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National Agricultural Library
U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Special Collections at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Library houses manuscripts and archival records documenting the history of agriculture and the USDA from the 19th through the 21st centuries. These collections include correspondence, field notes, journals, photographs, publications, posters, and other items of individuals who worked for or were associated with the USDA, individuals involved in non-USDA agricultural activities, and organizations related to agriculture. For more information or to schedule a visit, please contact Special Collections.

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Displaying 226 - 250 of 469 Collections

American Poultry Historical Society Artifact Collection: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

The American Poultry Historical Society Artifact Collection includes a marble rooster, an electronic egg, model poultry houses, an "Utgaard Hatchery" box, and poultry feed burlap sacks.
Collection Number: 231
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Linear Feet: 8.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

American Society of Agricultural Engineers Records

The American Society of Agricultural Engineers Records includes yearbooks, journals and transactions.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The American Society of Agricultural Engineers is a professional and technical organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems.
Collection Number: 232
Earliest Date: 1968
Latest Date: 1972
Bulk Dates: 1968-1972
Linear Feet: 2.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations

USDA Office of the Appointment Clerk Records

The USDA Office of the Appointment Clerk Records is a bound volume of copies of charges of misconduct letters written to USDA employees and signed by Secretary of Agriculture Houston for the period October 27, 1915, through April 12, 1918.
Collection Number: 233
Earliest Date: 1915
Latest Date: 1918
Linear Feet: 1.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: USDA History
Digitization Status: None

New Guinea Impatiens Collection

The New Guinea Impatiens Collection, gathered and maintained by Robert J. Armstrong, contains a pedigree book from Longwood Gardens Breeding program; slides showing the original New Guinea impatiens collection and the progeny developed from them at Longwood; and letters, memoranda, reports, brochures, and press releases concerning the breeding program.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service and Longwood Foundation of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, jointly sponsored an expedition to the subtropical highlands of Australian New Guinea from January to April 1970. Horticulturists Harold F. Winters and J. J. Higgins collected impatiens, which were released by USDA Plant Genetics and Germplasm Research Institute in February 1972 to nurserymen, plant breeders, and other scientists. Geneticist Robert J. Armstrong bred new varieties with ornamental leaves at Longwood Gardens.
Collection Number: 234
Earliest Date: 1971
Latest Date: 1985
Linear Feet: 4.25
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

USDA Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine Collection

[19--]. The USDA Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine Collection contains materials related to the Japanese Beetle, Mountain Pine Beetle, and Dutch Elm Disease. There are black and white photographs, bark samples, insect samples, and framed examples of foliage damage from the insects. Text accompanies the samples. From 1940-1997, the materials were housed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois, and were used for an exhibit. In 2018, an accession was added consisting of ten undated postcards from the Bureau of Entomology depicting mostly parasites of the gypsy moth and brown-tail moth as well as representing the gypsy moth, brown-tail moth, and satin moth.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine was established in 1934. In 1942, it became part of the Agricultural Research Administration. The purpose of the bureau was to study and control insects in cooperation with the states to prevent plant diseases.
Collection Number: 235
Earliest Date: 1940
Latest Date: 1940
Linear Feet: 2.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Entomology; Plant Science
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

Charles C. Plitt Collection

The Charles C. Plitt Collection consists of a series of journals resulting from weekly botany field trips, which Plitt referred to as “tramps,” ranging in date from about 1898-1922. Plitt led these tramps through many areas around Baltimore; such as Loch Raven, Glen Burnie, Towson, Curtis Bay, and Ellicott City. The collection also includes biographical data, correspondence, photographs, and a book.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
A lifelong Marylander, Charles C. Plitt (1869-1933) was both a professor of botany and an international authority on lichens. In 1891, he received a degree in pharmacy from the old Maryland College of Pharmacy. In 1920, he was appointed full professor of botany and pharmacognosy at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Maryland. In 1921, Plitt was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree for his meritorious work in botany by the International Academy of Sciences.
Collection Number: 236
Earliest Date: 1897
Latest Date: 1994
Linear Feet: 10.25
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Natural Resources; Physical Sciences; Plant Science
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs

USDA Entomology Research Division Reprints

The USDA Entomology Research Division Reprints consist of articles written by employees in collaboration with other scientists about different aspects of entomology. These records include reprints of articles, a majority of which are about the use of pesticides to control insects.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The Entomology Research Division (ERD) existed under the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) from 1953-1971. In its entire existence, the only person to serve as director of the ERD was Edward F. Knipling, a pioneer of insect eradication techniques and principles. One of the major areas of research during the ERD years was screwworm eradication. This division was originally named the Division of Entomology when it was formed in 1863. Early heads of this division included Townend Glover and Charles Valentine Riley. Early research included the development of insect control and eradication practices, as well as the identification of insects and their life cycles. In 1904 the Division of Entomology reached bureau status, and research greatly expanded to include many more laboratories around the country and the creation of new inspection procedures to prevent insect pest infestation. In 1934 the Bureau of Entomology merged with the Bureau of Plant Quarantine to form the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. This new bureau was able to more efficiently cover more research topics. After the USDA reorganization of 1953, entomology research was placed under its own division of the ARS. This division was abolished in 1972, and its research functions were assigned to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Collection Number: 237
Earliest Date: 1939
Latest Date: 1971
Bulk Dates: 1951-1959
Linear Feet: 1.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Entomology; USDA History
Formats: Reprints
Digitization Status: None

USDA Staff Directories Collection

The USDA Staff Directories Collection consists of telephone and staff directories for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, and some other units of USDA.
Collection Number: 238
Earliest Date: 1932
Latest Date: 1998
Linear Feet: 5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Sugar Crops Section Records

The USDA Sugar Crops Section Records include data sheets, reports, and manuscripts written by various employees; slides, negatives, and photographs of sugar beets; correspondence of George Herbert Coons and Dewey Stewart; and other research files related to sugar beets. The materials are primarily from the administrations of George Herbert Coons and Dewey Stewart. Coons was the Principal Pathologist of the Division of Sugar Plant Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry during the 1930s and 1940s. Stewart was the head of the Sugar Beet Section, Agricultural Research Service during the 1950s and 1960s.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Research to improve sugar production began in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology during the 1890s. By 1926 the section was named the Office of Sugar Plants, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI). Other name changes and office re-designations consist of the following: the Division of Sugar Plant Investigations, BPI, in 1931; divisional component of the Field Crops Divisions, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering (BPISAE) in 1946; Field Crops Group, BPSIAE, in 1951; and Sugar Crops Section, Field Crops Research Branch, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in 1953. This unit was re-designated the Crops Research Division during the 1950s. In 1970 it became the Plant Science Research Division, and in 1972 the research was divided into units located in the regional laboratories of the ARS.
Collection Number: 239
Earliest Date: 1926
Latest Date: 1960
Bulk Dates: 1926-1960
Linear Feet: 32.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Isabel S. Cunningham Collection on Frank N. Meyer

The Isabel S. Cunningham Collection on Frank N. Meyer consists of photocopies of original correspondence, documents, and articles relating to Frank N. Meyer (1875-1918), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant explorer from 1902-1918, collected by Isabel S. Cunningham during research for her book, Frank N. Meyer: Plant Hunter in Asia. In April 2006, Cunningham donated more of her research notes, articles, photographs, and a first edition annotated copy of Frank N. Meyer: Plant Hunter in Asia.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
In 1901, Frans Nicholas Meijer (1875-1918) emigrated from the Netherlands to America where he became Frank Meyer. Almost immediately, Meyer went to work for USDA scientist Erwin F. Smith, known internationally for his groundbreaking work in bacteriology. In 1902, Meyer began working at USDA’s Plant Introduction Station in Santa Ana, California. The period from 1905-1908 marked the beginning of Meyer’s expeditions to Asia, where he collected plants in China, Russia, and Japan, as well as other countries. During his second expedition from 1909-1912, he collected in Europe, Russia, and in China. From 1913-1915, he explored and collected plants in Russia and China. Meyer’s fourth and final expedition took place from 1916-18. The purpose of this journey is stated in the accompanying typescript, dated July 25, 1916. Meyer died an untimely death in June of 1918. While traveling on the Feng Yang Maru Japanese riverboat, destined for Shanghai, he fell overboard into the Yangtze River. His body was recovered, but the circumstances of his death will always remain a mystery and source of speculation. Honored the world over for his contributions as a plant explorer, Frank Meyer’s work touches us all everyday. From apricots to wild pears, his introductions number over 2,500.
Collection Number: 240
Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections
Earliest Date: 1907
Latest Date: 1919
Linear Feet: 2.5
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Plant Exploration
Digitization Status: None

USDA Bureau of Statistics Photograph Collection

The USDA Bureau of Statistics Photograph Collection consists of seven glass negatives, ca. 1910, which are images of statisticians and clerks at work in their offices. There are several glass plates of Victor H. Olmsted, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, with other members of the Crop Reporting Board, including Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Willet Martin Hays.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The Crop Reporting Board prepared the final monthly crop reports and was composed of the Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Statistics as chairman; the Assistant Chief of the bureau; an expert statistician in the employ of the bureau; and two changeable members--special field agents or state statistical agents--who were called to Washington, D.C., for this service in preparing each crop.
Collection Number: 241
Earliest Date: 1910
Latest Date: 1910
Linear Feet: 2
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

USDA Bureau of Plant Industry Records

The USDA Bureau of Plant Industry Records consist of a scrapbook detailing the activities of the Bureau of Plant Industry from the 1920s to the early 1950s. Materials are black and white photographs (some tinted) and negatives of Bureau of Plant Industry employees including botanist Emsweller, research stations and gardens around the United States and crops. Subjects of the photographs include staff, buildings, offices, laboratories, fields, and orchards. There are also research station maps and plans, clippings, and correspondence. Most of the material dates from the 1930s through the 1940s. Many items are unidentified or missing. There are also numerous loose materials inserted in the scrapbook.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) formed in 1901 as a major consolidation of several independent units that all had in common the research of plant and crop science. The BPI had a major focus on doing its experimentation on farms. For its first forty years, the main research center for the BPI was the Arlington (Virginia) Experimental Farm. In addition, the bureau investigated problems related to crop pests, and it also provided instruction programs for farmers around the country. Other major areas of research included seeds, plant disease and pathology, and breeding. The BPI had come together as a collection of research divisions, and continued to maintain and expand these. There were divisions for such areas as botany, fiber plants, plant exploration and introduction, tobacco, cereal crops, and mycology. The BPI was placed under the Agricultural Research Administration in 1942, and was merged with the engineering research functions of the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering to form the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering (BPISAE). The BPISAE was abolished in 1953 with the reorganization of the USDA. In 1972, the functions that had once belonged to the BPI were transferred to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Collection Number: 242
Earliest Date: 1920
Latest Date: 1959
Bulk Dates: 1920-1950
Linear Feet: 6
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

USDA Division of Farm Population and Rural Life Records

The USDA Division of Farm Population and Rural Life Records consist of reports, manuscripts, and unpublished addresses cited in Sociology in Government: A Bibliography of the Work of the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1919-1953 (Olaf Frederick Larson, Edward O. Moe, and Julie Nadine Zimmerman, Westview Press in cooperation with the American Sociological Association and the Rural Sociological Society, 1992). Also included are several additional reports and memoranda not cited in the book, but related to the subject.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Division of Farm Population and Rural Life existed under the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE). The division was established in 1919, and it was the first unit in the history of the federal government to have the sole purpose of conducting sociological research. During the 1910s and 1920s, work was done to build up knowledge about rural life. The research was based on farm population, the organization of rural communities, family life, and standards of living on farms. During the Depression era, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, there was higher demand for information from new agricultural agencies like the Agricultural Adjustment Agency, the Farm Security Administration, and the Soil Conservation Service. The research being done helped to develop programs to improve living conditions for the rural and farm population of the United States. During World War II, research in the division was strictly directed toward winning the war. Much of the research being done was designated for dissemination only within the federal government. Upon the reorganization of the USDA in 1953, the functions of the BAE were split between the Agricultural Research Service and the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the division faded away.
Collection Number: 244
Earliest Date: 1935
Latest Date: 1953
Bulk Dates: 1936-1946
Linear Feet: 1.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases Photograph Collection

The USDA Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases Photograph Collection contains glass and acetate negatives as well as black and white prints. Subjects include aspects of cereal crop classification, production, utilization, farm machinery, diseases, and pests in the United States and foreign countries. Crops include corn, barley, oats, sorghum, sorgo, milo, millet, wheat, flax, rice, rye, and kafir. A number of the negatives were used in the Journal of Agricultural Research; U.S. Department of Agriculture bulletins, circulars, and yearbooks; and other reports.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The Bureau of Plant Industry created a Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases in 1938, due to the expanding functions of the Bureau related to the reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The work of this division involved various aspects of crop pathology and physiology, as well as several important diseases greatly affecting crops. This division became part of the Field Crops Divisions of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering in 1946; the Field Crops Group in 1951; and the Field Crops Research Branch of the Agricultural Research Service (as the Cereal Crops Section) in 1953.
Collection Number: 245
Earliest Date: 1898
Latest Date: 1951
Bulk Dates: 1903-1930
Linear Feet: 51.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

Nancy Boyd Leidenfrost Papers

The Nancy B. Leidenfrost Papers consist of literature from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, including references and publications associated with policies, development, administration, and evaluation. In addition, there are papers related to projects Leidenfrost initiated and coordinated, books she edited, and papers she authored in support of action on food security public issues, education, and the critical issue of poverty and international development for families. There are 500 black and white photographs relating to the Home Economics Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the University of Maryland, c. 1900-1970. Most of the photographs are of the Extension Service's home demonstrations in the United States and abroad. Also included are materials related to principles of design, such as a "good taste" quiz and a "Good and Bad Design" photograph book.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Nancy B. Leidenfrost was a national program leader for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, Extension Service, USDA from 1969-89, and a national program leader for Hunger and Undernutrition Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), from 1989-1994.
Collection Number: 246
Earliest Date: 1965
Latest Date: 2003
Linear Feet: 13.25
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Human Nutrition
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs
Digitization Status: None

USDA Animal Husbandry Division Photograph Collection

The USDA Animal Husbandry Division Photograph Collection contains acetate and glass photographic negatives of animals such as cattle, pigs, swine, poultry, sheep, quail, hare, rabbits, and mink. Also included are negatives of Bureau of Animal Industry employees. Images were taken in Beltsville, Maryland, and other locations within the United States and foreign countries.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture had recognized animal husbandry as a unique sector in 1901, it was not until 1910 that the Animal Husbandry Division was established under the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI). The research performed in the division focused on the breeding and feeding of animals that were of most importance to agricultural and military productivity and food production. Key areas of research included cattle, horses, and poultry production. Soon after its establishment, the Animal Husbandry Division moved its research facilities to the new research center in Beltsville, Maryland. It remained directly under the BAI until the formation of the Agricultural Research Service, which abolished the BAI and split its functions accordingly. The former Animal Husbandry Division is now under the current Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services.
Collection Number: 248
Earliest Date: 1904
Latest Date: 1954
Bulk Dates: 1923-1954
Linear Feet: 25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Animal Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

USDA Insecticide Division Notebooks on White Arsenic

The USDA Insecticide Division Notebooks on White Arsenic are notebooks of scientists who worked on white arsenic research in the Insecticide Division, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. Names on notebooks include F.E. Dearborn, Charles Meldrum Smith, Ole Anker Nelson, Lloyd E. Smith, J.W. Barnes, Cecil Robert Gross, J. Weisser, Carroll Clayton Cassil, E.H. Hamilton, Robert K. Preston, Robert A. Hayes, N. Green, Houston Vernon Claborn, and W.H. Tonkin.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
USDA research on insecticides began in 1910 with the Insecticide and Fungicide Board of the Bureau of Chemistry. In 1927 the Bureau of Chemistry merged with the Bureau of Soils and the soil-related divisions of the Bureau of Plant Industry to form the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. Research on insecticides continued under the broad research subject group "Chemical and Technological Research." In 1934 the Insecticide Division of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils was transferred to the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The main research goal of the Insecticide Division was to find and regulate chemical solutions suitable for the control of insect pests, especially those affecting crops and other plants.
Collection Number: 249
Earliest Date: 1922
Latest Date: 1946
Linear Feet: 2.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Entomology; Physical Sciences; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

Charles Drechsler Papers

The Charles Drechsler Papers consist of the figures or illustrations for two articles in the Journal of Botany in 1954 and 1956: Two Species of Conidiobolus with Minutely Ridges Zygospores and Two New Species of Conidiobolus, notes and pencil drawings for an unpublished article on Helminthosporium spp., a few letters, and specimens of cereal crops with plant diseases.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Charles Drechsler (1892-1986), a world authority on fungi, spent 45 years as a plant pathologist and mycologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While in the position of Mycologist, Horticultural Crops Research Branch, Agricultural Research Service, Drechsler published two articles in the Journal of Botany in 1954 and 1956, the illustrations for which are included in the collection.
Collection Number: 250
Earliest Date: 1927
Latest Date: 1956
Bulk Dates: 1954-56
Linear Feet: 15
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

Clair Elman Terrill Collection

The Clair Elman Terrill Collection contains proofs and photographs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bulletins and circulars, sheep and goat registry and breeding records, a card catalog of rabbit publications, and black and white photographs of rabbits and related subjects. There are papers related to the U.S. Rabbit Experiment Station in Fontana, California, and the U.S. Fur Experiment Station in Ithaca, New York. Also included are photographs, glass and acetate negatives, equipment, and wool samples used in Hardy's work for the U.S. Animal Husbandry Experiment Station (part of the USDA Division of Animal Husbandry) and his Thin Cross-Section Device. There are records of the Sheep and Fur Animal Research Branch, Animal Husbandry Division, Agricultural Research Service. Additionally, the collection contains over 200 wool samples from 1950-1960 labeled with sheep identification number, location, and date. Samples were taken from Beltsville, Maryland, and other locations within the United States.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Clair Elman Terrill (1910-2001), a worldwide leader in sheep production research, was the chief of USDA’s Sheep and Fur Animal Research Branch, Animal Husbandry Division, Agricultural Research Service, from 1955-1972. He developed a three-pronged strategy for increasing efficiency of meat production from sheep without increasing feed demands: genetically increase the lamb crop, remove low-producing adults at an early age, and reduce lamb mortality.
Collection Number: 251
Earliest Date: 1912
Latest Date: 1978
Bulk Dates: 1930s-60s
Linear Feet: 66
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Animal Science; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Dean Howard Mayberry Papers

The Dean Howard Mayberry Papers include records of research of the Northern Regional Research Laboratory as well as press releases, correspondence, publications, and papers on research relating to the transformation of agricultural products into commercial commodities. Some topics of research include oils, cereals, antibiotics, starch, polysaccharides, amylose, corn, and alcohol.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Dean Howard Mayberry began his U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) service in 1956 with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) as the supervisory publications editor for agricultural and biological sciences, for the Information Division in Washington, D.C. From 1958-1978 he was a public information officer for the ARS Information Division, Current Information Branch based in Peoria, Illinois, at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory. From 1978-1982 he worked for the Science and Education Administration, and in 1982 he was reassigned to ARS. Mayberry retired from the USDA in 1985 as a public affairs specialist.
Collection Number: 252
Earliest Date: 1957
Latest Date: 1990
Bulk Dates: 1960-1979
Linear Feet: 51.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Livestock Insects Laboratory Records: Screwworm Eradication Records

The USDA Livestock Insects Laboratory Records include reports, data sheets, correspondence, technical bulletins, and journal articles.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Livestock Insects Laboratory was established in 1979 in Beltsville, Maryland, to discover and develop new and improved methods for control of insects and other arthropods affecting livestock.
Collection Number: 253
Earliest Date: 1932
Latest Date: 1986
Bulk Dates: 1970-1986
Linear Feet: 4.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Animal Science; Entomology; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

Roland Clarence Hartman Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

The Roland Clarence Hartman Papers include speeches, articles, publications, and advertising material related to poultry.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Roland Clarence Hartman (1906-) was a writer and editor of The Poultry Tribune, Everybody's Poultry Magazine, The Pacific Poultryman, and the Poultry Digest.
Collection Number: 254
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1928
Latest Date: 1980
Linear Feet: 1
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Digitization Status: None

National Commission on Small Farms (NCSF) Records

The National Commission on Small Farms (NCSF) Records relate to the work of the National Commission on Small Farms. Records include administrative files; transcripts (paper, tape, and disk) of public hearings; letters from small farmers; executive correspondence; memoranda; drafts and final copy of “Report of the USDA National Commission on Small Farms: A Time to Act”; letterhead and design for final report; email requests for copies of the NCSF report; computer disks of small farm documents; committee reports within the NCSF; and miscellaneous resource documents.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The National Commission on Small Farms (NCSF) was established by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman in 1997. The committee was charged to study the problems of small and limited-resource farmers and to make recommendations to help those farmers.
Collection Number: 255
Earliest Date: 1997
Latest Date: 1998
Bulk Dates: 1997-1998
Linear Feet: 16.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Division of Agricultural Engineering Records

The USDA Division of Agricultural Engineering Records contain photographs, glass negatives, and acetate negatives relating to agricultural engineering. Some of the subjects include irrigation, drainage, farm buildings, farm power and machinery, crops and crop conditioning, harvesting, care and handling of products, road construction, and farm electrification. Additionally, there are articles on agricultural engineering and farm electrification, and speeches and papers by Arthur William Turner, Assistant Chief, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering in 1943. Also, there are materials collected for a book to be written on the history of farm electrification by M. Conner Ahrens, assistant chief of the Farm Electrification Research Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) agricultural engineering research began in the Division of Irrigation Investigations in the Office of Experiment Stations in 1898. By 1915, the Division of Agricultural Engineering was created within the Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering, Bureau of Plant Industry. Agricultural engineering attained bureau status in 1931 and included the Divisions of Irrigation; Drainage and Soil Erosion Control; Mechanical Equipment; Structures; and Plans and Services. In 1939 a new bureau was created called the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering, followed in 1943 by the establishment of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering. The USDA reorganized in 1953 and the new Agricultural Engineering Research Branch became part of the Agricultural Research Service. In 1957 the branch became its own division with four branches including Crop Production, Livestock Engineering and Farm Structures, Harvesting and Farm Processing, and Farm Electrification. M. Conner Ahrens was former assistant chief of the USDA Farm Electrification Research Branch. Arthur William Turner was Assistant Chief for the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering beginning in 1943.
Collection Number: 256
Earliest Date: 1913
Latest Date: 1981
Bulk Dates: 1919-1940
Linear Feet: 40
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; Natural Resources; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

History of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1993-2000 Videotapes Collection (formerly titled USDA Video, Teleconference and Radio Center Records)

The History of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1993-2000 Videotapes Collection consists of videotape oral histories of senior members of the department's administration from 1993-2000. Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Mike Espy are among those interviewed. The interviews were recorded in 2000 and 2001. The collection also includes print and electronic transcripts and a few audiotapes.
Collection Number: 257
Earliest Date: 2000
Latest Date: 2001
Bulk Dates: 2000-2001
Linear Feet: 3.75
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: USDA History
Formats: Audiovisuals
Digitization Status: None