National Agricultural Library Collections: Special Collections--Index to the Manuscript Collections, Search Results

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	Index to the Manuscript Collections--Search Results

24 record(s) found Collection Number: 317 Collection Name: Calvert County, Maryland, Oral History Transcripts Earliest Date: 1990 Latest Date: 1991 Linear Feet: 1 Collection Description: The Calvert County, Maryland, Oral History Transcripts consist of four oral history interviews. Interviewees include Gorman Buckler, Y.D. Hance, Michael Phipps, and J.W. Waters-Ross. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum and the National Agricultural Library conducted a series of interviews with farmers, farm families, agricultural workers, scientists, and others in Calvert County, Maryland, who made significant contributions to American agriculture. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History; Farms and Farming Systems Formats: Audiovisuals Collection Number: 32 Collection Name: Capron, Horace, Memoirs Earliest Date: 1884 Linear Feet: 0.25 Collection Description: The Horace Capron Memoirs [ca. 1884] describe Capron's activities as an operator of mills in New York and Maryland and as a plantation owner and livestock breeder in Maryland and Illinois. In addition, Capron details his service in the Union Army during the Civil War and his tenure as the third Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Finally, he discusses his pioneering work for Japan in the development of the island of Hokkaido. This two-volume autobiography is a copy of the original. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Horace Capron (1804-1885) was the third Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1867-1871). Capron decided to start a career in the cotton manufacturing business in his youth. He became a superintendent of a cotton factory in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1829. Capron started his own factory in Laurel, Maryland, 1836. It was built on land that his wife, Louisa, had inherited upon her father’s death in 1831. Louisa died in 1848, and four years later, Capron received a commission from President Millard Fillmore as special agent for native tribes in the Southwest. He held this post through the end of 1853. Capron remarried in early 1854, and he resettled on farmland in northern Illinois. He also served in the Civil War. In 1867 Capron was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to be the Commissioner of the USDA. In this capacity, Capron commenced on plans for several new USDA buildings, and he also formed the grounds for an arboretum. Capron resigned this post in 1871 to take a similar role in the Kaitakushi Department of Japan, where he primarily advised on the development of the island of Hokkaido. Capron returned to the United States in 1875, and lived his remaining years in Washington, D.C. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Text Available in NALDR: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/NALWeb/Agricola_Link.asp... Subjects: Agricultural History; Animal Science; Farms and Farming Systems; USDA History Collection Number: 33 Collection Name: Card, Leslie E., Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections Earliest Date: 1919 Latest Date: 1948 Linear Feet: 3 Collection Description: The Leslie E. Card Papers contain correspondence, reports, publications, photographs, and miscellaneous papers relating to poultry industry and research in the United States. The correspondence documents early egg-laying contests. There is a comprehensive list, by state, of poultry farmers in the United States (1925). A group of materials relate to the James E. Rice testimonial dinner (1934). Also included are official publications, notes, and programs of the annual meetings of the Poultry Science Association. Historical or Biographical Sketch: With a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1922, Card (1883-1968) became an instructor at the University of Connecticut from 1914-1919 and Cornell University from 1919-1922. He was head of the poultry division of the University of Illinois from 1922-1947, and head of the animal science department from 1947-1957. An author of poultry textbooks and many scientific articles, Card researched poultry breeding, physiology, and egg formation. In 1968 he was elected to the American Poultry Historical Society's Poultry Hall of Fame. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 38 Collection Name: Cardon, Phillip V., Papers Earliest Date: 1910 Latest Date: 1961 Linear Feet: 2.5 Collection Description: The Phillip V. Cardon Papers include correspondence, articles, poems, photographs, and material relating to his work in the areas of soil research, forage crop improvements, land use policy, and the USDA Graduate School. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Among the many positions which Cardon (1889-1965) held with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were agronomist for the Bureau of Plant Industry (1909-1919) and director of the USDA Graduate School (1950-1952). Beginning in 1953, he served as director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; Plant Science; Natural Resources; USDA History Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 39 Collection Name: Carpenter, Clifford D., Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections Earliest Date: 1912 Latest Date: 1965 Linear Feet: 1 Collection Description: The Clifford D. Carpenter Papers include Carpenter's research, writings, and photographic accomplishments. Materials chronicle the events leading to his election to the International Poultry Hall of Fame and the American Poultry Historical Society Poultry Hall of Fame [1968]. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Clifford D. Carpenter (1897-1965) received a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell University in 1920 and a master of science degree from the University of Kansas in 1938. He was the founder of the first private, exclusively-poultry veterinary practice in America in 1923 and worked in this practice from 1923-1935. From 1935-1944, he worked in an industry veterinary practice. President of the Institute of American Poultry Industries, 1944-1958, he provided pioneering and inspiring leadership to the rapidly growing and changing poultry industry. He was a delegate and chairman of the U.S. participation committee to the 9th, 11th, and 12th World's Poultry Congress. In 1968, he was elected to the American Poultry Historical Society Poultry Hall of Fame. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 40 Collection Name: Carpenter, Clifford D., Poultry Humor Art Collection Earliest Date: 1952 Latest Date: 1962 Linear Feet: 6.25 Collection Description: The Clifford D. Carpenter Poultry Humor Art Collection contains original artwork, comics, and advertisements created by artists Joe E. Buresch, Charles Dennis, Charles W. Trotter, and others. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Clifford D. Carpenter (1897-1965) received a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell University in 1920 and a master of science degree from the University of Kansas in 1938. He was the founder of the first private, exclusively-poultry veterinary practice in America in 1923 and worked in this practice from 1923-1935. From 1935-1944, he worked in an industry veterinary practice. President of the Institute of American Poultry Industries, 1944-1958, he provided pioneering and inspiring leadership to the rapidly growing and changing poultry industry. He was a delegate and chairman of the U.S. participation committee to the 9th, 11th, and 12th World's Poultry Congress. In 1968, he was elected to the American Poultry Historical Society Poultry Hall of Fame. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Poultry Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia Collection Number: 56 Collection Name: Carper, Elsie, Collection on Extension Service, Home Economics, and 4-H Earliest Date: 1908 Latest Date: 1990 Linear Feet: 8.75 Collection Description: The Elsie Carper Collection on Extension Service, Home Economics, and 4-H contains materials relating to early extension work, largely saved by Extension specialists and program leaders over Carper's many years of employment as a clerk at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Subject areas include Cooperative Extension history, early history of Extension home economics, Extension Homemaker's Organization, early history of the National Association of Extension Home Economists, and 4-H materials. Historical or Biographical Sketch: The National Association of Extension Home Economists (NAEHE) began in 1934 as the Home Demonstration Agents’ National Association. The mission of this organization was "to promote the interest of home demonstration work." NAEHE also had a goal of helping to improve the skills of its members in the areas of home economics and adult education. In 1965, members of the National Negro Home Demonstration Agents Association (NNHDAA) merged into the NAEHE. The NNHDAA had been founded seven years earlier, and specifically focused on home economics in the African-American community. In 1995, the NAEHE once again changed its name, this time to the National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences. This change came about because of the evolutionary shift of the profession to family and consumer science. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Text Available in NALDR: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/NALWeb/Agricola_Link.asp... Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Animal Science; Economics; Human Nutrition Formats: Posters; Photographs Collection Number: 226 Collection Name: Carver, George Washington, Collection Earliest Date: 1920 Latest Date: 1996 Bulk Dates: 1940-1977 Linear Feet: 6.25 Collection Description: The George Washington Carver Collection consits of photographs and text used in an exhibit at the National Agricultural Library (NAL). Photographs are not originals. NAL staff requested from another source for exhibit. Date of exhibit is unknown. Additionally, there are photocopies of articles (1920-1996) published about Carver. Most articles were obtained by Special Collections through interlibrary loan. There are photocopies of the "Official Personal Record Folder for Federal Employee" for Carver located at the National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, Civilian Peronnel Records, 111 Winnebago Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118-4199. There is also a transcript of a one-man play titled "Listening to the Still Small Voice: The Story of George Washington Carver." By Paxton J. Williams. No date. Autographed by author. Donated by Esther Edwards, USDA Visitor's Center, in 2001. Historical or Biographical Sketch: George Washington Carver (1864-1943), farmer, agricultural chemist, and educator, dedicated his life to agricultural research projects. He developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in the soil and he created new uses for the peanut and sweet potato crops which helped to improve the southern agricultural economy. Carver was the first African American to serve on the faculty of Iowa State University and spent the majority of his career as director of agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute. Beginning in 1935, he worked for the United States Department of Agriculture as a collaborator in the Division of Plant Mycology. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 372 Collection Name: Carver, George Washington, Correspondence Collection Earliest Date: 1932 Latest Date: 1943 Bulk Dates: 1932-1933, 1938, 1943 Linear Feet: 0.5 Collection Description: The collection contains correspondence between Carver and former Agricultural Research Service scientist Paul R. Miller. There are three handwritten letters dated 1932-1933 from Carver and a reply from Miller regarding rust specimens. A signed portrait from Carver to Miller (1938) is included. Additionally, there are two letters dated 1943 from Rackham Holt (author of George Washington Carver: An American Biography) to Miller regarding Miller's text contribution to the book. Miller described Carver's standing in the scientific world. Historical or Biographical Sketch: George Washington Carver (1864-1943), farmer, agricultural chemist, and educator, dedicated his life to agricultural research projects. He developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in the soil and he created new uses for the peanut and sweet potato crops which helped to improve the southern agricultural economy. Carver was the first African American to serve on the faculty of Iowa State University and spent the majority of his career as director of agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute. Beginning in 1935, he worked for the United States Department of Agriculture as a collaborator in the Division of Plant Mycology. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science; USDA History Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 41 Collection Name: Cedar Valley Land Company of Vinton, Iowa Records Earliest Date: 1904 Latest Date: 1907 Linear Feet: 0.25 Collection Description: The Cedar Valley Land Company of Vinton, Iowa, Records consist of two volumes of the company's contracts and records of land sales. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Economics; Farms and Farming Systems; Natural Resources Collection Number: 313 Collection Name: Celebrity Pesticide Spots Phonograph Records Earliest Date: 1970 Linear Feet: 1.75 Collection Description: The Celebrity Pesticide Spots Phonograph Records consist of four 33 1/3 RPM records containing spots about the safe use of pesticides produced by USDA Office of Information, Radio and Television Service, Washington, D.C. Three of the records are identical; there are a total of two unique records. Celebrity voices include Minnie Pearl, Art Carney, Arthur Godfrey, and Eva Gabor. Additionally, there is a typescript of the spots with a generic letter about the typescript signed by Layne Beaty, Chief of Radio and Television Service. The letter appears to have been sent out to public service directors. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History; Entomology; USDA History Formats: Audiovisuals Collection Number: 35 Collection Name: Chamberlain, Frank Wilbut, Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections Earliest Date: 1943 Latest Date: 1945 Bulk Dates: Pre 1945-1943 ??? Linear Feet: 9 Collection Description: The Frank Wilbut Chamberlain Papers include copies of galley proofs of Chamberlain’s book Atlas of Avian Anatomy. Proofs contain sections on osteology, arthrology, and myology. Copies of a typed manuscript with penciled notes cover other systems of the avian species, such as circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, urinary, nervous, etc. Manuscript may have been intended to be Volume 2 of the Atlas of Avian Anatomy. Also includes printer’s blocks of different parts of the chicken skeleton, ligaments and muscles. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Frank Wilbut Chamberlain was a professor of anatomy at Michigan State College, and published the Atlas of Avian Anatomy as Agricultural Experiment Station Memoir Bulletin 5 in June 1943. Correspondence (largely from 1944 and 1945) and printers' blocks included in the collection indicate that Chamberlain intended to publish a second volume of the atlas, but there is no evidence that it ever went to press. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry Collection Number: 281 Collection Name: Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation Records Earliest Date: 1985 Latest Date: 2001 Bulk Dates: 1985-2001 Linear Feet: 2.5 Collection Description: The Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation Records include correspondence, agreements, minutes, financial records, briefing books, and publications and reports produced by the foundation. Historical or Biographical Sketch: The Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation was formally organized on November 4, 1985, when the bylaws were adopted and a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Riley Foundation was signed by then-Secretary of Agriculture John Block and the first president of the Board of Directors of the Riley Foundation, John Gordon. Its stated purpose is "to promote a broader and more complete understanding of agriculture as the most basic human endeavor, . . . To make secure the lever that is agriculture and its fulcrum, the natural environment, during this and succeeding generations, [and]. . . To facilitate the exchange of disparate views between individuals and groups and to make these views more apparent to the public at large without being an advocate for any particular point of view." Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Entomology Collection Number: 349 Collection Name: Chester N. Husman Awards: Screwworm Eradication Program Records Collection Group: Screwworm Eradication Program Records Earliest Date: 1947 Latest Date: 1991 Linear Feet: 1.25 Collection Description: Chester N. Husman Awards: Screwworm Eradication Program Records contains awards given to Chester N. Husman and Agricultural Research Service (ARS) for their efforts in the screwworm eradication programs. Granting organizations include the U.S. War Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Mexican government. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Chester N. Husman was an engineer for the USDA and assisted on the screwworm efforts. He participated in research efforts in Florida, assiting with the rearing process and construction of buildings. At Sebring, Florida, Husman developed a system for collecting screwworm larva which involved transporting larva in a water tray; this decreased mortality rates and rates at which the larva escaped their holding trays. In the 1970s he designed irradiators that were used to sterilize the screwworms, often referred to as the Husman irradiator. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Entomology; USDA History Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia Collection Number: 36 Collection Name: Christie, Andrew, Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections Earliest Date: 1938 Latest Date: 1940 Linear Feet: 0.5 Collection Description: The Andrew Christie Papers consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings and photographs concerning Christie’s work with the Seventh World's Poultry Congress, held in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1939. Historical or Biographical Sketch: One of the earliest U.S. poultry breeders to recognize the need to breed poultry specifically for their meat-producing characteristics, Andrew Christie of Kingston, New Hampshire, developed his strain of New Hampshire Red chickens to produce a superior meat-type chicken. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry Collection Number: 294 Collection Name: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Collection Linear Feet: 0.25 Collection Description: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Collection contains photographs and papers related to the 326th Company CCC in New Germany, Maryland. CCC activities represented are camp life, work projects, national defense, and education. Historical or Biographical Sketch: The Civilian Conservation Corps was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, which was a plan to rehabilitate and recover the nation from the Great Depression. It was in operation from 1933 to 1942. Its creation came about as a result of the Emergency Conservation Work Act. In just nine years, over three million unemployed young men fought a war with the destruction and corrosion of America’s natural resources. Programs were set up in every state and also in four territories (Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands). Some of the tasks done by members of the CCC included fighting fires, building roads, erecting fire towers, soil erosion control, and planting trees (in all, more than 3 billion). The CCC also helped to develop several recreational facilities in parks of many jurisdictions (from metropolitan to national). The CCC began to go into decline in the early 1940s, mostly due a better economy and the United States' entry into World War II. Congress could no longer fund the CCC because it was not essential to the war effort. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 97 Collection Name: Coles, Rupert, Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections Earliest Date: 1977 Latest Date: 1997 Linear Feet: 1 Collection Description: The Rupert Coles Papers consist of Christmas cards created from Coles's original artwork. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Rupert Coles was the Chief Poultry Advisory Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in Great Britain (dates unknown). Coles served as the President of the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) circa 1956-1957 (the best estimate is that he served from 1954-1958, corresponding to the period of time between the World Poultry Congresses, which took place every four years). He was the acting secretary-treasurer of the WPSA from 1968-1970 and became secretary in 1970. He held that position until at least 1982. Coles wrote a book entitled: Development of the Poultry Industry in England and Wales 1945-1959. [Poultry World Limited, London, 1960] Coles had a B.A., M.S. in economics, M.S. In Agriculture, and Ph.D. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia Collection Number: 280 Collection Name: Collection of Expedition Photographs from the Office of Plant Exploration Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections Earliest Date: 1910 Latest Date: 1945 Linear Feet: 2 Collection Description: The Collection of Expedition Photographs from the Office of Plant Exploration consists of lantern slides and negatives of three U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant-collecting expeditions: a trip to Southeast Asia and China in the latter half of 1922 possibly by J. F. Rock; a forage and fruit-collecting trip to Germany and the Soviet Union from July to September 1929 by H. L. Westover and W. E. Whitehouse; and an expedition to Caucasus (now part of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and some of Russia including Chechnya), Turkestan (in current Uzbekistan), and Siberia from 1910-1911 by Frank E. Meyer. Lantern slides are mostly black and white. In 2002, the Arnold Arboretum donated 300 to 500 black and white photographs and negatives related to Palemon Howard Dorsett. Those photographs and negatives relating to the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition, which took place between 1929 and 1931, were separated and placed in the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition Collection. Most of the envelopes contain detailed descriptions including subject, date, place, and photographer. The dates range from 1914 to 1945, with the bulk being from 1924 to 1930. The subject matter is plants and landscapes. The geographic areas include China, Japan, Korea, the Soviet Union, Spain, Africa, Mexico, Central and South America. Among the photographers are Dorsett, Piemeisal, Kephart, Whitehouse, Westover, Ryerson, Archer, McMullan, Polhamus, Muller, and Erlanson. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Plant Exploration Formats: Photographs Collection Number: 376 Collection Name: Collection of papers related to the translation of Five Continents by Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. Linear Feet: 2 Collection Description: This is a collection of papers related to the National Agricultural Library's translation project in which Doris Love translated the Russian book Five Continents written by Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. In 1992, Love was in communication with Henry L. Shands, Associate Deputy Administrator, Genetic Reources, National Program Staff. Records include correspondence, drafts, final text, contract papers, photocopies of images, and diskettes. There is a copy of the book in Special Collections. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Russian Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (1887-1943) is recognized as the foremost plant geographer of the twentieth century.Nikolai I. Vavilov was born into the family of a merchant in Moscow. In 1911, having graduated from the Agricultural Institute, Vavilov continued to work at the Department of Agriculture Proper headed by Prof. Pryanishnikov. In 1911-1912 Vavilov did practical work at the Bureau for Applied Botany and at the Bureau of Mycology and Phytopathology of the Agricultural Scientific Committee. In 1913-1914, Vavilov traveled to Europe where he studied plant immunity, mostly with Prof. W. Bateson, a co-founder of the science of genetics. In autumn 1917 the Head of the Bureau for Applied Botany Robert. E. Regel (1867-1920) supported the nomination of N.I.Vavilov, a young professor from the Saratov Higher Agricultural Courses, as Deputy Head of the Bureau. Vavilov continued his investigations in Saratov where he has awarded the title of Professor of the Saratov University in 1918. During the Civil War, from 1918 to 1920, Saratov became the scientific stronghold for the Department of Applied Botany (Bureau till 1917). In 1920 Vavilov was elected head of the Department, and soon moved to Petrograd (St.Petersburg now) together with his students and associates. In 1924, the Department was transformed into the Institute of Applied Botany and new Crops (VIR since 1930), and occupied the position of the central nationwide institution responsible for collecting the world plant diversity and studying it for the purposes of plant breeding. He took part in over 100 collecting missions. His major foreign expeditions included those to Iran (1916); the United States, Central and South America (1921, 1930, 1932); the Mediterranean and Ethiopia (1926-1927). For his expedition to Afghanistan in 1924 Vavilov was awarded the N.M.Przhevalskii Gold Medal of the Russian Geographic Society. These missions and the determined search for plants were based on the Vavilov's concepts in the sphere of evolutionary genetics, i.e. the Law of Homologous Series in Variation (1920) and the theory of the Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants (1926). Vavilov, the symbol of glory of the national science, is at the same time the symbol of its tragedy. As early as in the beginning of the 1930's his scientific programs were being deprived of governmental support. In the stifling atmosphere of a totalitarian state, the institute headed by Vavilov turned into a resistance point to the pseudo-scientific concepts of Trofim D.Lysenco. As a result of this controversy, Vavilov was arrested in August 1940, and his closest associates were also sacked and imprisoned. He died in the Saratov prison of dystrophia on 26 January 1943 and was buried in a common prison grave. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Exploration; Plant Science Collection Number: 37 Collection Name: Cooke, George, Diary Earliest Date: 1826 Latest Date: 1849 Bulk Dates: 1826-1841, 1845-1849 Linear Feet: 1.25 Collection Description: The George Cooke Diary is a two-volume handwritten record of a Maryland plantation in Hazelwood, near Patuxent, Maryland. The diary includes daily entries for a 20-year period describing the operation of the family farm. It contains information on weather conditions, travel, and Cooke’s pedigree. Historical or Biographical Sketch: George Cooke (1791-1849) was an antebellum planter in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, during the early part of the 19th century. He was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the last of nine children of aristocratic parents William and Elizabeth. George spent most of his childhood growing up in Baltimore, where his father practiced law and served on the city council. George and his brothers fought for the United States during the War of 1812. In 1814, George Cooke married Eleanor Addison Dall, the daughter of James Dall, a Baltimore merchant, and Sarah Brooke Holliday. The couple had 12 children. In 1819, Cooke won an auction that allowed him to buy the 505-acre “Hazlewood” estate for $36 per acre (a total of $18,180). Soon after, the family moved onto the farm located in what is now Howard County, Maryland. Cooke was primarily a planter during his life at Hazlewood. During the 1830s, he was also active in politics, and was once appointed to the state lottery commission. From 1826 through 1849, he maintained a thorough diary of the activities on the plantation, as well as the various other events and interests in his life. Cooke’s account is considered to be one of the most complete in existence of farm life in Maryland during his era. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Text Available in NALDR: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/NALWeb/Agricola_Link.asp... Subjects: Agricultural History; Farms and Farming Systems Collection Number: 44 Collection Name: Coxe, William, Manuscript Earliest Date: 1810 Latest Date: 1831 Linear Feet: 0.5 Collection Description: The William Coxe Manuscript is a two-volume, undated manuscript on pomology. The first manuscript volume contains 832 pages of text and sketches of fruits which William Coxe used to write A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in America, published in 1817. This volume includes notes with dates ranging from 1810-1828. The notes were intended for use in a second edition of A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in America, which was never published due to Coxe's death. The second manuscript volume consists of an atlas of life-size, watercolor plates of fruit on Bristol-board, painted by Coxe's daughters. The watercolor plates are cut out from the Bristol-board and fastened to the leaves of the book, then each name is handwritten in pen above the illustration. Historical or Biographical Sketch: William Coxe (1762-1831), a pomologist, was one of the foremost fruit growers in America who experimented with new varieties of fruits at his home in Burlington, New Jersey. He collected specimens from the United States and abroad. A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in America is a classic of American pomological literature. It is considered by many specialists as the illustrative evidence of fruit culture during the colonial and revolutionary period of the new American nation. William A. Taylor, assistant pomologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, read an 1857 article in Country Gentleman about the manuscript. Through the use of Library of Congress geneological materials, Taylor was able to contact Coxe's family members and locate the manuscripts. The grandchildren of Elizabeth (Coxe) McMurtrie, one of Coxe's daughters, donated the manuscripts to Secretary of Agriculture D. F. Houston in 1915. Processed: No, contact Special Collections. Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia Collection Number: 45 Collection Name: Cram, Eloise, Papers Earliest Date: 1853 Latest Date: 1991 Linear Feet: 4.5 Collection Description: The Eloise Cram Papers contain correspondence, photographs, scientific articles, and various ephemera relating to the professional lives and work of several scientists employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The scientists included are Eloise B. Cram, Maurice C. Hall, Brayton H. Ransom, Charles W. Stiles, Albert Hassell, and Daniel E. Salmon. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Parasitologist Eloise Cram (1897-1957) entered government service as a zoologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), where she became noted as a world authority on the parasites of poultry, and eventually rose to be Head, Parasites of Poultry and Game Birds, USDA. When she took a position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she contributed to the study of pinworm and researched the curbing of the helminthic disease Schistosomiasis. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Animal Science; USDA History Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs Collection Number: 240 Collection Name: Cunningham, Isabel S., Collection on Frank N. Meyer Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections Earliest Date: 1907 Latest Date: 1919 Linear Feet: 2.5 Collection Description: 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. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Plant Exploration Collection Number: 346 Collection Name: Cunningham, Isabel S., Collection on Howard Scott Gentry Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections Earliest Date: 1940 Latest Date: 1995 Bulk Dates: 1984-1993 Linear Feet: 0.5 Collection Description: The Isabel S. Cunningham Collection on Howard Scott Gentry consists of articles, notes, photographs, and Cunningham's draft articles on Howard Gentry's expeditions as plant collector. Cunningham collected these materials to write several articles about Gentry. Cunningham donated these materials in April 2006. Historical or Biographical Sketch: Howard Scott Gentry (1903-1993) earned a bachelor's degree in vertebrate zoology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1931. In 1933, Gentry started plant expeditions in Yaqui country (Sonora-Chihuahua, Mexico) and the following year in Indian barranca country in Mexico. He published his first book titled Rio May Plants of Sonor-Chihuahua in 1942. Gentry started working for the United States Department of Agriculture's Rubber Office in 1942 until 1945. The next four years he was a research botanist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In 1947 he obtained a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Michigan. From 1950 to 1971, Gentry was a plant collector for the New Crops Research Branch, USDA, and led expeditions into Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, and Mexico. In 1970 Gentry opened the Gentry Experimental Farm in Murrieta, California, and became a research botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden two years later. He began his final position as Research Director for the Desert Botanical Garden in 1985. Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online. Subjects: Plant Exploration; Plant Science; USDA History Formats: Photographs
Last Modified : June 13, 2007