Description
The William L. Neely Papers, 1942-1978 will be arranged
to reflect long-time Yosemite Naturalist William L. Neely’s
journals and incidental writings. The journals are rich with
detailed nature observations and sketches of plants.
Peppered in are fragments of plant specimens, sketches,
letters, photographs, postcards, newspaper articles, and wine
labels. During his lifetime Neely’s publications were mainly
featured in the Yosemite Nature Notes, with occasional
letters to columnists and editors. These journals were
initially given to Allan Shields by Chris Neely, William
Neely’s oldest son. Shields has published four books from
the journals, which he titled: Wild Bill Neely and The
Pegan Brothers’ Golden Goat Winery, 1992; O.S.S.: One
Sad Sack: Pvt. Neely Disciplines the Military, 1994; A
Yosemite Naturalist Odyssey, 1994; and Wilderness Treks
by Foot, Canoe, and Adobe Rocket and Father’s Far-Flung
Fables, 1995. The collection also houses a sketchbook of
Neely’s drawings and sketches, plant specimens that Neely
collected over the years in his journals, photographs and
letters addressed to Neely and to Shields.
Background
William Lewis Neely (1923-1985), a long-time Yosemite Naturalist, was born on July 24 in Los
Angeles, California. He had a multifarious persona with many gifts: artist, potter, oenologist and
wine connoisseur, vinegar-maker, biologist, ranger, fire-fighter, teacher, poet, philosopher,
traveler, musician, folk-dancer, actor, linguist and polyglot, father-of-six—but above all, he was
a Naturalist, in the Ecological tradition of John Muir and Henry David Thoreau. Neely began
writing journals in 1939, and continued up until 1978; even adding notes as late as 1984, but
later destroying the journals of 1939-1941. After graduating from the University High School,
West Los Angeles in 1940, Neely studied life sciences and the German language at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for two years, until WWII took him to the U.S.
military and an extended duty with the O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services, later called the
C.I.A., Central Intelligence Agency). After WWII, Neely enrolled at the University of California,
Santa Barbara (UCSB), with plans to complete a Ph.D. in Ecology — a term with a limited usage
at the time. In 1949, Neely met the legendary Naturalist and botanist Carl Sharsmith, who urged
him to consider attending the Yosemite Field School. In 1950, Neely entered the Field School,
and in 1951 began serving as a seasonal Ranger-Naturalist in Yosemite Valley and at Glacier
Point. Over the next 25 years, with a few brief interruptions, Neely served in Yosemite Valley,
Tuolumne Meadows, Bridalveil Creek Campground, White Wolf Campground, and led guided
“loop” trails: seven-day trips through the High Sierra Camps of the Yosemite Park and Curry
Company. Neely also served as a field instructor in the Yosemite Institute and became the first
Director of Field Activities. On August 7, 1985, Neely died in his sleep, in Santa Barbara,
California.