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Manuscript Collections Search

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 26 - 50 of 469 Collections

Albert Wade Brant Collection: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

The Albert Wade Brant Collection contains copies of scientific literature and non-published documents on poultry meat and egg research, dating from approximately 1930 until 1998. An author file of 17,000 cards accompanies the publications. The abstracts were generated or made available by the following organizations or individuals: Institute of American Poultry Industries; University of Illinois; U.S. Egg and Poultry Magazine; Dr. George F. Stewart and A. Wade Brant. Other materials in the collection include minutes of the Pacific Dairy and Poultry Association (PDPA), Institute of American Poultry Industries (IAPI), letters, photographs, cartoons, post cards, humorous poems, chicken and turkey stories, newspaper clippings, chicken jokes, Poultry Science Association mementos, and films.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Albert Wade Brant (1919-2011) graduated from Kansas State University in 1940 with a bachelor of science degree in poultry husbandry, received a master of science degree in poultry nutrition from Michigan State University in 1942, and a Ph.D. in food science and technology in 1949 from Iowa State University. For 10 years (1949-1959) Brant worked for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland, conducting research on egg and poultry meat quality, rising to the position of chief of the Poultry Research Branch, Animal Husbandry Research Division. From late-1959 through 1980 Brant worked at the University of California – Davis, College of Agriculture, Department of Food Science and Technology as a Food Technologist, Lecturer in Food Science and Technology, and Associate in the Agricultural Experiment Station. Brant was actively involved with the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) and its USA Branch (and predecessor committee) from 1958-1996 and remains a lifetime member. From 1965-1978, he served as secretary/ treasurer, vice president, and president of the USA Branch. In 1978 he was elected treasurer of the WPSA and served in that capacity until 1996. Brant authored or co-authored over 250 research papers, bulletins, technical articles, and book chapters, and two public service patents.
Collection Number: 27
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1907
Latest Date: 1997
Linear Feet: 28.5
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Audiovisuals
Digitization Status: None

Harold F. Breimyer Papers

The Harold F. Breimyer Papers include correspondence produced during Breimyer’s association with the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) and the American Farm Economic Association (AFEA), programs of meetings, reprints, and newspaper clippings related to AAEA and AFEA.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Harold F. Breimyer (1914-2001) worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as an economist for 30 years and was an agent for the University of Missouri’s agricultural extension.
Collection Number: 28
Earliest Date: 1958
Latest Date: 1970
Linear Feet: 2
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; USDA History
Formats: Reprints
Digitization Status: None

John Monroe Brewster Papers

The John Monroe Brewster Papers include correspondence, research notes, photographs, and a manuscript of a book of Brewster's writings which was published posthumously. The book is titled: A Philosopher Among Economists [Selected Works of John M. Brewster]. Philadelphia: J. T. Murphy Co., [1970].
Historical or Biographical Sketch
John Monroe Brewster (1904-1965), an agricultural economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), began his service in 1936 in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Land Use Planning Division. Throughout his career he continued to serve as an agricultural economist within many different USDA divisions including the Farm Security Administration, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Production and Marketing Administration, Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Production Economics Research Branch. Brewster’s last position at the USDA was as the leader of the Farm Size and Resource Requirements Investigations, Agricultural Adjustments Branch of the Farm Economics Division of the Economic Research Service. Some of his notable studies focused on oilseed processing, the relation of resources-to-income in family farming, the classification and structure of family and non-family farms, the effects of technological advance on American farming, and cultural attitudes as a factor in the economic growth of under-developed countries. In 1954 Dr. Brewster received the USDA Superior Service Award and the Agricultural Marketing Service Meritorious Award for his work with cottonseed oil mills.
Collection Number: 29
Earliest Date: 1950
Latest Date: 1970
Linear Feet: 3
Subjects: Economics; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Emerson Merlyn Brooks Papers

The Emerson Merlyn Brooks Papers contain the original manuscript material, worksheets, photographs, and maps relating to the book The Growth of a Nation; A Pictorial Review of the United States from Colonial Days to the Present, 1956. There are also materials intended for use in a book called Pictorial Agriculture-USA.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Emerson Merlyn Brooks (1905-1982) was an agricultural statistician who began his U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) career in 1933 with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE). In 1939 Brooks was transferred to Washington, D.C., to specialize in estimates of the tobacco, peanut, and sugar crops. From 1963-1967, he served as the deputy director of the Field Operations Division. Brooks completed his service with the USDA working with the Statistical Reporting Service (SRS) as a staff officer for career development and foreign programs, from 1967-1972.
Collection Number: 30
Earliest Date: 1913
Latest Date: 1972
Linear Feet: 17.5
Subjects: Agricultural History; Economics; Farms and Farming Systems; USDA History
Formats: Maps; Photographs
Digitization Status: None

USDA Bureau of Dairy Industry Records

The USDA Bureau of Dairy Industry Records include clippings of articles by or about Ollie E. Reed, Chief of the Bureau of Dairy Industry from 1928 to 1953. There is also historical information on the Dairy Division as part of the Bureau of Animal Industry, and later as the Bureau of Dairy Industry. Other materials include publications of the Dairy Cattle Research Branch (1956-1957); speeches of Carl W. Larson, Reed’s predecessor as Chief of the Bureau of Dairy Industry; and some certificates of Ralph E. Hodgson, former Chief of Dairy Husbandry Research (1957). This collection also contains black and white photographs and negatives of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center’s dairy buildings, animals, and dairy personnel.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Secretary of Agriculture Henry Cantwell Wallace, a dairy specialist, approved expanding the USDA’s Dairy Division by reorganizing it as the Bureau of Dairying on July 1, 1924. Two years later, the name of the agency changed to the Bureau of Dairy Industry. The Bureau consisted of five major divisions: the Dairy Research Laboratories; Market Milk Investigations; Breeding, Feeding, and Management; Dairy Herd Improvement Investigations; and Dairy Manufacturing Investigations and Introduction. In 1954, the USDA abolished the Bureau of Dairy Industry. Its functions were transferred to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Non-regulatory functions were assigned to the Dairy Husbandry Research Branch, and regulatory functions went to the Meat Inspection Branch.
Collection Number: 31
Collection Group: Dairy Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1908
Latest Date: 1983
Bulk Dates: 1960-1967
Linear Feet: 2
Subjects: Animal Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Horace Capron Memoirs

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.
Collection Number: 32
Earliest Date: 1884
Latest Date: 1884
Linear Feet: 0.25
Subjects: Agricultural History; Animal Science; Farms and Farming Systems; USDA History
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

Leslie E. Card Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

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.
Collection Number: 33
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1919
Latest Date: 1948
Linear Feet: 3
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Early Extension Service Miscellaneous Materials

Early Extension Service Miscellaneous Materials contain reference materials from the early U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extension services including publications, glass slides, photographs, and film.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Materials were gathered by Helen Strow (1904-1999) and Beatrice Judkins (d. 2003), who were employed by the USDA Extension Service.
Collection Number: 34
Earliest Date: 1916
Latest Date: 1980
Linear Feet: 4.5
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; USDA History
Formats: Audiovisuals; Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Frank Wilbut Chamberlain Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

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.
Collection Number: 35
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1943
Latest Date: 1945
Bulk Dates: Pre 1945-1943 ???
Linear Feet: 9
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Digitization Status: None

Andrew Christie Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

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.
Collection Number: 36
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1938
Latest Date: 1940
Linear Feet: 0.5
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Digitization Status: None

George Cooke Diary

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.
Collection Number: 37
Earliest Date: 1826
Latest Date: 1849
Bulk Dates: 1826-1841, 1845-1849
Linear Feet: 1.25
Subjects: Agricultural History; Farms and Farming Systems
Digitization Status: Entire collection digitized

Philip Vincent Cardon Papers

The Philip Vincent Cardon Papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, reprints, unpublished lectures and research papers, outlines and notes for radio talks and skits, and some memorabilia.
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.
Collection Number: 38
Earliest Date: 1916
Latest Date: 1961
Linear Feet: 5.5
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; Natural Resources; Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Clifford D. Carpenter Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

The Clifford D. Carpenter Papers include Carpenter's research, writings, and photographs. 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]. Also includes a 2012 donation of three letters written by Carpenter to his wife in 1934 and 1935. They were written by Carpenter while he was on business trips. The letters were found in an antique store and subsequently donated to Special Collections.
Collection Number: 39
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1912
Latest Date: 1965
Linear Feet: 1
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Poultry
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Clifford D. Carpenter Poultry Humor Art Collection

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.
Collection Number: 40
Earliest Date: 1952
Latest Date: 1962
Linear Feet: 6.25
Subjects: Poultry
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

Cedar Valley Land Company of Vinton, Iowa Records

The Cedar Valley Land Company of Vinton, Iowa, Records consist of two volumes of the company's contracts and records of land sales.
Collection Number: 41
Earliest Date: 1904
Latest Date: 1907
Linear Feet: 0.25
Subjects: Economics; Farms and Farming Systems; Natural Resources
Digitization Status: None

Ben Bereskin Papers

The Ben Bereskin Papers include papers, photographs, publications and reports by Bereskin and others (H.O. Hetzer) as well as data, notes, correspondence, drafts, abstracts, and other manuscripts. Materials cover subjects such as livestock, poultry, and swine.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Ben Bereskin (b. 1922) began working at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1965 as a research geneticist (animal) with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Animal Husbandry Research Division, Swine Research Branch. Bereskin’s swine research objectives included selection for lean growth on low protein diets; comparing responses of pigs to selection under different dietary regimes; monitoring and evaluating physiological traits in the selected lines; evaluating the genetic X nutritional interaction effects and evaluating responses to reverse selection. In 1975 he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and in 1985-1986 he was the sole winner of the National Swine Improvement Federation’s Distinguished Service Award. Bereskin retired in 1988 as a research geneticist at the USDA Nonruminant Animal Nutrition Laboratory, Animal Science Institute.
Collection Number: 42
Earliest Date: 1954
Latest Date: 1988
Linear Feet: 18.75
Subjects: Animal Science; Poultry; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Inter-American Financial and Economic Advisory Committee Records on Cotton Trade Agreement

The Inter-American Financial and Economic Advisory Committee Records on Cotton Trade Agreement contain the committee's copies of the Proposed Cotton Agreement Draft and paperwork relating to it.
Collection Number: 43
Earliest Date: 1931
Latest Date: 1941
Linear Feet: 0.5
Subjects: Economics
Digitization Status: None

William Coxe Manuscript

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.
Collection Number: 44
Earliest Date: 1810
Latest Date: 1831
Linear Feet: 0.5
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

Eloise Cram Papers

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 Hassall, 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.
Collection Number: 45
Earliest Date: 1853
Latest Date: 1991
Linear Feet: 4.5
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; Animal Science; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Shorthorn Cattle Catalog Collection

The Shorthorn Cattle Catalog Collection includes approximately 4,500 catalogs of Shorthorn public sales (a few private sale or herd catalogs), complete or nearly complete files of breed magazines, official herd books, breed history books, and a wide variety of ephemeral publications. Most of the catalogs were produced in the United States, but there are catalogs from Canada, the British Isles, Australia, South Africa, and other countries where Shorthorn cattle are bred.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Wayne Caldwell Neely (1904-1994) was a chairman of the department of economics and sociology at Hood College, in Frederick, Maryland. After Neely’s retirement from teaching in 1972, he served as secretary-treasurer of the Maryland Shorthorn Association until 1988. The Shorthorn Cattle Catalog Collection is an outgrowth of Neely’s love of the study of pedigrees and show and sale reports. His family owned a farm in Iowa called Verd Lea (meaning "green field"). The farm was actively engaged in breeding purebred Shorthorn cattle from 1883 until the farm was donated to the Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development in 1993.
Collection Number: 46
Earliest Date: 1900
Latest Date: 2002
Linear Feet: 81
Subjects: Animal Science
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia
Digitization Status: None

Historic Poster Collection

The Historic Poster Collection contains approximately 470 posters relating to World Wars I and II, poultry, cattle, dairy, food, and farming. Most of the posters are not dated. There are approximately 300 World War I- and World War II-era posters. Although many of these posters are not dated, the known date-range runs from 1917-1919 and 1940-1946. The posters display government information relating to wartime agricultural programs and educate and encourage Americans to participate in the war effort through increased food production and conservation. Homemakers are asked to Win the War in the Kitchen by planting war gardens and canning vegetables, while farmers are told that Your Farm Can Help, and encouraged to plant particular crops, construct storage silos, and eliminate plant diseases to help the war effort. Additional World War II posters highlight the various important uses of cotton by U.S. soldiers and encourage Americans to Make America Strong by promoting community education and involvement in proper meal preparation and food preservation. The collection also includes approximately 100 poultry posters and promotional advertisements. Most materials are not dated. The poultry-related advertisements and educational posters provide information about poultry processing, production, and standards of quality; and encourage the consumption of eggs, chicken, and turkey.
Collection Number: 47
Earliest Date: 1877
Latest Date: 1950
Bulk Dates: 1915-1950
Linear Feet: 90
Subjects: Agricultural History; Animal Science; Economics; Farms and Farming Systems; Human Nutrition; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Posters
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

George McMillan Darrow Papers

The George McMillan Darrow Papers contain materials related to Darrow's scientific career and the literature he contributed to the field. There are correspondence, manuscripts, galley proofs, a book, publications such as articles and reports, photographs, field notes, papers related to physiology, and miscellaneous items.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
George McMillan Darrow (1889-1983), who was considered one of the foremost American authorities on strawberries, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 46 years (1911-1957) as a pomologist and small fruits breeder. Among Darrow's contributions to pomology were the domestication and introduction of the Darrow blueberry.
Collection Number: 48
Earliest Date: 1835
Latest Date: 1980
Bulk Dates: 1925-65
Linear Feet: 19.25
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

John Herbert Davis Papers

The John Herbert Davis Papers consist of an autobiography, correspondence, speeches, broadcast text, reports, congressional testimony, photographs, periodical publications, term papers, school notes, masters degree thesis, Ph.D. thesis draft, programs, newspaper clippings, certificates signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, oral history tapes, Middle East material, and books authored by Davis.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
John Herbert Davis (1904-1988) worked as an agricultural economist with several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administrations beginning in 1936, including the Resettlement Administration, the Farm Security Administration, and the Farm Credit Administration. From 1942-1944, he served as the chief of the Wheat Section, Grain Division of the Commodity Credit Corporation. After working outside of USDA for several years, Davis returned to USDA in 1953 as the president/director of the Commodity Credit Corporation. In June 1953 he became the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, initially responsible for commodity marketing and adjustment activities, and then responsible for the Foreign Agricultural Service and Agricultural Marketing Service. From 1957-1959 he served as a consultant in the Foreign Agricultural Service, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and director of the New York Office of the American University of Beirut (dates unknown).
Collection Number: 49
Earliest Date: 1905
Latest Date: 1984
Bulk Dates: 1938-78
Linear Feet: 41
Subjects: Economics; USDA History
Formats: Audiovisuals; Photographs

Jacob Richards Dodge Clippings

The Jacob Richards Dodge Clippings Collection contains five bound volumes of clippings of agricultural articles written by and about Dodge.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistician Jacob Richards Dodge (1823-1902) was chief of the USDA's Statistical Division for 27 years. Dodge was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, learned the art of printing, and engaged in teaching, first in New Hampshire and afterwards in Mississippi, where he successfully conducted an academy. In 1849 he redirected his career path to the field of journalism, studying rural economy and statistical information. When the new Department of Agriculture was established in 1862, he became engaged in editorial work and statistical investigation. At the same time, he chronicled the events of the Civil War for the Associated Press. In 1866 he assumed charge of the Statisitical Division, which he retained through the changing administrations until 1874. He accepted a temporary commission for investigation of commercial agriculture in the Treasury Department, and the charge of the statistics of agriculture of the 10th Census in 1879. Commissioner George Bailey Loring compelled him to take his former position as statistician in 1881, the duties of which performed until his retirement in 1893.
Collection Number: 50
Earliest Date: 1878
Latest Date: 1902
Linear Feet: 0.75
Subjects: Economics; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition Collection

The Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition Collection consists of seven photograph albums of the 1929-1931 Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition illustrating plant varieties and uses, landscapes, and Asian cultural practices. In addition to the photographs, the collection contains diaries created by Palemon Howard Dorsett and William Joseph Morse so that they would have a complete report of their work. Combining memoranda, expense reports, itineraries, maps, correspondence, ship logs, invoices, and photographs, the two explorers created 17 books dating from 1928-1932. The photographs in the diaries are from the same trip as the ones in the photograph albums. In 2002, the Arnold Arboretum donated 300 to 500 black and white photographs and negatives from plant expeditions of Palemon Howard Dorsett and other USDA plant explorers. Some of these photographs were taken during the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition and can be found in this collection. The remainder of the photographs and negatives are located in the Collection of Expedition Photographs from the Office of Plant Exploration. In June 2004, Morse's daughter donated a scrapbook of Dorsett and Morse's expeditions in Asia during 1930. There are 32 black and white photographs (two of which are hand-colored) with captions. The photographs in the scrapbook have negative numbers that correspond to the numbers on the negatives from the Arnold Arboretum. Morse's daughter donated more materials to Special Collections in July 2004. This donation included 9 pamphlets on Japan; a scrapbook of black and white photographs (unlabeled) depicting damage from the 1923 Tokyo earthquake; 86 loose black and white photographs taken while Morse was in Japan; packages of postcards depicting Japanese scenery and social life; a blank stationery set; local Japanese restaurant menus; and holiday cards, some of which are personalized to the Morse family.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
In 1929, Palemon Howard Dorsett (1862-1943) and William Joseph Morse (1884-1959) embarked upon a plant exploration trip officially know as the Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition. Dorsett was the veteran plant explorer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section of Plant Introduction, and Morse was a soybean specialist from the USDA Office of Forage Crops. This expedition was initiated in response to the growing importance of the soybean as a food crop during the first quarter of the 20th century. The purpose was primarily to collect soybean germplasm, and also seeds and propagating materials for other crops of interest.
Collection Number: 51
Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections
Earliest Date: 1914
Latest Date: 1945
Linear Feet: 31.5
Subjects: Plant Exploration; Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Maps; Photographs
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized