Art, Artifacts and Photos

Spotlights
Agriculture-related Image Sources

Most government images are in the public domain, and can be freely reused as long as their use doesn't imply government endorsement of a particular product/business. Here are a few image sources you may find helpful:

NAL's Special Collections are a particularly rich source of images related to agriculture and agricultural history.

If you're looking for something specific and don't find it at any of those sites or in our Special Collections, you can contact the USDA Photography Services to find out if they have the type of image you need.

Additional sources of agricultural images and artifacts are featured on the rest of this page. Note: images found on the non-government sites may have copyright restrictions.
cover of Cole's Garden Annual, 1895, from NAL Special Collections; pictured: watermelon, corn, iceburg lettuc, and tomato Seed Catalogs

Historical seed catalog covers are a rich source of artwork for fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
USDA 150 Years (1862-2012) 150 Years of USDA Photo Set

United States Department of Agriculture.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was established on May 15, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. In 2012, USDA celebrates its 150th anniversary. This is a pictorial representation of 150 years of service by USDA to the American public.
The Royal Society logo Royal Society Picture Library

The Royal Society.

Created to inspire the exploration of science through its visual history, The Royal Society Picture Library is an online database of digital images of paintings, drawings and prints held in the Royal Society's collections. Includes images of animals, objects, and people.
Picture of the fronts of four note cards featuring colored images of historic USDA locations USDA 150th anniversary commemorative note cards

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of USDA with commemorative note cards. Featuring black-and-white or colored photographic images of historic USDA buildings and grounds, these cards will add vintage flair to your handwritten notes.
Curtis's Botanical Magazine

USDA. National Agricultural Library.

William Curtis (1746-1799) was a trained pharmacist living in London, whose greater interest was the study of flora and insects. He maintained a large garden where he grew beautiful exotic plants, and began publishing the Curtis Botanical Magazine in 1787. This digital presentation represents 1,050 records, 1,048 plates, and 1,456 related pages of text from the first 26 volumes.
Wildflower Watercolor Painted by Passmore Deborah Griscom Passmore Watercolors

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Guide to a collection of watercolors by and materials about Deborah Griscom Passmore, a USDA botanical artist.
Cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin Cherry Tree Files collection

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Assembled by Roland Maurice Jefferson, a botanist at the United States National Arboretum, the United States National Arboretum (USNA) Collection Cherry Tree Files spans the years 1809-1993 and reflects the research Jefferson conducted for the writing of The Japanese Flowering Cherry Trees of Washington, D.C.: A Living Symbol of Friendship. Jefferson was featured in the Washington Post article, "For retired botanist, cherry blossoms never lost their charm".
Gardens and Historic Houses from the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection

Library of Congress.

Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was one of the first American women to achieve prominence as a photographer. This set of images represents a small cross-section of the entire Johnston collection, which consists of an estimated 20,000 photographic prints and 3,700 glass and film negatives. Images in the collection span the period, 1850-1949, but the majority date between 1897 and 1927.
image with a corn cob in the foreground and a cornfield in the background; This image from the Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection, part of Special Collections at NAL Native American Farming Image Gallery

Illinois State Museum.

Provides images of artifacts and recreations of Native American farming in Illinois. Accompanies the Museum's online exhibit, "History of Illinois Agriculture."
Ewe Suckling Twins Animal Sciences Image Gallery

Animal Science Education Consortium; National Agricultural Library.

Provides images, animations and video that can be used by agriculture and life science faculty in their classroom teaching.
Museum of the Rockies Photo Archive Online

Montana State University. Museum of the Rockies.

The Museum of the Rockies Photo Archive is a preservation and research collection of historical photography from the Northern Rockies Region of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Collection strengths include: farming and ranching in Montana and the Northern Rockies Region, regional industries, people and events, Yellowstone National Park, and railroads of the northwestern United States. Several collections focus on agriculture and landscapes, with one collection devoted to the photos of J.C. Whitham, a U.S. Forest Service employee.
Farm Security Administration Photographs

New York Public Library.

View historical images taken for USDA's Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression. Hosted by the New York Public Library, this collection includes images by photographers like Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks that are not in the Library of Congress collection of FSA photographs.
Botanical Art and Images

Smithsonian Institution. National Museum of Natural History. Department of Botany.

Displays images of plant life in marine and terrestrial environments, including Hawaii, the Marquesas Islands, and the Washington, D.C. region.
Ladybug Agricultural Image Gallery

USDA. Agricultural Research Service.

Offers free agriculture-related digital images. Sorts images by major subject and includes a search engine.
National Archives Images on Flickr

National Archives and Records Administration.

View collections of historical images from National Archives' holdings on the photo hosting site Flickr.
Portrait of Charles Valentine Riley Charles Valentine Riley Collection

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Guide to a collection containing correspondence, reports, photographs, and drawings by Charles Valentine Riley, Chief of the Federal Entomological Service in the 1880s.
Cactus Flower Plant Image Gallery

Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

Includes several images of each species, representing all life stages and forms of a plant. Includes over 600 species, mostly from the Southern Great Plains region.
U.S. Forest Service History

Forest History Society.

A history of the U.S. Forest Service of the USDA from 1905 to present. Includes original documents, laws and regulations, and photographs.
Woman in Stars and Stripes Outfit "Beans are Bullets" and "Of Course I Can!" War-Era Food Posters

Displaying posters from World War I and II found in NAL's collection, this online exhibit examines the evolution of poster styles, propaganda messages and advertising history from the two time periods.
Watercolor of "Great Bearer" Apple Special Collections Image Gallery

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Offers access to digital reproductions of original artwork, nursery and seed trade catalogs, manuscript collections, and portions of rare books from across the agricultural specialties.
Grapes Painted by Prestele The Papers of Wilhelm Heinrich (William Henry) Prestele

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Guide to the papers of the first artist of the USDA Pomology Division. Provides a biographical sketch, along with a description of this artistically and scientifically rich collection.
Watercolor of "California" Strawberry USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

View over 7,000 watercolor images produced by USDA artists to illustrate new fruit cultivars at the turn of the 20th century.
Flower from The Botanical Magazine by William Curtis Rare Book Collection

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Selections of images reproduced from rare books covering a variety of subjects, including botany, natural history, zoology, and entomology.
Back Cover of Nursery Catalog: Peter Henderson & Co. Plate--Jubilee Collection of Mammoth Butterfly Pansies (New York, NY, 1897) Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection

USDA. NAL. Special Collections.

Samples from nursery and seed trade catalogs published since the late 18th century.
Hunt Institute Logo Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

Carnegie Mellon University.

Collects in and provides reference services for the history of botany and all aspects of plant science, including the fields of botanical art, history of science, horticulture, botanic gardens, medicine, scientific education, scientific expeditions, and biographies of botanists.

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