 1, 1996. As director of NIU’s Cartography Lab, he helped create the first satellite map of Illinois.  Dahlberg’s research interests included cartographic education, land information management, satellite image mapping, and environmental information management. On the university level Dahlberg was a member of the College Council from 1985 to 1989, and 1992-1995, the Faculty Assembly 1989-1990, the University Council 1989-1992, the Faculty Senate 1990-1992, and the Social Science Research Institute Policy Advisory Board, 1985-1991. Dahlberg founded the Illinois Mapping Advisory Committee in 1975 and was its chair for ten years.  He also helped establish and served as president of the Illinois General Information Systems Association.  He was a member and past president of the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping, president of Land Information Assembly, national director of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, a research affiliate of the Illinois State Geological Survey, a member and co-chair of the Education Committee of the International Cartographic Association, and a member of the American Association of Geographers.  Dahlberg has done work for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Illinois State Geological Survey, as well as served as a consultant for Rand-McNally.Richard Dahlberg authored or co-authored 50 professional articles, 11 books including Political Atlas of Illinois, and served as editor of Northern Illinois Mapnotes, Illinois Mapnotes, Illinois GIS and Mapnotes, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, and The American Cartographer.  Over the years he received a number of awards for his contributions to the field of cartography and surveying.  In November 1996, shortly before his death, Dahlberg was recognized by the Illinois GIS Association with its first Distinguished Achievement Award in recognition of his achievements and the prominence he brought to Illinois cartography. Dr. Dahlberg and his wife Pat were the parents of four children Patti Widlt, Karen Hegranes, Erik and John, and have nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.