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creator:
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title:
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Records
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dates:
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1888-[ongoing]
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extent:
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11.55 linear feet (29 boxes)
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collection
number:
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RS
9/2/17
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repository:
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University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.
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Administrative
information
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access:
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Open for research
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publication
rights:
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Consult Head, Special Collections Department
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preferred
citation:
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Agricultural and Home Economics
Experiment Station Records, RS 9/2/17, Special Collections Department, Iowa State
University Library.
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Historical
note
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The Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station was founded as
a result of the Hatch Act of 1887. The Act provides for funding of
cooperative research at Land Grant Colleges. On March 3, 1888, the
Iowa General Assembly approved the act to officially fund the
Station. In January of 1891, James Wilson became the first Director
of the Experiment Station. His programs emphasized the
reorganization of the work of the Station. In 1913, the staff, which
consisted of a combination of specialized researchers and a
part-time teaching force, published research bulletins and offered
the first research fellowships. The mission for the Station, along
with the College of Agriculture and its interrelated programs, has
always been to assure the competitive capability of Iowa to provide
low cost, high quality food and fiber for U.S. citizens and for
people throughout the world.
Since its inception, the Station, also referred to as Iowa's
Agricultural Research Institute, has existed under the auspices of
the College of Agriculture. Specifically, it is a research arm of
the College. However, the Station also supports programs in almost
every other college. The projects of the Station have varied from
the work of the college departments with which it is affiliated.
Early experiments dealt with crops, soil, horticulture, and
dairying. Today, the Station has become over-arching in scope,
encompassing the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, the
Iowa Corn Promotion Board, and several other agencies which are
represented in this collection.
Published Sources:
The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station: Organization and
Administration: with Special Emphasis on Objectives and Obligations,
Fiscal Management, Coordination with Related Agencies on State,
Regional and National Levels, and Evaluation of Results. By the Iowa
Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, 1940.
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Collection
description
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The Experiment Station was organized to foster and manage an organized
research program dealing in a wide array of agricultural and home
economics subjects. The associate director of the Station is
assisted by three assistant directors, with responsibilities in
social sciences, physical sciences, and home economics research.
Accordingly, the majority of the Agricultural and Home Economics
Experiment Station records are comprised of the files of John
Mahlstede, Associate Director of the Station from 1973-87. The
records focus on the Station's research projects, as well as the
business it conducted with various organizations, ISU departments,
interdisciplinary organizations, and government agencies. Each
series is indicative of the research performed by the Station.
The General Historical Materials series (6 boxes) contains documents
that outline the Station's history, minutes from early meetings
(1911-26), annual crop research reports, and budgetary data. The
minutes are found within the large book in Box 1. The second box
contains a group of notecards that outline the projects of the
Station from 1981-82. The publications, the bulk of which are annual
research reports in relation to corn and soybean experimentation,
are housed in Boxes 3-5. Matters relating to the financial
maintenance of the Station are kept in Box 6. In 1943, the Wartime
Farm and Food Policy group published Putting Dairying on a War
Footing, also known as Pamphlet No. 5. This publication caused quite
an uproar at Iowa State because it pushed for the production and
consumption of oleo margarine versus butter. Iowa's own experimental
station findings had the potential to severly damage the dairy
industry's business. As a result, many key Iowa State figures
departed. Box 6, Folder 11, outlines this controversy with critical
and disillusioned correspondence, media coverage, and the revised
edition of Pamphlet No. 5.
The Research series (1 box) documents research priorities, results,
and grant supported projects of the areas in which the Station
focused its scientific attention from 1960-90. It is comprised of
research documentation on specific subject areas such as alfalfa,
nitrogen, biotechnology, and soybeans. Particularly strong is the
material relating to "Alternative Crops," Box 7, Folders 7-12. These
and other topical areas of research may be documented in the other
series of records in this collection which reflect the institutions
and organizations who sponsored research at the station.
Foremost in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)
series (4 boxes) are contracts and publications. Since its inception
in 1963, CARD has evaluated the effects of state and federal public
policy on the citizens of Iowa. More recently, as a result of abrupt
change in economic policies of the early 1980s, CARD redirected its
program to increase research on international markets, policies
affecting U.S. agricultural products, and rural economic development
policy. The Project Advisory Committee (PAC) determines the vast
scope and direction that the Station commands. The minutes for these
PAC meetings are found in Box 9. CARD also has contracts with NASA,
Hungary, the US Department of Commerce, and an array of other
organizations. These contracts are located in Boxes 10-11. As for
the publications, refer to Box 12, Folders 3-5. One note, in the
"Mission" subseries (Box 9, Folder 1) are two annual reports from
1985 and 1986.
The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant
Colleges (NASULGC) series (2 boxes) possesses a helpful flow chart,
in Box 13, Folder 1, that outlines the organizational set-up of not
only NASULGC, but also the entire USDA. The major decision-making
committee under this association's realm is "Experiment Station
Committee on Organization and Policy" (ESCOP) (see papers in Box 13,
Folder 6 through Box 14, Folder 4). Some divisions within NASULGC
include the Resident Instruction Committee on Organization and
Policy (RICOP), Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and
Teaching (CARET), and Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (ARPAC).
All of these documents are in Box 14.
Within the jurisdiction of the North Central Region Experiment
Stations (NCRES) (4 boxes in the series) is the Iowa State
Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station. The NCRES has
authority over the experiment stations in a thirteen state area.
This series contains correspondence to the Station, and budgetary
information about its relationship with the NCRES (Box 15, Folder 4
and Box 15, Folder 5, respectively). Under the direction of the
NCRES is the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD).
This unit encourages and conducts broad research and educational
programs for the purpose of improving the social and economic
opportunities for people in rural communities. For information about
the NCRCRD, search Boxes 17-18.
Organizational documents for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) (4 Boxes) series are located in Box 19, Folder 2. The
remainder of this series contains information about six different
divisions under the USDA, and their respective relationships with
the Iowa State Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station:
the "ARS (Agricultural Research Service)," Box 19, Folder 3; the
powerful steering group known as the "Committee of Nine," Box 19,
Folder 4 through Box 20, Folder 3; "Forestry," Box 20, Folder 4; "IPM
(Integrated Pest Management)," Box 20, Folder 5 -- Box 21, Folder 3;
the "Joint Council on Food," Box 21, Folder 4 and; national and
state levels of "Soil Conservation," Box 22. The materials in the
"Soil Conservation" subseries contains information on virtually all
matters of interest -- mission statements, correspondence, budgetary
concerns, meeting minutes, projects and contracts, publications and
newsletters.
The two series, Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and Iowa Soybean
Promotion Board (ISPB) (2 boxes each), both contain similar
information, in the form of correspondence, minutes, and research
files. However, the subject matter differs, in that ICPB concerns
itself with corn, and ISPB deals with soybeans. Documents for these
two series are found in Boxes 23-26.
The final series, Miscellaneous Subject Files, is comprised of
material that is primarily the business interactions, in the form of
correspondence and contractual research agreements, between the
Station and other agencies, including on-campus departments. This
series represents a sample of the diverse amount of groups,
university departments, and organizations with which the Station
acts that are not represented in the preceding eight series. These
files span the years 1966-88. They are arranged alphabetically in
Boxes 27-29.
Related Collections
Search other ISU Archives holdings of the Agricultural and Home
Economics Experiment Station (9/2). Many Station publications and
reports are cataloged on OCLC and the ISU Library's SCHOLAR system.
See also the Buchanan Papers (6/3/11) for the main body of records
relating to the Oleo/Margarine controversy. The records of the Dean,
College of Agriculture (9/1) should be consulted as well since the
Dean serves officially as the director of the Station with an
associate director responsible of its management.
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Organization
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The Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment
Station collection is divided into nine series: General Historical
Materials, 1888-1991; Research, 1960-90; Center for Agricultural and
Rural Development (CARD), 1971-89; National Association of State
Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), 1971-90; North
Central Region Experiment Stations (NCRES), 1962-89; United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1960-87; Iowa Corn Promotion Board
(ICPB), 1978-90; Iowa
Soybean Promotion Board (ISPB), 1984-89 and; Miscellaneous Subject
Files, 1966-1988. Within each series, chronological order is
maintained, whenever possible.
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Box
and Folder Listing of Collection Contents
1 General Historical Materials
1 Organization, 1888-1958. n.d.
2 Minutes, 1911-26
2 (small card box)
Publications
List of Projects, 1981-82
3 Annual Research Reports
Corn
1 1932
2 1933
3 1934
4 1935
5 1936
6 1937
7 1938
8 1939
9 1940
4 1 1941
2 1942
3 1943
4 1944
5 1946
5
1 1947
Soybean
2 1937
3 1939
4 1940
5 1941
6 1943
7 1944
5 General Historical Materials
Publications
Annual Research Reports
Soybean
(continued)
8
1945
9 1946
6 Budget
1 1976-78
2 1978-79
3 1980-81
4 1982-83
5 1983-84
6 1984-85
7 1987-88
8 1988-89
9 1989-90
10 1990-91
11 Pamphlet Number Five
(Oleo/Margarine) Controversy, 1943-44
7 Research
1 Annual Activity Reports, 1978-86
2 Priorities, 1983-85
3 Results, 1975-87
4 Grant Supported Projects, 1982-87
Subject Areas
5 Alcohol, 1960-81
6 Alfalfa, 1978-83
Alternative Crops
7
Information,1978-86
8 Amaranthus,
1976-85, n.d.
Crambe, 1972-90
9
folder a
10
folder b
11 Popcorn, 1976-84,
n.d.
7 Research
Subject Areas (continued)
12 Biotechnology, 1982-84, n.d.
13 Nitrogen, 1978-85, n.d.
8 Soybean
1 Information,
1972-85
2 Variety Testing,
1980-84
3 Improved Oil
Quality, 1982-85
4 Cyst Nematode
Testing, 1980-85
5 Foliar Feeding,
1975-78
9 CARD
1 Mission, 1971-88, n.d.
Project Advisory Committee (PAC)
Minutes
2 1971-1972
3 March 1981
4 June 1981
5 October 1981
6 February 1982
7 June 1982
8 October 1982
9 March 1983
10 August 1983
11 January 1984
12 April 1984
13 June 1984
14 January 1985
15 August 1985
Miscellaneous
16 February 1981
17 June 1981
10 Contracts
1 Argonne National Laboratory,
1982-83
2 Data Resources, Incorporated,
1978
10 CARD
Contracts (continued)
3 Hungary, ca.1981
4 Iowa Department of Soil
Conservation, 1980-82
5 Iowa Utility, 1983
Joint Nutrition Monitoring
Evaluation Committee (JNMEC)
6 Goals, 1981-86
7 Correspondence,
1982-87
8 Data, 1977, n.d.
9 Preliminary Work,
1983-88
11 1 Final Reports,
1977-88
2 Lurch and Company, n.d.
3 Moorman Manufacturing
Company, 1976-77
4 NASA, 1982-83
National Planning
Association (NPA)
5 Goals, 1978-80
6 Correspondence,
1979-80
7 Minutes, 1979-81
8 National Science Foundation
(NSF), 1978
Office of Technology
Assessment (OTA)
9 Goals, 1984, n.d.
10 Correspondence,
1983-84
11 Budget, 1984
12 Final Reports,
1983-84
12 1 USDA, 1975-82
2 US Department of Commerce,
1987
Publications
3 Methodology, 1988
Miscellaneous
4 1983
5 1985
13 NASULGC
1 Organization, 1971-85
2 Correspondence, 1977-90
3 Minutes, 1975-86
4 Publications, 1968-88
Committees
5 Ad hoc, 1973-85
Expt. Station Committee on
Policy & Organization (ESCOP)
6 Membership,
1981-86
7 Correspondence,
1982-87
8 Minutes, 1982-84
9 Pest Control,
1978-87
Subcommittees
10
Budget, 1978-87
11
By-laws, 1979
14 1
Communications, 1986-88
2
Interim, 1974-89
3
Legislative, 1979-82
4
Special Initiatives, 1984-88
Divisions
5 RICOP, 1981-84
6 CARET, 1982-85
7 ARPAC, 1975-77
Agriculture
Minutes
8
1972-78
9
1981-87
10 Reports, 1984
15 NCRES
Directors
Membership
1 1966-69
2 1970-79
16 NCRES
Directors
Membership (continued)
3 1980-87
4 Correspondence, 1969-89
5 Budget, 1973-77
Minutes
1 1962-65
2 1966-69
3 1983
4 1984
5 1985
6 1986
17 1 1987-88
2 1989
3 Reports, 1978-88
Publications
4 1965-71
5 1972-76
North Central Regional Center for Rural
Development (NCRCRD)
6 Mission, n.d.
7 Correspondence, 1973-84
8 Budget, 1978-83
Minutes
9 1972-78
10 1980-83
11 Project Lists, 1975-82
18 Activities, 1971-84
1 folder a
2 folder b
3 folder c
4 Publications, 1973-75, n.d.
18 NCRES
NCRCRD (continued)
5 Advisory Committee, 1971-74
19 1 Seminar, 1972
USDA
2 Organization, 1976-87
Divisions
3 ARS, 1983-87
Committee of Nine
4 1960-65
5 1966-70
6 1971-75
20 1 1976-78
2 1979-81
3 1986-88
4 Forestry, 1980-86
Integrated Pest Management
(IPM)
NAPIAP
5
1976-88
1980-86
6
folder a
7
folder b
21 1 NCRPIAP, 1981-87
2 IAPIAP, 1979-87
3 Miscellaneous,
1977-86
4 Joint Council on Food,
1980-84
Soil Conservation
5 National Level,
1960-79
22 State Level
1
Mission, 1967-70
22 USDA
Divisions
Soil Conservation
State Level
(continued)
2
Correspondence, 1967-85
3
Budget, 1968-86
4
Minutes, 1968-84
5
Projects, 1967-83
6
Contracts, 1967-85
7
Publications, 1966-84
8
Newsletters, 1970-84
9 Users Advisory Board, 1986-87
23 ICPB
Correspondence
1 1978
2 1979
3 1980
4 1981
5 1982
6 1983
7 1988-89
8 1989-90
24 Minutes
1 1978-80
2 1981-89
Research
3 Lists, 1978-90
4 Summaries, 1979-88
Proposals
5 1979
6 1980
7 1981
8 1982
25 ICPB
Research
