RS 9-9-51 John Crosby Eldredge Papers

Descriptive summary

creator:	Eldredge, John Crosby
title:	Papers
dates:	1915-1976
extent:	0.84 linear feet (2 boxes)
collection number:	RS 9/9/51
repository:	University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

Administrative information

access:	Open for research
publication rights:	Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:	John Crosby Eldredge Papers, RS 9/9/51, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

Dr. John Crosby Eldredge, (April 21, 1886-March 12, 1976), was born in Earlville, Delaware County, Iowa. He received a B.S. in Agronomy from Iowa State College in 1915, an M.S. in 1925, and a Ph.D. in 1933. Eldredge worked as a county agent in Emmet County, 1915-1920. He took a position with the Emmetsburg Seed Company in 1920, where he worked for more than a year. In 1921, he joined the faculty at Iowa State College with an appointment of Assistant Professor. He became an Associate Professor in 1937, and was elected to the Graduate Faculty in 1939. He remained a member of faculty until his retirement in 1960, but continued to work for the university serving on the Committee on Agricultural Development into the 1970's. He died in Ames, Iowa, on March 15, 1976 and is buried in the Iowa State University Cemetery.

Eldredge specialized in the research and development of popcorn hybrids. He produced many of the varieties with the identifier, Iopop, most notably, Iopop 6. He also operated Ames Seed Farm, a hybrid seed company south of Ames, Iowa, in the Kelley, Iowa, area in the 1940's. The firm primarily produced corn, popcorn, and oat seed.

Collection description

The collection includes biographical information, correspondence, personal records, clippings, government forms, booklets, blueprints, and photographs and negatives, related to the life and work of John Crosby Eldredge. The biographical information includes Iowa State College alumni information forms, press releases, and an obituary. The correspondence relates to his farm loans, seed corn from Ames Seed Farm, popcorn varieties with Confections Incorporated, a caramel corn company, and alumni activities of the Iowa State College Class of 1915. The personal records contain loan application material, leases (1935), notes, an eviction letter for a tenant, and aerial photographs related to the Ames Seed Farm (1938-1945). The government documents include material from the Department of Agriculture such as Application for Payment from the Agricultural Adjustment Administration soil conservation program and a cropping plan for 1937.

The collection contains stamps and forms related to rationing during World War II. A Farm Defense Plan for 1942 is included as well. Ames Seed Farm material includes promotional material from the 1940's sales manuals, seven negatives and photographs of a corn drying barn, orders for popcorn for 1948, membership and booklets from the Story County Farm Bureau, and blueprints for a corn dryer. The published works include Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletins and articles related to popcorn and hail damage. Iowa State college information includes correspondence related to Eldredge's salary from 1943-1955, 1970. Alumni materials consist of information from class reunions and mementos.

Photographs of 1960 and 1965 reunions of the Class of 1915 were removed to the
University Archives Photograph Collection.

Box/File Date

Box 1: Ames Seed Farms - Writings

Ames Seed Farms

1/1 Farm lease contract, related correspondence 1935

1/2 Cropping plans, USDA Conservation Program bulletins and

communications with Federal Land Bank 1936

1/3 USDA Agricultural Adjustment Administration, crop plans 1937

1/4 Farm lease, Federal Land Bank Statement, Story County Farm

Bureau 1938 program, Farm Name Certificate (Ames Seed Farms),

crop plan 1938

1/5 Farm Acreage allotment, assessment roll for 1939, crop plans and

records 1939

1/6 Farm acreage allotments, farm plan 1940

1/7 Advertising and sales promotion 1940's

1/8 USDA Agricultural Adjustment Administration, acreage allotments,

farm records forms 1941

1/9 Farm defense program, farm plan, acreage allotments 1942

1/10 War production program, Agricultural Adjustment Administration 1943

1/11 Agricultural Conservation Program, legal data concerning farms 1946-47

1/12 Popcorn accounts 1939-49

1/13 Blueprints for corn dryer n.d.

1/14 Farm Bureau 1939-41

1/15 Gas Rationing Material 1942-44

Writings

1/16 Undated Papers:

"Breeding and Processing Popcorn"

"Cold Storage of Popcorn"

"Factors Affecting Popping Volume"

"Report of a Comparison of Different Types and Amounts

of Popcorn Seasoning"

1/17 Research Bulletins, ISC Agricultural Experiment Station:

The Effect of Injury in Imitation of Hail Damage on the

Development of the Corn Plant. Research Bulletin No. 185,

June, 1935. (Two copies, both annotated)

Hail Damage to Corn. Bulletin No. 348, June, 1936.

The Effect of Injury in Imitation of Hail Damage on the

Development of Small Grain. Research Bulletin No. 219,

June, 1937.

Popcorn in Iowa, with P.J. Lyerly. Bulletin No. P54, March 1943

The Effect of Injury Simulating Hail Damage to Soy Beans,

with R.R. Kalton, C.R. Weber. Research Bulletin No. 359, January, 1949.

1/18 Reprints and Pamphlets:

"Can Hail Ruin Soy Beans?" with Robert R. Kalton, Iowa Farm Science

(July, 1947): 5-8.

"Better Popping Popcorn," Iowa Farm Science (March, 1949): 6-7.

"Predicting the Performance of Pop Corn Hybrids from Single

Cross Data," with E.L. Peterson and I.J. Johnson, Agronomy Journal,

41 (March, 1949): 104-106.

"Inheritance of Popping Volume and Associated Characters in Crosses

Between Popcorn and Dent Corn," with Don E. Crumbaker, and

I.J. Johnson. Agronomy Journal, 45 (March, 1953): 105-110.

"Cold Storage of Popcorn," with I.J. Johnson. Ice and Refrigeration

(March, 1953): 13-18.

"Introduce New Popcorn Hybrid," with W.I. Thomas. Iowa Farm Science,

13 (March, 1959): 21.

Popcorn, with W.I. Thomas. Bulletin P127. Ames, Iowa: Agricultural

and Home Economics Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension

Service, Iowa State University, 1959.

Popcorn in the Home, W.I. Thomas. Pamphlet 260. Ames, Iowa:

Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University, 1959.

"Resistance in Popcorn to European Corn Borer Leaf Feeding,"

with W.I. Thomas and F.F. Dicke. Agronomy Journal, 52 (1960): 299.

"Simultaneous Conversion of Inbred Lines of Popcorn to

Cutoplasmic Male Sterility and Pollen Restoration," with

W.I. Thomas and F.F. Dicke. Agronomy Journal, 52 (1960): 716-717.

1/19 Research Papers, 1955, 1957-61

Popcorn Experiments, with W.I. Thomas.

Box 2: CAD - Biographical Data

2/1 Committee on Agricultural Development, 1967-68, 1970-71:

Includes committee minutes (1967) and booklets: Foundations Seed

for 1968 Planting as well as same for 1970 and 1971.

2/2 Correspondence, 1937, 1939, 1942-43, 1946-50, 1952, 1955, 1967, 1970-71,

1974, 1976:

Concerning mainly salary and rank and including a poem

2/3 Honoraries, citations:

Containing items from the State of Iowa, Sigma Xi, Iowa Crop Improvement

Association and Eta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity

2/4 ISU Class of 1915 reunion memorabilia:

Containing a program, invitation, three gold medals (fiftieth, fifth-fifth, and

sixtieth reunions) and a program for Commencement Week, 1915

2/5 Alumni Reunion materials, class of 1915:

Communications to class in 1930, 1933, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1950

2/6 ISU Alumni Class Agent (1915) 1960-61

2/7 ISU Alumni Class Agent (1915) 1965

2/8 ISU Alumni Class Agent (1915) 1970-71

2/9 ISU Alumni Class Agent (1915) 1975

2/10 Biographical data 1925,63,70