Forrest E. Doucette collection

Title: Forrest E. Doucette collection

Dates: 1917-1972

Collection Number: Consult repository

Creator/Collector: Doucette, Forrest E. (Forrest Ernest), 1894-1989.

Extent: 9 linear feet (7 boxes)

Repository: Ontario City Library, Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room

Abstract: The Forrest E. Doucette collection contains materials related to the life and career of Forrest Doucette, editor and publisher of the Ontario Herald and other California newspapers. The collection contains photographic materials, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and approximately 3 cubic feet of correspondence. Also included are some records relating to the Ontario Herald newspaper.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research during the operating hours of the Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room, or by appointment. Folder 36 of box 3 is not available to the public due to federal privacy law.

Collection is open for research.

[Identification of item]. Forrest E. Doucette collection. Collection Number: Consult repository. Ontario City Library, Robert E. Ellingwood Model Colony History Room

Forrest Doucette donated this collection to the Ontario City Library’s Model Colony History Room in November, 1974.

Forrest Ernest Doucette was born on May 16, 1894 in Little Falls, Minnesota to Ernest and Electa (nee Fearing) Doucette. He was christened Ernest Forrest, but reversed his first and middle names in junior high school. Doucette started in the newspaper business in 1909 as a “printer’s devil,” an apprentice who performs varied tasks related to the newspaper printing process. He enlisted in the US Army in 1917 and was assigned to Co. B, 21st Engineers, Light Railroad as a Private First Class. He was a victim of poison gas in September 1918, and spent over a year convalescing, and the exposure would have an effect on him for the rest of his life. He was discharged on April 26, 1919. For the next few years Doucette attempted to attend college, but his health hindered his ability to complete his studies. Several physicians recommended that he move to a milder climate, and in 1923 he was moved to a veteran’s hospital at Whipple Barracks in Prescott, Arizona. After his discharge in December 1924, he returned east and became employed as district manager for the Minneapolis Daily Journal, but his health once again deteriorated. He returned to Whipple Barracks and while there served as editor of the hospital publication called the Whipple Echo. After his discharge he remained in Arizona and worked in various publishing positions. He married Ferna Dail on Feburary 16, 1930 and their only son, Dail Dewitt Doucette, was born on March 17, 1931. In 1933, Doucette was appointed Executive Secretary of the Arizona State Board of Health in Phoenix, Arizona. The Doucettes moved to Hollywood, California in 1935 due to Dail’s health, and Doucette worked for the Los Angeles Daily News in advertising and special editions. In 1937, Doucette purchased half interest in the Ontario Herald from Dean D. Sellers, and also edited an award winning special anniversary edition of the Sanger Herald. For several years, Doucette divided his time between the Ontario Herald and the Los Angeles Daily News, and during World War II, also worked as managing editor of the Douglas Airview News. In 1945, Doucette bought out Dean Sellers, and in 1946 he sold the Ontario Herald to A. Q. Miller, the former manager of the Ontario Daily Report. Ferna Doucette was a schoolteacher in Fontana, California, and the Doucettes lived in Ontario and later in Upland, California. He continued working in newspaper publishing, primarily in special editions and advertising, and retired in the 1960s. During his retirement he remained active in the community and traveled. Forrest Doucette died June 15, 1989 at age 95, and Ferna Doucette died on November 4, 1990 at age 86. Their son Dail is a retired Air Force colonel.

The Forrest E. Doucette Collection contains professional correspondence to and from Forrest Doucette, primarily related to the newspaper field. The collection also includes newspaper and magazine clippings, whole issues of various journals, greeting cards, photographs, negatives, stereotype plates, Doucette’s military records, personal records and correspondence, and miscellaneous ephemera.