George W. Peavy, ca. early 1890. This cabinet card portrait by Randall of Ann Arbor, Michigan was probably taken while Peavy was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan. Peavy earned a B.S in Science in 1895 and a M.S.F. in 1905 as a member of the second forestry class at the University of Michigan.
Prior to his arrival at OSC in 1910, Peavy spent five years with the U.S. Forest Service which gave him first-hand experience in experimental reforestation and at surveying trees and forests in California. This photo shows the youthful Peavy on horseback. His travels through the forests of Europe in 1926 gave him a visible reason to campaign for preventive measures to protect the forest lands in America.
The Dean packed in with the rest of the fernhoppers for one of the yearly spring trips, camping and "cruising" the local forests to tally the quantities of the various types of trees found in mapped sections of forest land.
In the MacDonald Forest cabin built by "his boys" in 1935, Peavy found a retreat from his exhausting duties as President of the College (1934-1940), Dean of the School of Forestry (1913-1940) and member of the State Board of Forestry (1911- 1941). He was also active in the Society of American Foresters, the Oregon Community Chest, League of Oregon Cities, Rotary International, Xi Sigma Pi (forester honorary), Phi Delta Theta (service society), the Presbyterian Church, and Masons (Shriners).
Giving evidence of the esprit de corps of the college foresters, the Fernhoppers Banquet, Arboretum Day, and other highlights of the year, such as the 1926 dedication of Peavy Arboretum, were featured along with forest research articles in the Annual Cruise, the Forestry Club's yearbook, first published in 1920. The cover of the 1935 issue was made of thin wooden veneer.
Peavy wrote several pamphlets during his 30-year tenure with the State Board of Forestry.