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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 351 - 375 of 469 Collections

Beltsville Area Modernization Study Records

The Beltsville Area Modernization Study Records contain materials collected by Robinson & Associates, Inc., a company that was hired by the Beltsville Area Research Center (BARC) to conduct a modernization study. The records include historical newspaper clippings, journal articles, USDA and government agency memos and correspondence, photographs and negatives, floorplans, maps, and blueprints. The main subject of all materials is BARC buildings and land development. The study evaluated all BARC buildings and produced an extensive report outlining their findings.
Collection Number: 360
Earliest Date: 1914
Latest Date: 1997
Bulk Dates: 1930-1960
Linear Feet: 12
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; USDA History
Formats: Maps; Photographs; Reprints
Digitization Status: None

Charles R. Gunn Collection

The Charles R. Gunn Collection contains negatives, slides, photographs, and artwork for USDA publications authored or co-authored by Gunn.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Charles R. Gunn served as an Agricultural Research Service researcher for 30 years until his retirement in 1992. He worked in the Systematic Botany and Mycology Lab. He now lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Collection Number: 361
Earliest Date: 1984
Latest Date: 2006
Linear Feet: 63.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science
Digitization Status: None

Bennie Douglas Mayberry Collection on George Washington Carver

The Bennie Douglas Mayberry Collection on George Washington Carver includes the original book materials of Mayberry's manuscript "George Washington Carver - A Handbook", photographs of George Washington Carver, a facsimile of Carver's official USDA personnel record, a reprint of the article "Bennie Douglas Mayberry: An Unsung Hero" (1995), Mayberry's resume, and photographs of Mayberry.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Bennie Douglas Mayberry spent nearly 40 years working for Tuskegee Instutitue, first in the department of horticulture and lastly as the director of the Carver Research Foundation. Known as an innovative researcher and dynamic teacher, Mayberry was also an outstanding administrator who developed research and instructional programs in the 1890 land-grant system. Some of his accomplishments include improving methods for canning sweet potato, developing instructional materials in the isotope and radiation technology program in 1959, and devising nutrient management projects that examined the absorption and translocation of strontium in plants and the effects of maleic hydrazide in tea. He was influenced by George Washington Carver, the great agricultural chemist, who guest lectured during Mayberry's undergraduate years.
Collection Number: 363
Earliest Date: 1992
Latest Date: 1992
Linear Feet: 0.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History
Formats: Photographs

Henry Shands Lantern Slides

Henry Shands of the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation donated 27 3"x4" lantern slides related to farming. Images show experimental fields and farming equipment. There are no dates on the slides.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Henry Shands is a retired employee of the ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation.
Collection Number: 364
Linear Feet: 0.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Farms and Farming Systems; Plant Science; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Fruit Laboratory Card Catalog Collection

The USDA Fruit Laboratory Card Catalog Collection is a series of card files with descriptions of a wide range of fruits and dates of information.
Collection Number: 365
Linear Feet: 87
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science
Digitization Status: None

Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Card Files

The Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Card Files consist of seven card files related to the Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection housed in Special Collections. This inactive card file contains plant information, nursery locations, and catalog holdlings.
Collection Number: 366
Earliest Date: 1700
Latest Date: 1950
Linear Feet: 71
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

Hereford, Maryland, Home Makers Club Record Book and Home Economics Publication Collection

This collection contains Hereford, Maryland, Home Makers Club Record Book, 1926-1932; Extension Service bulletins and documents; newspaper clippings on sewing, and other related publications.
Collection Number: 367
Earliest Date: 1926
Latest Date: 1960
Linear Feet: 0.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Agricultural Organizations; Farms and Farming Systems
Digitization Status: None

John B. Carpenter Collection

The John B. Carpenter Collection includes materials relating to the project undertaken in the 1950s by John D. Carpenter to create a subject index to Miles Joseph Berkeley's work on Vegetable Pathology from 1854-1857. The collection contains one bound volume containing "Vegetable Pathology" by Miles Joseph Berkeley (1854-1857), extracted by John B. Carpenter in 1945 from The Gardener's Chronicle. There are ten pieces of correspondence between John B. Carpenter and J.G. Dickson on Carpenter's creation of an index to accompany the "Vegetable Pathology" work. Also included are two copies of the completed Index by Carpenter and one small binder containing "Observations, Botanical and Physiological, on the Potato Murrain" by Miles Joseph Berkeley.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
John B. Carpenter was born in 1915 and worked as a Senior Plant Pathologist for the USDA Rubber Disease Investigation in La Hulera, Turrialba, Costa Rica in the 1950s. He later became a Senior Plant Pathologist in Indio, California. In the 1980s, Carpenter was a Cooperative Extension Specialist and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside.
Collection Number: 368
Earliest Date: 1854
Latest Date: 1954
Bulk Dates: 1952-1954
Linear Feet: 0.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History

United States Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines Collection

Materials include correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, drafts, publications, articles, posters, and audiotapes. There are also committee papers, including Senate Nutrition Subcommittee and Senate Agriculture Committee materials. New accession includes publications related to Nutrition Subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee; dietary goals documents; and dietary guidelines documents.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) collaborated on writing dietary guidelines for Americans resulting in the 1980 document titled Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This was the first time the United States government made available nutritional guidelines to the public. These guidelines provided information based on the best current knowledge of the relationships of nutrition to maintaining health and minimizing the risk of disease. After the guidelines were published, several professional, industry, and Congressional groups argued as to whether it was appropriate for the government to offer any general nutrition message to the public beyond the basic food groups. Congressional hearings ensued. A committee was established by the USDA and the HHS to review the guidelines and update them in light of any new and pertinent scientific evidence.
Collection Number: 369
Earliest Date: 1977
Latest Date: 1997
Linear Feet: 29
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Human Nutrition; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

The Payne/National 4-H Fellowship Collection

The Payne/National 4-H Fellowship Collection includes photographs, publications, scrapbooks, programs, monthly reports, newsletters and news clippings, and correspondence detailing various 4-H fellows.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The National 4-H Fellowship was one of the largest grants for study available to professional Extension workers. It was awarded beginning in 1931. Initially, two fellowships were established by Congresswoman Frances Payne Bolton of Ohio through the Payne Fund, Inc. (1927). The Payne organization established the 4-H fellowships as an experiment, in the hopes that the 4-H fellowship would be the nucleus of a larger number of permanent educational fellowships. Sixteen fellowships were granted by the Payne Fund from 1931-1938. Beginning with 1939, the fellowships were financed by the National 4-H Service Committee, and, since 1953, the Massey-Ferguson Company assisted the Committee in financial support of an enlarged program of six fellowships annually. The program ended in 1969. Fellowships were available to three men and three women. In one year, fellows learned the function, structure, and relationships of the Federal Extension Service and the Department of Agriculture; became acquainted with professional and educational organizations; and participated in the cultural experiences of Washington, D.C. Employees of the Extension Training Branch of the Federal Extension Service supervised the program.
Collection Number: 370
Earliest Date: 1941
Latest Date: 1980
Bulk Dates: 1947-1969
Linear Feet: 6.75
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Agricultural Organizations; USDA History
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Photographs

Palemon Howard Dorsett Persimmon Collection

The Palemon Howard Dorsett Persimmon Collection contains 200 photographs of persimmon fruits, trees, workers, and related views. The photographs were taken by Palemon Howard Dorsett on several plant exploration trips to Asia from 1924-1930. There are many handwritten legends and Chinese writing. Materials originated from the USDA New Crops Research Branch offices in Beltsville, Maryland. Some of the photographs may duplicate those found in the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Exploration Expedition Collection held in Special Collections. Besides photographs, there is a blueprint of the persimmon hot-water processing kiln for use in the treatment of Chinese persimmons in Peiping, China and the vicinity, 1930. Additionally, there is a typewritten document and notes on the establishment of the Chico, California, Testing and Propagating Garden in 1930. The collection includes the publication Where Persimmon Was King: P.H. Dorsett's Photographic Tour Around Peking, China 1924-1931 edited by William H. Preston.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Palemon Howard Dorsett (1862-1943) was a United States Department of Agriculture plant explorer with USDA Section of Plant Introduction. Dorsett traveled to the persimmon growing region north of Peiping (now Beijing). He and his son James explored the region in 1924-25 and then again in 1930-31 with the Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition.
Collection Number: 371
Collection Group: Plant Exploration Collections
Earliest Date: 1924
Latest Date: 1930
Bulk Dates: 1924-1925, 1930
Linear Feet: 1.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Exploration; Plant Science
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

George Washington Carver Correspondence Collection

The George Washington Carver Correspondence Collection contains correspondence between Carver and his friend Paul R. Miller, who was a former Agricultural Research Service scientist. There are three handwritten letters dated 1932 and 1933 from Carver to Miller, and a reply from Miller dated 1932 regarding rust specimens. A signed portrait from Carver to Miller (1938) is included. Additionally, there are two typed letters dated 1943 from Rackham Holt to Miller. Holt, who was the author of George Washington Carver: An American Biography, wrote to Miller about his contribution to the book regarding 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. He developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in the soil. He also created new uses for peanut and sweet potato crops, which helped to improve the agricultural economy of the southern United States. Carver was the first African American to serve on the faculty of Iowa State University. He spent most 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.
Collection Number: 372
Earliest Date: 1932
Latest Date: 1943
Bulk Dates: 1932-1933, 1938, 1943
Linear Feet: 1
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: Portion of collection digitized

Absalom Donahoo Apple Nursery Records

This notebook contains Absalom Donahoo's records of the apple cultivars he was testing for potential commercial production in Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska. His land was south of Nebraska City on Highway 75.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Absalom Donahoo (1833-1880) was a friend of Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture from 1893-1897, and a charter member of the Nebraska Horticultural Society.
Collection Number: 373
Earliest Date: 1870
Latest Date: 1880
Linear Feet: 0.25
Processed: Yes, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Science
Digitization Status: None

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) Symposia Records

The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) Symposia records are Friends of the Agricultural Research - Beltsville (FAR-B) files on the Beltsville Symposia starting in 1987 through 1993 (BARC Symposia XII-XXIV). There are programs, committee membership information, speaker and attendee materials, and bills and receipts with some explanatory letters. The materials were retained by Francis (Frank) Longen, the first and longest serving Treasurer of FAR-B.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Friends of the Agricultural Research-Beltsville (FAR-B) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the research, educational, and outreach programs at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). Its members include USDA alumni as well as individuals or groups from academia, industry, government, BARC employees and the general public. BARC is among the prominent USDA locations and is the research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture. It has an international reputation for its cutting-edge research in just about every scientific area and discipline.
Collection Number: 374
Earliest Date: 1987
Latest Date: 1993
Bulk Dates: 1987-1993
Linear Feet: 0.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural Organizations; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

USDA Foot-and-Mouth Research Laboratory Records

The USDA Foot-and-Mouth Research Laboratory Records consist of office files, correspondence, newspaper clippings, press releases, publications, reports to Congress, and materials related to the cooperation of the United States and Mexico to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease in Mexico. These records support the plans of the United States Department of Agriculture to increase the security of the United States from foot-and-mouth disease through research during the late 1940s.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
In the 1940s, foot-and-mouth disease was one of the world's most widespread and costly livestock maladies. Congress passed Public Law 496 in 1948 which authorized the establishment of a foot-and-mouth disease research laboratory on a coastal island separated from the mainland by deep navigable water. The Bureau of Animal Industry developed preliminary plans for getting the project under way, obtained data on the suitability of the coastal islands of the United States and requested appropriation of necessary funds. The facility was eventually constructed on Plum Island, New York. In 1947, Congress authorized a cooperative project with Mexico to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease in Mexico. Both nations provided personnel and funds for the program. A combination of slaughter and vaccination was adopted as an eradication measure. By spring of 1951, foot-and-mouth disease in Mexico had been eradicated.
Collection Number: 375
Earliest Date: 1943
Latest Date: 1956
Bulk Dates: 1947-1949
Linear Feet: 2.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Animal Science; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

Collection of papers related to the translation of Five Continents by Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov.

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 Resources, 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 one of the foremost plant geographers 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.
Collection Number: 376
Earliest Date: 1992
Latest Date: 1997
Linear Feet: 2
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Plant Exploration; Plant Science
Digitization Status: None

Eduoard Horace Siegler Entomology Lantern Slides

The Eduoard Horace Siegler Entomology Lantern Slides are a collection of slides that may have been used by travelling extension agents for instructional sessions. The title of one set of slides is "How Insects Attack Garden Vegetables and Methods of Control." It was a joint contribution of the Bureau of Entomology and Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture, cooperating with the State Agricultural Colleges in extension work in agriculture and home economics. Some insects described include the colorado potato beetle, cabbage worm, asparagus beetle, the striped cucumber beetle, Mexican bean beetle, potato flea beetle, and squash-vine borer. There are also images of equipment used to spray insects. Another set of slides are related to the "Effect of Bentonite and of Hydrated Lime on the Toxicity of Phenothiazine to Codling Moth Larvae." Slides are undated but subjects correspond to the work of Siegler during 1915 to 1931.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Eduoard Horace Siegler (b. 1888), USDA Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, researched insecticides, equipment, and methods of controlling orchard insect pests. He also investigated the codling moth in Colorado. In 1917, he was in charge of the Connecticut at Wallingford field station for the study of deciduous fruit insects.
Collection Number: 377
Earliest Date: 1915
Latest Date: 1931
Linear Feet: 2
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Entomology; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

William A.Taylor Memory Book

The William A. Taylor Memory Book is a working copy of an album compiled by friends of Dr. William A. Taylor, former Chief of the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and presented to him in 1944. The memory book highlights the personnel and work of the Plant Industry Station in Beltsville, Maryland in the 1940s. It contains reminiscences, reproductions of congratulatory letters, and photographs. Robert L. Taylor (no relation to William A. Taylor) preserved this working copy. The finished book was presented to Dr. Taylor by Dr. J. R. Magness. It was an edited version of the working copy, containing fewer materials. Robert L. Taylor, photographer for the BPI’s Division of Foreign Plant Exploration, Wilfred Mead, photographer for the Division of Information, and P. S. Brown, photographer with the Sugar Plant Investigations unit took the pictures for the book. Jack Ferrall, an amateur bookbinder, assembled and bound the materials. The book’s content was compiled under the direction of Clarence A. Reed.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
William Alton Taylor (1863-1949) was born at Chelsea, Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Michigan State Agricultural College, and completed his Ph.D. there in 1888. After managing a fruit farm in Douglas, Michigan for three years, Taylor joined the USDA in 1891 as an assistant pomologist. He was appointed Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry in 1910, and by 1913 was promoted to Chief of the bureau. Dr. Taylor retired from USDA in 1933, after 42 years of service.
Collection Number: 378
Earliest Date: 1944
Latest Date: 1944
Linear Feet: 0.5
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs

Marvin A. Norcross Papers

The Marvin A. Norcross Papers relate to food safety and food residues, including integrating the concept of risk assessment into food production and processing. There are manuscripts for talks (including slides), publication, and awards. There is also all research data associated with his Ph.D. these titled "An Immunological Study of the Localization of Certain Chemical Carcinogens in Rat Tissue" and includes black and white photographs of dissections, camera slides, and microscope slides.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Born in Tansboro, New Jersey, Marvin A. Norcross (1931-2007) attended Rutgers University and was the recipient of a Veterinary Medical degree (1959) and Ph.D. degree in Pathology (1966) from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Merck, Sharpe and Dome, initially as a veterinary pathologist and later he was responsible for all developmental studies leading to new animal health products and related claims in the United States. Norcross moved to Rockville in 1975 and became director of the Division of Veterinary Medical Research with the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration (1975-1978). After several positions at the Food and Drug Administration, Norcross moved to the Science and Technology Program, Food Safety and Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture (1982-1994). There, in various positions, he was responsible for the overall planning, coordination, direction, and evaluation of the field laboratories and scientific development programs, and provided advice and recommendations regarding the development of overall missions, goals, and policies regarding scientific and technical initiatives in the FSIS. From 1994-1996, Norcross served as the first full-time United States Coordinator for Codex Alimentarius, an inter-governmental body jointly established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, to coordinate international food safety and quality standards. He retired in 1996.
Collection Number: 380
Earliest Date: 1966
Latest Date: 2007
Bulk Dates: 1966-1996
Linear Feet: 10
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Animal Science; Physical Sciences; USDA History
Digitization Status: None

F. L. (Frank Leslie) Duley Photograph Collection

The Frank Leslie Duley Photograph Collection consists of photographs and negatives of sorghum, corn, soil moisture, and soil structure. Many are not labeled as to place. Some are labeled with towns and cities in Nebraska including Lincoln, Dalton, Chappell, and Gurley. There is a note in the collection: "The pictures in this box were examined at this time. There are many in here that might be used for practical publications. It is hoped that they might be preserved." The note is date December 6, 1965, and signed F. L. Duley.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Frank Leslie Duley (b. 1888)
Collection Number: 383
Collection Group: Plant Photograph Collections
Earliest Date: 1939
Latest Date: 1965
Bulk Dates: 1939-1940
Linear Feet: 0.75
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science; USDA History
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Tung Oil Collection

The Tung Oil Collection consists of one manuscript "Study on Tung" by W. L. Chia (1950) and several publications and photographs.
Collection Number: 384
Collection Group: Plant Photograph Collections
Earliest Date: 1950
Linear Feet: 1.25
Processed: No, contact Special Collections.
Subjects: Plant Science
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

George Burnett Rogers Papers: American Poultry Historical Society Papers

The George Burnett Rogers Papers contain documents related to poultry and egg production, marketing, pollution, and other related research. Many of Rogers' publications and presentations are included, as well as a limited amount of his personal correspondence. The collection also contains: poultry trade show pamphlets and programs; egg and poultry pricing documents; poultry and egg marketing, consumer, price-related papers, publications, research data; materials from private poultry companies and associations; survey results; academic and technical papers for conferences, presentations, and publications; poultry and egg-related product trade catalogs, brochures; farm price support data; bibliographies on topics such as eggs and poultry; three egg and poultry bumper stickers; cost of living issue-related papers and documents.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
George Burnett Rogers was born in 1919. He worked and published in the Poultry Branch, Food & Restaurant Division, Office of Price Stabilization in the early 1950s. Later he moved to the United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Marketing Economics Division, staying there from the 1950s-1970s. He published numerous articles and monographs on poultry and egg production, marketing, price controls, and other matters.
Collection Number: 385
Collection Group: Poultry Science Collections
Earliest Date: 1950
Latest Date: 1979
Linear Feet: 2.5
Subjects: Animal Science; Poultry
Formats: Photographs
Digitization Status: None

Thomas E. Devine Papers

The Thomas E. Devine Papers contain materials from his 32 years of research for the Agricultural Research Service on the genetics and breeding of legumes (birdsfoot trefoil, alfalfa, and soybeans). Papers include information on attended conferences, advisory capacities, professional organizations, and research-related correspondence. Many of Dr. Devine’s 90 publications are included in the papers. Yearly performance records from his federal service document work plans, successes, and c hallenges. Years and topics of research include: 1967 1969, research geneticist, breeding and genetics of birdsfoot trefoil, Ithaca, NY; 1969-1974, insect and disease resistant alfalfas for the Eastern United States, Beltsville, Maryland; 1974-1997, research program on the genetics and breeding of soybeans, Plant Nutrition Laboratory, Beltsville, MD; 1997-2009, breeding legume winter cover crops for use in sustainable agricultural systems, Weed Science Laboratory, Beltsville, MD. Detailed field plans and evaluations exist from various research projects. Successful projects from Dr. Devine’s work include: eight soybean germplasm releases, five soybean cultivar releases, and two hairy vetch cultivar releases; interspecific hybridization; the allopolyploidization of induced tetraploids by means of x ray irradiation; selection for tolerance to herbicides, air pollutants and edaphic stresses; the development of disease and insect resistance; the genetics and coevolution of host/microsymbiont nitrogen-fixing interactions; mapping the soybean genome; breeding legumes for sustainable agricultural systems; research on anthracnose resistance in alfalfa production; the first anthracnose resistant alfalfa variety, Arc; development and release of nine alfalfa clones as bioindicators of air pollution, and nine disease resistant alfalfa stocks.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
Dr. Thomas E. Devine conducted research for the Agricultural Research Service on the genetics and breeding of legumes (birdsfoot trefoil, alfalfa, and soybeans) for 42 years. From 1967-1969, he served as research geneticist with full responsibility for the breeding and genetics of birdsfoot trefoil at Ithaca, New York. He served concurrently as a member of the graduate faculty of the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry at Cornell University. He transferred to Beltsville, Maryland, in 1969 to develop insect and disease resistant alfalfas for the Eastern United States. In 1974, he transferred to the Plant Nutrition Laboratory to conduct a research program on the genetics and breeding of soybeans and has continued this work to the present amid several reorganizations and administrative changes. His research assignment was augmented with responsibility for breeding legume winter cover crops for use in sustainable agricultural systems with his transfer to the Weed Science Laboratory after the abolition of the Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory in 1997. He retired in 2009.
Collection Number: 386
Earliest Date: 1953
Latest Date: 2009
Linear Feet: 22.5
Processed: Minimally processed, view the partial finding aid online.
Subjects: Plant Science
Digitization Status: None

Schimmelpfennig Family Mill Collection

The Schimmelpfennig Family Mill Collection contains materials relating to the family's grain mill and family life in Sigourney, Iowa. Materials include ledger and account books containing detailed accounting of transactions at the mill for the years of 1899, 1930-1958, and 1974-1987. Also included in the collection are materials from the family's hobby interest in the history and preservation of old mills throughout the United States, including various old mill preservation and tourism ephemera. Of particular interest, the collection contains the diaries of Helen Schimmelpfennig, covering the dates of 1938-1942, 1944-1946, and 1964-1965, in which the author describes her daily life and activities in an Iowa farming community.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The information that follows was taken directly from The History of Keokuk County, Iowa: Communities and its Families, Preserving the Past and Present. Keo-Mah Genealogical Society, Inc., 2001. August (Gust) Schimmelpfennig (1876-1949), married Enza Messerschmidt (1885-1956) of Martinsburg, Iowa. He owned a hardware store in Delta, Iowa and later the “Old Red Mill” in Sigourney before it was destroyed by a fire in the early 1920s. He resumed activity in the milling and feed business by purchasing what became Schimmelpfennig’s Mill with his oldest son Everett (1908-1974) in 1929. The early years were plagued by the Great Depression when many lost their businesses and properties because they were unable to make payments for mortgage and taxes. Everett went on the road in and around the county selling calf vitamins to take in enough money to meet those obligations for the mill. The mill stayed in the family until 1958 when it was purchased by Walter Applegate and later sold to Charles Cassens. Everett married Helen Mary Zaki (1909-1994), a Sigourney High School friend and they had two children, Hal Everett (1932- ) and Marylee (1938- ). Hal Everett and his wife, Jean B. Wilson (1930- ) had a son, David Everett (1959- ) who is an economist with the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
Collection Number: 387
Earliest Date: 1899
Latest Date: 1987
Bulk Dates: 1930-1958, 1964-1965, 1974-1987
Linear Feet: 3.75
Processed: Minimally processed, view the partial finding aid online.
Subjects: Agricultural History; Economics; Farms and Farming Systems
Formats: Agricultural Art and Memorabilia; Maps; Photographs

USDA Bureau of Animal Industry Guinea Pig Records

The USDA Bureau of Animal Industry Guinea Pig Records contain the birth records of guinea pigs bred by the Bureau’s Animal Husbandry Division for its early 20th century animal genetics research. The records span the years 1906 to 1915 and 1926 to 1933. There are no records from 1916 to 1925.
Historical or Biographical Sketch
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) established the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in May 1884. The BAI was authorized to carry out scientific studies and administer regulations and statutes protecting the public from contaminated meat, eliminating domestic animal diseases, and improving the country’s livestock populations. In 1901, the BAI appointed George M. Rommel as its first expert in animal husbandry to study animal nutrition. In 1907, it formally established the Animal Husbandry Office, and then raised it to division status in 1910. Congressional funding for animal husbandry research began in 1904 with the Agricultural Appropriation Act, which allocated $25,000 to the Animal Husbandry Division to investigate issues relating to animal breeding and feeding. In 1910, Congress provided more funding to the BAI to develop experimental farms, which further aided the Animal Husbandry Division’s work and became one of the most important features of the Bureau. The Division’s genetic studies on guinea pigs began under the supervision of Dr. E. H. Riley in 1906, with a strong focus on the effects of inbreeding. Guinea pigs were chosen as research subjects because they were easy to care for and were prolific breeders. Dr. Riley eventually resigned from the project in 1913 and Dr. Sewall Wright took over the work from 1915 to 1925. The Bureau of Animal Industry, and consequently its Animal Husbandry Division, were abolished in 1953 when the USDA established the Agricultural Research Service.
Collection Number: 388
Earliest Date: 1906
Latest Date: 1933
Bulk Dates: 1906-1915, 1926-1933
Linear Feet: 2
Processed: Yes, view the finding aid online.
Subjects: Animal Science
Digitization Status: None