Special Collections Department: Archival & Manuscript Collections

Lists, Indexes, & Guides

Sources for the History of Agriculture & Rural Life
in the Iowa State University Library

SCIENTISTS AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

ALLEE, GEORGE M. (1877-1958). Papers, 1905-1908, 1949. .21 linear foot. MS-136. Originator of the Allee Hybrid. George M. Allee was born in Newell, Iowa, and received degrees from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and Harvard University. Active in cattle raising and corn experimentation, Allee was president of the Experimental Association of Ames, Iowa, and the Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association. He was president of the Newell Corn Show for many years. Collection consists of record book and clippings. Processed.

ANDERSON, ARTHUR L. (1893-1970). Papers, 1950-1959. 2.52 linear feet. RS 09/11/57. Animal scientist. Arthur L. Anderson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1893. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1916 and received an M.S. from Iowa State University in 1922. Anderson was a member of Iowa State's Animal Science Department for nearly 50 years, from 1920 to 1970. He published textbooks on swine production, and his book Introductory Animal Husbandry went through several editions. Anderson was in charge of the university swine herd and was recognized as one of the outstanding swine judges in the United States. In 1959 he served as an agricultural advisor with Seoul National University in Korea. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, and a copy of Anderson's Introductory Animal Husbandry (1950) with manuscript revisions. Processed.

ANDRE, FLOYD (1909-1972). Papers, 1949-1973. 7.5 linear feet. RS 09/01/14. Agricultural administrator at Iowa State University. Floyd Andre received a B.S. from Iowa State in 1931, an M.S. in 1933, and a Ph.D. in 1936. He then became an instructor in the Department of Entomology and Zoology in 1936. By 1949 he was dean of the College of Agriculture as well as director of the Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station, positions he held until his death. Collection includes biographical material, office correspondence (1956-1971), Advisory Committee meetings (1965-1969), Agricultural Advisory Committee reports (1949-1960), Dean's Council meeting minutes (1963-1970), Department Head meeting minutes (1957-1973), Center for Agricultural and Economic Development materials (1950-1971), and international affairs and contracts (1960). Processed.

ASHTON, GORDON (1906- ). Papers, 1950-1956. .84 linear foot. RS 09/11/52. Animal scientist and nutritionist. A native of Ontario, Canada, Gordon Ashton was born in 1906. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1935, an M.S. from McGill University in 1939, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1955. After receiving a master's degree, Ashton taught as a professor of animal husbandry at McGill University until 1951. He then received an appointment at Iowa State University in the Animal Science Department, where he continued his work in swine nutrition. Collection contains papers and personal correspondence from the years 1950-1956, as well as a biography and bibliography of research publications by Ashton and his associates. Processed.

BAKER, RAYMOND F. (1906-1999). Papers, 1924-2000. 10.92 linear feet. RS 21/07/08. Director of corn research at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. Raymond F. Baker graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in agronomy in 1935, seven years after he joined Pioneer. Baker headed the company's corn research department for more than 40 years until his retirement in 1971. In 1965, he was named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Collection includes correspondence, reports, speeches, transcripts of radio broadcasts, orders, receipts, publications, newspaper clippings, and photographs documenting Baker's work with Pioneer, the Alfalfa Research Foundation, the American Seed Trade Association, and the National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders. There is also material on the Iowa State University Alumni Association. Correspondents include Henry A. Wallace. Processed.

BAKKE, ARTHUR L. (1886-1972). Papers, 1914-1972. 5.65 linear feet. RS 13/05/54. Plant physiologist. Arthur L. Bakke was born in Horace, South Dakota, in 1886. He received B.S (1909) and M.S. (1911) degrees from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1917). He taught two years (1909-1910) at the Elgin Academy in Illinois, then came to Iowa State, where he spent the rest of his career. Bakke made significant contributions to the science of weed control with his studies of root reserves in perennial weeds, notably European bindweed and leafy surge. He was involved in the development of the North Central Weed Control Conference and the American Society of Plant Physiologists. Collection includes biographical information, clippings, correspondence, notebooks, manuscripts, Iowa State University committee papers, experiment station bulletins, and photographs. Much of the collection is Bakke's personal and professional correspondence. Included is correspondence from the Ames Land Company; C. E. Brindley, an economics professor who was a partner in a land venture; Iowa State University librarian Charles Harvey Brown; R. E. Buchanan; Hahn Muscatine Company, a gravel firm in which Bakke invested; the Osborn Research Club; Louis H. Pammel; Raymond A. Pearson; H. S. Smith, about the experiment station at Hawarden, Iowa (1936-1940); and E. W. Stanton. Some correspondence deals with the genealogy of the Studt family, his mother's family. Other correspondents include C. R. Ball, S. A. Beach, E. A. Bessy, R. K. Bliss, John M. Coulter, Charles F. Curtiss, Henry Gilman, R. B. Hibbard, Harold D. Hughes, L. W. Kephart, Burton E. Livingston, Irving E. Melhus, Raymond J. Pool, S. C. Salmon, Charles H. Schull, William Trelease, and R. B. Wylie. There is also information about the effects of artificial light on crops (1919), European bindweed and other weeds, and the early use of 2, 4-D. The collection includes Bakke's published manuscripts on the transpiring power of plants, soil nutrients, weed control, and small grains. There are also drafts of his research and unpublished reports, including the "Report of the Winneshiek Drainage Project," a plan by the U.S. War Department to drain the Mississippi River bottom lands. There are brochures on scientific equipment and notebooks for work at Hawarden and other projects, including financial books kept by Bakke and his colleagues. The notebooks include Hawarden notes and expenses for 1935-1944. Processed.

BEADLE, GEORGE WELLS (1903-1989). Papers, 1903, 1922-1924, 1926-1933, 1935-1982. .84 linear foot. MS-147. Corn geneticist, administrator, and university president. George Wells Beadle was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1903. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1926 and received an M.S. in 1927. In 1931 he received a Ph.D. from Cornell University, specializing in cytogenetics and the origin of corn. During his academic career, he taught at the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Stanford University. He was made president of the University of Chicago in 1961 and retired in 1968. In 1958 Beadle was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine with Edward L. Tatum and Joshua Lederburg. In 1984 he received the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal in recognition of a lifetime contribution to genetics. After retirement he resumed his early interest in the origin of maize. Collection contains materials associated with a large-scale examination and collection of wild teosinte in Mexico (1971-1975). In addition to Beadle, the other project organizers were Watton G. Galmat and H. Garrison Wilkes, both of the University of Massachusetts. Included are the National Science Foundation proposal that funded the project, correspondence, research record books, and photographs. Processed.

BORLAUG, NORMAN E. (1914- ). Papers, ca. 1941-1989. 23.98 linear feet. MS-467. Plant pathologist and geneticist. Norman Borlaug was born in Cresco, Iowa. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota; his Ph.D. (1942) was in plant pathology. From 1942 to 1944, he worked as a microbiologist for DuPont, then became resident scientist in charge of wheat improvement with the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and the Rockefeller Foundation. From 1960 to 1963, he was associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1964, Borlaug became director of the wheat research and production program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. He later joined the Soil and Crop Science Department at Texas A&M University. Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 (the first agricultural scientist to do so) for his leadership in the "Green Revolution," which involved engineering more productive wheat varieties to lessen famine in underdeveloped countries. Collection includes wheat research and analysis data; speeches, articles, and publications by Borlaug; and correspondence. Correspondents include Charles F. Krull, Theodore W. Schultz, and Elizabeth Whelan. Container listed.

BROWNING, J. ARTIE (1923- ). Papers, 1953-1981. 9.1 linear feet. RS 09/18/54. Botanist and plant pathologist. Born in Kosse, Texas, in 1923, J. Artie Browning attended Texas A&M University for two years, then served for two years in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. He received a B.S. from Baylor University in 1948 and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1953. Browning was a member of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Iowa State University from 1953-1989. During 1963-1964, he served as a visiting plant pathologist with the Rockefeller Foundation, in cooperation with the Institute Colombiano Agropecuario and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Bogata, Colombia. In May 1968, Browning served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Tel-Aviv. Collection contains a materials from Browning's years at Iowa State as well as files on his activities in the American Phytopathological Society, of which he was president in 1981-1982. It also includes videotapes of the DuPont Lecture Series given at Texas A&M University in 1980 and of a seminar by plant pathologist Norman E. Borlaug in 1989. Unprocessed.

BUCHANAN, ROBERT EARLE (1883-1973). Papers, 1901-1972. 28.14 linear feet. RS 06/03/11. Bacteriologist and administrator at Iowa State University. R. E. Buchanan received B.S. (1904) and M.S. (1906) degrees from Iowa State. He was the first head of the Bacteriology Department (1910-1948), the first dean of Industrial Science (1914-1916), the first dean of the Graduate College (1919-1948), and director of the Agriculture Experiment Station (1933-1948). Buchanan was active in many national and international scientific committees, commissions, and boards. He served as editor of the Iowa State Journal of Science, International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy, International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria and Viruses, and Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. Buchanan also served on the National Research Council, the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences, the President's Committee on Foreign Aid, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He went on various agricultural missions to Greece, the Middle East, and India. He was a visiting professor in Germany and was a consultant on technical cooperation between Latin America and U.S. universities. Collection contains correspondence; reports; biographical data; addresses; published and unpublished writings, including Buchanan's thesis (1908) and the 5th and 6th editions of Bacteriology (1951, 1959) by him and his wife, Estelle Denis (Fogel) Buchanan; reprints; illustrations for manuscripts; a card index of published work; awards; and honoraries. It also contains material on the oleomargarine controversy at Iowa State University; Buchanan's visiting professorship at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Type Culture Collection; the Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; the Bergey Manual Trust; Biological Abstracts; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its missions to Greece and the Near East; the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Turrialba, Costa Rica); the International Association of Plant Taxonomy; the International Botanical Congress (1950); the International Committee on Bacteriological Nomenclature; the International Congresses of Microbiology (1930-1958); the International Plant Congress (1926); the International Union of Biological Sciences; the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station; Latin America; the Marshall Plan; the National Research Council; the National Resources Board; the New York Academy of Science; and the Society of American Bacteriologists. Processed.

BURROUGHS, WISE (1911-1986). Papers, 1954-1982. 3.02 linear feet. RS 09/11/54. Animal scientist. Wise Burroughs received B.S. (1934) and Ph.D. (1939) degrees from the University of Illinois. He held positions at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station and Ohio State University from 1939-1951. Burroughs began in the Animal Husbandry Department of Iowa State University as an associate professor in 1951 and was promoted to professor in 1954. The department changed its name to Animal Science in 1962, and Burroughs became a distinguished professor of animal science in 1971 and professor emeritus in 1983. Most materials in the collection focus on Burroughs' research, patent applications, and legal ramifications related to Diethylstilbestrol (DES), which he developed. Correspondence includes court transcripts, depositions, briefs and defense exhibits, as well as materials on Dawe's Laboratories Inc., Eli Lilly, and Merck. The collection also includes materials on the formation of the Iowa State College Research Foundation (ISCRF); biographical information; correspondence; honoraries; and patent and research files. Container listed.

CARVER, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1864-1943). Papers, 1893-1929. .63 linear foot. RS 21/07/02. Agricultural scientist, teacher, humanitarian, and artist. George Washington Carver was born around 1864, the son of slaves on the Moses Carver plantation near Diamond Grove, Missouri. He lost his father in infancy. At the age of 6 months, he was stolen along with his mother by raiders but was later found and traded back to his owner for a $300 race horse. Carver enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, in 1890, studying music and art. Etta Budd, his art instructor, was the daughter of Joseph Lancaster Budd, a horticulturist at Iowa State University. She convinced Carver to give up a career in art and go into scientific agriculture. He came to Iowa State in 1891 and was active in the YMCA, the Welch Eclectic Society, and the college military regiment. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in agriculture in 1894 and 1896. Carver was both the first African American to enroll as a student at Iowa State and the first to join the faculty. In 1895 he became an assistant botanist in the Experiment Station, working there until Booker T. Washington asked him to come to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama the following year. At Tuskegee, Carver organized the agricultural department, planned the first agricultural building, taught classes in chemistry and botany, and conducted research. He served as director of agriculture and director of the Experiment Station. Carver has been called the founder of chemurgy. His research led to the creation of many products made from native materials, including over three hundred products from peanuts and over one hundred from sweet potatoes. He also developed products from Alabama clay, cotton, soybeans, pecans, wood shavings, and waste materials. Collection includes biographical materials, a television script, newspaper clippings, publications (including Carver's B.S. thesis), bibliographies, lists of awards and honors, correspondence (chiefly with Louis H. Pammel, 1897-1928), and interviews and reminiscences of colleagues. It also contains subject files on Tuskegee Institute, the Carver Foundation and Museum, the Carver National Monument at Diamond Grove, Missouri, and Iowa State University's Carver Hall dedication. For the Carver collection at Tuskegee, see George Washington Carver Papers at Tuskegee Institute (S417.C3A2 1975x microfilm). Processed.

CATRON, DAMON VON (1915-1967). Papers, 1945-1967. 17.43 linear feet. RS 09/11/55. Nutritionist and animal scientist. Damon Von Catron was born near Kokomo, Indiana, and received a B.S. from Purdue University. He received an M.A. from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in animal nutrition from Iowa State University in 1948. Catron joined the Animal Science Department at Iowa State in 1945, where he worked until 1960. From 1960-1966, he worked in the private sector and for the University of Maryland. In December 1966, Catron was appointed coordinator of the University of Missouri food science and nutrition program, a position he held until his death in November 1967. Collection includes professional and personal correspondence, speeches, reports, course material on animal nutrition, research papers on swine nutrition, and materials documenting Catron's work for the Walnut Grove Products Company, the W. R. Grace Company, and the Washington Research Center in Clarksville, Maryland. It also includes Catron's publications and a bibliography of his published works and papers presented. Processed.

CRAFT, WILLIAM A. (1894-1963). Papers, n.d., 1937-1966. .21 linear foot. RS 09/11/58. Swine researcher. William A. Craft was born on September 9, 1894, near Jonesboro, Arkansas, and died January 28, 1963, in Des Moines, Iowa. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Iowa State University in 1922 and 1923, and received a Ph.D. in 1932 from the University of Wisconsin. Craft was an associate professor at Oklahoma State University from 1923-1936. He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1936 and was the director of the USDA regional swine breeding laboratory from 1937-1959. Craft was made an associate professor of animal husbandry at Iowa State University in 1943 and was designated professor emeritus in 1960. He was a member of the Osborn Research Club at Iowa State, serving as its president in 1958. Craft was also a member of Alpha Zeta and Sigma Xi. The collection contains biographical information, writings, correspondence, research notes, and teaching materials dealing mostly with animal husbandry and swine research. Processed.

DENISEN, E. L. (1919- ). Papers, 1920-1989 (bulk 1950-1989). 26.42 linear foot. RS 09/16/21. Horticulturist and pomologist. Ervin Loren Denisen received a B.S. from the University of Minnesota in 1941 and M.S. (1947) and Ph.D. (1949) degrees from Iowa State University. He served as a member and head of the Horticulture Department at Iowa State from 1946 to 1973. His research interests included small fruit breeding, the physiology of horticulture crops, and the mechanical harvesting of strawberries. Collection includes professional society conference materials; files (1963-1974) on Denisen's service in Uruguay in an Agency for International Development (A.I.D.) project; correspondence; photographs; and slides. Topics covered include raspberries, strawberry breeding, and the mechanical harvesting of strawberries. Container listed.

DOWNING, CHARLES (1802-1885). Papers, 1851-1900, n.d. 3.15 linear feet. MS-220. Pomologist. Charles Downing was born in 1802 in Newburg, New York. He was educated in local schools, and from his teenage years on he assisted his father Samuel in his nursery business. After his father's death in 1822, he took over the operation of the nursery. He entered into partnership with his younger brother, famed landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing, in 1835. They continued in business together for four years. In 1839, Charles Downing sold out his interest in the family business and started his own nursery. About 1850, he gave up the business entirely; he devoted the rest of his life to research and experimentation on fruit varieties. He developed a test orchard which contained 1,800 varieties of apples and 1,000 varieties of pears. With his brother he prepared The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (first published in 1845), and after Andrew's death in 1852, Downing continued to revise and expand the book. Too shy to ever give a speech, Downing wrote many articles and was internationally recognized as an authority on pomology. The collection contains notebooks with Downing's notes on numerous varieties of pears, plums, and cherries. These include sketches of the fruit, notations on color, fruit shape and habit of the variety, and sometimes notations on the yield of the variety in a particular year. There are also occasional news clippings and portions of letters from others scattered throughout the books. The notebooks came to the library through professor Joseph Lancaster Budd, head of Iowa State University's Horticulture Department from 1877-1899. Budd was also a prominent pomologist, especially known for his introduction of Russian varieties of fruits and shrubs to the Upper Midwest. Downing willed the notebooks and his horticultural library to Budd, with the stipulation that these items would come to the Iowa State University Library when Budd had no further need of them. The notebooks were added to the library's collection in 1930. Processed.

ELDREDGE, JOHN CROSBY (1886-1976). Papers, 1915-1976. .84 linear foot. RS 09/09/51. Agronomist. John Crosby Eldredge was born in Earlville, Delaware County, Iowa. He received a B.S. in agronomy from Iowa State University in 1915, an M.S. in 1925, and a Ph.D. in 1933. Eldredge worked as a county extension agent in Emmet County from 1915-1920. In 1921, he joined the faculty at Iowa State, where he remained until his retirement in 1960. From that time until the early 1970s, he continued to work for the university by serving on the Committee on Agricultural Development. Eldredge specialized in the development of popcorn hybrids, producing many of the varieties with the identifier Iopop, most notably Iopop 6. In the 1940s, he also operated Ames Seed Farm, a hybrid seed company in the Kelley, Iowa, area. The firm produced corn, popcorn, and seed oats. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, personal records, clippings, government forms, booklets, blueprints, and photographs. Processed.

GAESSLER, WILLIAM G. (1888-1985). Papers, 1907-1979. 4.2 linear feet. RS 09/02/53. Plant chemist. William G. Gaessler received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Ohio State University in 1911 and 1929. He was a research associate professor and associate professor of plant chemistry with the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station and the Iowa State University Department of Chemistry from 1931-1963. Collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, experiment station annual reports, project reports, clippings, honors, photographs, publications, speeches, and reference files. Correspondence from other experiment stations, including those in Hawaii, Nevada, California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, and Nebraska, is also included. Research documented includes work on sorghum, bindweed, and pericarp in corn. Correspondents include Arthur L. Bakke, Irving E. Melhus, and L. W. Kephart. Container listed.

GOWAN, JOHN (1893-196?). Papers, 1915-1954. 1.26 linear feet. RS 09/15/12. Geneticist. John Gowan was born September 5, 1893, in Evinston, Florida. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Maine in 1914 and 1915, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1917. Gowan was a biologist at the Maine Agricultural Experimental Station from 1917-1926 and at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research from 1926-1937. He came to Iowa State University as professor of genetics in 1937 and became head of the department in 1948. Gowan retired from Iowa State in 1964. He then served as a professor of radiation biology and genetics at Colorado State University from 1964 until his death. Gowan was a member of the Biometric Society, the American Genetic Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Society of Naturalists. He served as the president of the Genetics Society of America in 1952 and as vice president of the American Society of Zoologists in 1950. He was also a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Beta Kappa. The collection contains biographical information, a bibliography of Gowan's writings, and files relating to his genetics research and teaching in irradiation, serological genetics, sex ratios, and bacterial mutation. Processed.

HAYDEN, ADA (?-1950). Papers, [1900-1989]. 2.33 linear feet. RS 13/05/55. Botanist. The first woman to receive a Ph.D. (in 1918) at Iowa State University, Ada Hayden was a member of the Iowa State faculty until her death in 1950. She was appointed assistant professor of botany in 1920 and served primarily as a teacher until 1934, when she was named research assistant professor for the Experiment Station. She also served as curator of the Botany Department's herbarium, and expanded and improved the quality of the collections. On campus, she was active in alumni affairs, serving as secretary of the Class of 1908. She also was an officer in Iowa State's 25 Year Club. She belonged to numerous professional organizations and served as president of Sigma Delta Epsilon and secretary of the Grassland Research Foundation. Hayden's main research focus in her later life was native prairie preservation, and the papers contain an extensive report on Iowa prairies as they existed in the 1940s. The collection also includes correspondence and articles by and about Hayden. Processed.

HEIKENS, GEORGE A. (1902-1976). Papers, 1902-1977. .92 linear foot. RS 21/07/15. Agricultural scientist and public official. George A. Heikens was born in 1902 near Ackley, Iowa. He received a two-year certificate in agriculture (1921) and a B.S. in agricultural economics (1927) from Iowa State University. From July 1930 to July 1931, he was employed by the government of the Soviet Union to teach government farmers how to produce purebred swine. Heikens became an Iowa State Tenant purchase specialist in 1939, and in 1941 he became the director of the Iowa Farm Security Administration. He farmed in the Spencer, Iowa, area throughout his adult life and died there in 1976. Papers include biographical materials, personal and business correspondence, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and photographs documenting Heikens' year in the Soviet Union working for the Svinovod Trust Farm. Processed.

HUGHES, HAROLD D. (1882-1969). Papers, 1925, 1930, 1932, 1935-1937, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1964-1968. .84 linear foot. RS 09/09/52. Agronomist. Harold D. Hughes served on the faculty of Iowa State University from 1910 to 1947, as chief of the Experiment Farm Crops Station, professor of agronomy, and head of the Agronomy Department. He is regarded as the discoverer of the annual white clover hubam. Collection includes biographical information, clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, experiment station bulletins, student papers, and photographs. The correspondence (1932-1963) is primarily about the forage crop birdsfoot trefoil, methods of drying corn, and corn-growing in Africa. Publications include agricultural experiment station bulletins on clover, trefoil, and other forage crops. The unpublished material (1935-1968) includes transcripts of Hughes' discussions broadcast over WOI Radio. The photograph collection includes extensive files on annual white sweet clover and experiment station photographs of birdsfoot trefoil and canary grass. Other photograph files include corn, equipment and methods, people, and pastures. Processed.

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY. AGRICULTURAL AND HOME ECONOMICS EXPERIMENT STATION. Records, 1888-1991. 11.55 linear feet. RS 09/02/17. The Iowa State University Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station was founded as a result of the Hatch Act of 1887, which provided 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 1891, James "Tama Jim" Wilson became the first director of the Experiment Station. His programs emphasized the reorganization of the station's work. In 1913, the staff, a combination of specialized researchers and a part-time teaching force, published research bulletins and offered the first research fellowships. The mission of 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. Though it is a research arm of the College of Agriculture, it 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 Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station encompasses the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, and several other agencies which are represented in this collection. Most of the records in this collection are those of John Mahlstede, associate director of the station from 1973-1987. The records focus on the station's research projects, as well as business it conducted with various organizations, Iowa State University departments, interdisciplinary organizations, and government agencies. Each series, as indicated in the arrangement note, documents the major research performed by the station. The series include the following: general historical materials, 1888-1991; research, 1960-1990; Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), 1971-1989; National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), 1971-1990; North Central Region Experiment Stations (NCRES), 1962-1989; U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1960-1987; Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB), 1978-1990; Iowa Soybean Promotion Board (ISPB), 1984-1989; and miscellaneous subject files, 1966-1988. Each series is arranged chronologically. Processed.

ISELY, DWIGHT (1887-1974). Papers, 1911-1979. 6.93 linear feet. MS-119. Entomologist. Dwight Isely was born in 1887 on a farm in northern Kansas. He graduated from Fairmount College in Wichita, Kansas, in 1910, and got a master's degree in 1913 at the University of Kansas. He spent the 1913-1914 year doing graduate work at Cornell University on a Schuyler Fellowship. The following year he joined the Bureau of Entomology (U.S. Department of Agriculture) where he stayed until 1921, when he became an associate professor of entomology at the University of Arkansas. In 1951, he became associate director of the University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, and he remained in the position until his retirement in 1953. From December 1948 to February 1949, he went on a U.S. Government Institute of Inter-American Affairs assignment to Peru to aid in the control of cotton insects. From 1953 to 1956, he was on assignment in Panama as director of the University of Arkansas agricultural mission to Panama. Isley's research was on the boll weevil and codling moth; his approach was both ecological and biological. That research pioneered in the elucidation of life history information to control procedures. Collection includes biographical material, newspaper clippings, personal and professional correspondence, published and unpublished writings (including manuscripts for Methods of Insect Control, 1937-1957), reports, and transcripts of interviews with former students and colleagues by Isely's son Duane. Correspondence and reports from Isely's career at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, his work in Peru for the Institute of Inter-American Affairs, and his service as director of the University of Arkansas agricultural mission to Panama are also included. Correspondents include George Becker, Benjamin J. Birdsall, Claude J. Byrd, Lippert S. Ellis, Robert F. Harwood, James G. Horsfall, Charles Lincoln, Floyd D. Miner, L. D. Newsom, George W. Ware, and V. H. Young. Processed.

KELLOGG, LEONARD. Papers, ca. 1925-1980. 4.2 linear feet. RS 09/14/51. Forester. Leonard Kellogg received a B.S. from the University of California and an M.F. from Yale University. He was a professor of forestry at Iowa State University from 1929-1970 and was also associated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the extension service. Kellogg was the author of numerous extension service reports, was active in the Society of American Foresters, and was an avid photographer. Collection includes official, personal, and professional correspondence; course notes and syllabi; notes from faculty meetings; conference programs; correspondence and publications related to the Society of American Foresters; research files on forestry, flood control, erosion prevention, lumber grading, disease prevention, and characteristics of species of trees; research on miscellaneous regions, including the Ohio River Basin, the Tennessee River Basin, and the Platte River; and a large amount of information on Iowa forestry, sawmills, national and state parks, and forests. Collection also contains working manuscripts, publications, a number of photographs of forests and trees, aerial surveys, and maps. Processed.

KLINGEBIEL, ALBERT A. (1910- ). Papers, 1934-1991. 2.1 linear feet. RS 21/07/80. Soil scientist and soil conservationist. Albert A. Klingebiel was born in Hinton, Iowa, in 1910. He received a B.S. in agronomy from Iowa State University in 1936 and an M.S. in soil microbiology from Iowa State the next year. Klingebiel served as a soil scientist for the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) from 1938 to 1940, when he was placed in charge of training new SCS professional employees in eight Midwestern states. In 1946 he was made SCS state soil scientist for Illinois. In 1952 Klingebiel was appointed director of Soil and Water Management Research in Illinois for the Agricultural Research Service. He became assistant director (1954) and director (1956) of soil survey interpretations for the SCS in Washington, D.C., serving in that position until retiring in 1973. Klingebiel published over 50 scientific articles, and his research included soil classification and interpretation, soil and water management, and land use planning. Collection includes an autobiography, biographical information, awards, personal correspondence, SCS memoranda and correspondence, and materials on the Soil Science Society of America. Processed.

KNIGHT, HAROLD H. (1889-1976). Papers, 1925-1976. 11.34 linear feet. RS 09/12/53. Entomologist. Harold H. Knight was born in Missouri and attended Southwest Missouri State University for two years. He received a B.S. (1914) and a Ph.D. (1920) from Cornell University. Before his appointment to Iowa State University in 1924, he was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota. Knight's research on the systematics of the plant bugs (Miridae) produced 182 scientific publications. He served as president of the Entomological Society of America in 1948 and was made an honorary member of the society in 1967. He was an honorary member of the Societe Entomologique de France and the Societe Entomologique de Belgium as well. Knight had a strong avocational interest in gladiolus, evident in his involvement in many gladiolus societies over the years. Collection includes biographical information; subject files (1948, 1965-1966, 1971, 1976); correspondence (n.d., 1924-1973); gladiolus notes (n.d., 1941-1965); Riverside Gardens file including general information, gladiolus notebooks, business ledgers, order books, and receipts (n.d., 1925-1959); and files on organizations (n.d., 1934-1959, 1962-1965). Processed.

LAFFOON, JEAN L. (1922-1973). Papers, 1940-1973. 2.82 linear feet. RS 09/12/56. Entomologist. Jean L. Laffoon was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and received a B.S. in biology from Morningside College. He received M.S. (1948) and Ph.D. (1953) degrees from Iowa State University in entomology. Laffoon joined the Iowa State faculty in 1946 and was promoted to professor in 1962; he also curated the Iowa Insect Collection at Iowa State. He was a member of the Iowa Academy of Science, the Entomological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Laffoon engaged in a vast array of biological research but was primarily interested in systematic zoology for the identification and labeling of insect species and types. His primary area of research was in the field of mosquito control and fungus gnats. Collection contains Laffoon's professional correspondence with entomologists and former students, and letters regarding his work in the Entomological Society of America. Collection also includes research notes, principally on mosquito ecology, publications of Laffoon and other authors, as well as course and lecture notes, and copies of grant applications. It also contains material on systematic zoology and the International Congress of Entomology. Processed.

LINDSTROM, ERNEST W. (1891-1948). Papers, 1924-1944. 1.26 linear feet. RS 09/15/11. Geneticist. Ernest Lindstrom was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 5, 1891. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1914 and received a Ph.D. in 1917 from Cornell University. During 1917-1919 he served as a lieutenant in the Air Force. In 1919, Lindstrom accepted a position as assistant professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin. He came to Iowa State University in the fall of 1922 to establish a new Genetics Department; he was head of this department for 26 years. In 1937 he became vice dean of the Graduate School. In 1944-1945, he established a new Genetics Department at the National University of Medellin, Colombia. Lindstrom's research interests included inheritance, linkage relations, maize, and tomato genetics. He was a charter member of the Genetics Society of America and served the society as secretary-treasurer in 1938-1940, vice-president in 1941, and president in 1942. Lindstrom also was a member of the American Society of Naturalists, the Botanical Society of America, the American Genetic Association, the Iowa Academy of Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The collection contains biographical information, correspondence, notebooks, and Lindstrom's writings. Processed.

LUSH, JAY L. (1896-1982). Papers, 1921-1985. 25.28 linear feet. RS 09/11/52. Animal scientist and geneticist considered the founder of scientific animal breeding in the twentieth century. Jay L. Lush was born in Shambaugh, Iowa. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Kansas State University in 1916 and 1918, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1922. Lush was at Texas A&M University for nine years before coming to Iowa State University as a professor of animal husbandry in 1930. He served as department head and distinguished professor until 1971. Lush developed improved livestock through his genetic and biometric research, founding the field of population genetics, which redefined the concept of animal breeds along statistical norms. His book Animal Breeding Plans was first published in 1937 and became a classic in its field. Lush was also at the forefront of synthetic hormone research; Lush Auditorium on the Iowa State campus was later built to honor his efforts. Named a distinguished professor of agriculture in 1957, Lush was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1967. Collection includes personal and professional correspondence, interdepartmental correspondence, diplomas, degrees and awards, and a few personal financial statements. It also contains hundreds of family and professional photographs; thousands of slides of trips to Europe, South America, and Asia; and photographs of Iowa State University facilities and events, including VEISHEA. It includes printed materials; clippings about Lush and his family; and personal papers and writings (especially poetry) of Adaline Lincoln Lush, Jay Lush's wife. Processed.

MELHUS, IRVING E. (1881-1969). Papers, 1907-1963. 5.6 linear feet. RS 13/05/14. Plant pathologist. Born in Creston, Illinois, in 1903, Irving E. Melhus received a B.S. from Iowa State University in 1906. In 1912 he received a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin. He worked as a plant pathologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry from 1912 to 1916, when he was appointed as associate professor of plant pathology at Iowa State. Melhus was head of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Iowa State from 1930 to 1946, then headed the Iowa State Tropical Research Center in Guatemala from 1946 to 1953. He also served as the state botanist of Iowa from 1937 to 1946. His research included the areas of potato diseases, corn diseases, crown rust of oats, watermelon wilt, sugar beets, fungicide coating of crop seeds, and root necrosis of crop plants. He co-authored a standard text on plant pathology, Elements of Plant Pathology, in 1939 with G. C. Kent. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, research notes, and materials documenting his work in Guatemala. Correspondents include George H. Godfrey, Walter W. Goeppinger, C. M. Nagel, Reginald H. Painter, William C. Paddock, and Henry A. Wallace. 4.2 linear feet processed, 1.4 linear feet unprocessed.

OSBORN, HERBERT (1856-1954). Papers, 1897-1969. .42 linear foot. RS 09/12/51. Zoologist. Herbert Osborn, a graduate of Iowa State University in 1879, was in charge of zoology at Iowa State (1883-1885) and was head of the Department of Zoology, Entomology and Geology (1885-1898) . From Iowa State he went to Ohio State University to continue his career. Osborn was the author of Economic Zoology: An Introductory Text-Book in Zoology, with Special Reference to its Applictions in Agriculture, Commerce, and Medicine (1908) and Meadow and Pasture Insects (1939). Collection includes an autobiographical manuscript, "Life Chronicle of a Naturalist," which covers his life up to 1943, some correspondence, printed material, and photographs. Processed.

PAMMEL, LOUIS HERMANN (1862-1931). Papers, 1882-1931. 38 linear feet. RS 13/05/13. Botanist, conservationist, and educator. Louis Pammel was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and received a bachelor's degree in agriculture (1885) and an M.S. (1889) from the University of Wisconsin. He received a Ph.D. from Washington University in 1897. Pammel joined the faculty at Iowa State University in 1889, holding various positions including extension botanist and professor of botany. Among Pammel's publications were A Manual of Poisonous Plants (1910), Weeds of the Farm and Garden (1911), and The Weed Flora of Iowa (1913, 1926). Collection contains correspondence, writings, printed materials, newspaper clippings, interviews, photographs, and scrapbooks. Correspondence and other papers relate to Pammel's research on the barberry in Iowa and rusts and other plant diseases; various botanical subjects including fungi, poisonous plants, seeds, and weeds; the Iowa State Board of Conservation, of which Pammel was chair; national and state conservation; and the history of Iowa State University. The collection includes materials concerning organizations with which Pammel was associated: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of University Professors, British Ecological Society, Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft (Berlin), Iowa Academy of Science, State Historical Society of Iowa , Minnesota Historical Society, Nebraska State Historical Society, Osborn Research Club, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Psi. Correspondents include William B. Allison, Joseph C. Arthur, Liberty H. Bailey, Carleton R. Ball, William J. Beal, Charles E. Bessey, Edward A. Birge, Robert E. Buchanan, George Washington Carver, James M. Cattell, John M. Coulter, Albert B. Cummins, Carl H. Eigenmann, Edmund A. Engler, David G. Fairchild, William G. Farlow, Warren Garst, Byron D. Halsted, Niels E. Hansen, Edgar R. Harlan, William T. Hornaday, H. C. Irish, Lewis R. Jones, Edwin O. Jordan, Nathan E. Kendall, John F. Lacey, C. F. MacBride, Thomas H. MacBride, Aven Nelson, Frederick Law Olmstead, Herbert Osborn, Sir David Prain, Benjamin L. Robinson, Pier A. Saccardo, Ernest S. Salmon, Charles S. Sargent, William Trelease, Alfred C. True, Hugo de Vries, Alfred R. Wallace, Henry A. Wallace, and James "Tama Jim" Wilson. Processed.

PELLETT, FRANK C. (1879-1951). Papers, 1897, 1909-1951. 12.33 linear feet. MS-144. Naturalist. Frank Chapman Pellett was born on a farm near Atlantic, Iowa. He attended rural schools until a health condition forced him to leave school. In 1902 he moved to Salem, Missouri, where he operated a fruit farm and read law in the office of the Hon. A. D. Gustin. Pellett was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1905 and practiced law in Salem for two years, though he later left his legal practice to devote himself to nature and wildlife. He was appointed Iowa state apiary inspector in 1912. In 1915 Pellett became associated with the American Bee Journal and remained so until his death. He wrote thirteen books on beekeeping, honey plants, horticulture, and other nature subjects. Frank Chapman Pellett has been characterized as a classical naturalist; his accomplishments and honors were many. In 1912 he was appointed Iowa's first state apiarist. In 1947, he received the National Skelly Award for superior achievement in agriculture. He was an honorary vice president of the Apis Club of England, an honorary member of the Bee Kingdom League of Egypt, and a fellow in the Iowa State Horticultural Society, of which he was president for two years. Pellett was also a member of the American Association of Economic Entomologists. Collection contains biographical information; materials documenting his business affairs; correspondence with apiarists, naturalists, and horticulturists; manuscripts and publications; and photographs of plants and animals. Correspondents include A. Z. Abushady; William Beebe; A. C. Bent; George Bennett, R. K. Bliss; Charles Harvey Brown; Gladstone Hume Cale; R. C. Cratty; Charles F. Curtiss; G. W. Clarke; George S. Dermuth; C. P. Dadant; Sam Edgecome; C. E. Ehinger; Henry Field; H. Malcolm Fraser; Edgar R. Harlan; I. Hopkins; F. N. Howes; Harold D. Hughes; L. A. Kenoyer; Herman Knapp; William Kyburz; John H. Lovell; Thomas H. McBride; G. B. McDonald; John N. Martin; Arthur C. Miller; J. H. Paarmann; F. B. Paddock; Louis H. Pammel; O. Wallace Park; Raymond A. Pearson; James M. Pierce; R. H. Porter; Carl C. Proper; Frank Robinson; A. I., E. R., and H. H. Root; Benjamin F. Shambaugh; Bohumil Shimek; F. W. L. Sladen; Jay Smith; T. C. Stephens; William Trelease; Richard Trump; T. V. Van Hyning; Henry C. Wallace; and Lloyd R. Watson. Photographs are organized into several sections, including amphibians, animals, birds, crustaceans, insects, plants, and reptiles. A small section of miscellaneous photographs depicts buildings, people, and scenic views. 15.83 linear feet container listed, 5.2 linear feet unprocessed.

PICKETT, BETHEL S. (1882-1975). Papers, 1845-1849, 1853-1857, 1871, 1911, 1916, 1922-1967, 1975. 7.06 linear feet. RS 09/16/17. Pomologist. Bethel Stewart Pickett was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1882. He received a B.S. from the University of Toronto in 1904 and an M.S. from the University of Illinois in 1906. Pickett taught at the University of Illinois (1906-1908 and 1912-1923) and the University of New Hampshire (1908-1912) before coming to Iowa State University as head of the Department of Horticulture and Forestry in 1923, a position he held until 1947. From 1947 to 1949 he served as a horticultural advisor to the government of Syria. Pickett's publications included Elements of Fruit Growing (1920). He served as president of the American Pomological Society from 1932 to 1941. Collection includes biographical and genealogical information; publications; and correspondence and organizational files documenting Pickett's involvement with the American Garden Foundation, the American Pomological Society, the National Garden Institute, the National Fruit Foundation, and the National Victory Garden Conference (1944). One group of letters deals with the issue of pesticide residues (1929, 1933-1937). Correspondents include J. C. Blair, H. C. C. Miles, Rexford Guy Tugwell, and Henry A. Wallace. The collection also includes a card index to horticultural publications and several hundred pomological lantern slides. 1.26 linear feet processed, 5.8 linear feet unprocessed.

POHL, RICHARD WALTER (1916-1993). Papers, 1953-1993. 8.82 linear feet. RS 13/05/53. Botanist. Richard W. Pohl was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received a B.S. from Marquette University in 1939 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1947. Pohl joined the Iowa State University faculty in 1947 and remained at Iowa State until his retirement on June 30, 1986. He was curator of the herbarium from 1950-1986 and was named a distinguished professor in 1975. Pohl specialized in the study of bamboo and grasses, spending considerable time in Central America, especially Costa Rica, studying the taxonomy and cytology of tropical American grasses. He was regarded as the ranking expert in the area of Central American grass taxonomy and served as the honorary curator of grasses for the National Museum in Costa Rica. The courses he taught focused on elementary plant taxonomy, field botany, agrostology, and plant geography. Pohl was the author of numerous scientific articles, and was a research associate for both the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Field Museum in Chicago. Pohl was a member of the Botanical Society of America; the American Society of Plant Taxonomists; Sigma Xi, a science research honorary; Gamma Sigma Delta, an honor society of agriculture; Phi Sigma, a biology recognition society; Phi Kappa Phi, a scholastic honorary; and Phi Zeta. He served as as a member of the council of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists from 1965-1972, as treasurer from 1959-1965, and as president in 1973. Collection consists primarily of personal and professional correspondence. It also includes biographical information and files on teaching, professional trips to Costa Rica, foundations and organizations with which Pohl worked, and the Organization for Tropical Studies. Processed.

PORTER, R. HOWARD (RUPERT HOWARD) (1892-  ). Papers, 1923-1983, n.d. 0.42  linear feet. RS 9/19/11. R. Howard Porter received his B.S. (1918), M.S. (1929), and Ph.D. (1930) in plant pathology from Iowa State College (University).  Porter served in the United States Army as a second lieutenant in heavy artillery (1918-1919).  He worked for the Christian University in Nanking, China as a plant pathologist and agricultural missionary on a famine prevention program (1923-1927).  Upon earning his Ph.D., Porter was appointed head of the Iowa State College (University) Seed Laboratory (Seed Science Center) (1931-1946).  Due to a misunderstanding over faculty leave, Porter left the university in 1946. He spent a few years in South America and returned to the country as the professor of botany and plant pathology at Colorado State College (University) (1950-1955).   The collection contains news clippings, correspondence, and numerous publications written by Porter regarding seeds and seed pathogens.  The publications include a history of the Iowa State College (University) Seed Laboratory, 1931-1946. Processed.

SHAW, WARREN C. (1922- ). Papers, 1959-1985. 3.18 linear feet. MS-371. Plant physiologist. Warren C. Shaw received B.S. (1943) and M.S. (1947) degrees from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. (1949) from Ohio State University in agronomy and plant physiology. Shaw was a researcher for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for most of his career, working in the areas of weed research and pesticides; beginning in 1981 he was natural resources program leader in the Agricultural Research Service. He was president of the Weed Science Society of America (1962-1964) and was a fellow of both WSSA and the American Society of Agronomy. Collection includes conference proceedings, research results, correspondence, photographs, reports, articles, and a manuscript, "The Relation of Structural Configuration to the Herbicidal Activity of the Carbamates," by Shaw and C. R. Swanson. It also includes one of the pens used by President Lyndon Johnson to sign legislation dealing with noxious plants on federal lands (1968) presented to Shaw on behalf of the Weed Science Society of America. Container listed.

SNEDECOR, GEORGE W. (1881-1974). Papers, 1916-1978 (bulk 1934-1974). 1.89 linear feet. RS 13/24/51. Statistician and pioneer in agricultural statistics. George W. Snedecor received a B.S. from the University of Alabama (mathematics and physics, 1905) and an M.A. from the University of Michigan (physics, 1913). He came to Iowa State University in 1913 to teach mathematics, and taught the first statistics course there in 1915. Snedecor, a pioneer in the area of applying statistical methods to agricultural research, worked with Henry A. Wallace, editor of Wallaces' Farmer, in this area in the 1920s. In 1933, Snedecor established and was the first director of the Statistical Laboratory at Iowa State, the first institute of its kind in the United States; he served as its director until 1947. He remained in the Statistics Department until his retirement in 1958. Snedecor served as president of the American Statistical Association in 1948. The collection includes biographical information, copies of Snedecor's publications (including his classic work on Statistical Methods, first published in 1937), and correspondence. Correspondents include William G. Cochran, Gertrude Cox, Ronald A. Fisher, E. E. Houseman, and Emil H. Jebe. The collection also includes correspondence of Ted A. Bancroft relating to a biography and bibliography of Snedecor and the Snedecor Memorial Fund. Container listed.

STANIFORTH, DAVID W. (1919-1984). Papers, 1948-1985. 11.7 linear feet. RS 09/18/52. Plant physiologist. David W. Staniforth received a B.S. (1944) and an M.S. (1946) from the University of Saskatchewan. He received a Ph.D. from Iowa State University in botany and plant physiology in 1949, and he taught at Iowa State beginning in 1946. Staniforth's research interests included the control of weeds in economic crops, crop ecology, and the physiology of herbicides. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, North Central Weed Control Conference materials, lecture and seminar papers, research data, field books, reports, and abstracts. Correspondence relates to soybeans, corn, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and inbreeding. Correspondents include Erhardt Paul Sylwester and a variety of petrochemical and agricultural chemical manufacturers. Processed.

STEVENSON, WILLIAM H. (1872-1951). Papers, ca. 1908-1966. 2.5 linear feet. RS 09/09/12. Agronomist. William Henry Stevenson received a B.A. from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1893, and a B.S. in agriculture from Iowa State University in 1905. He received a doctor of science degree from Illinois College in 1923. Stevenson was head of the Agronomy Department at Iowa State from 1910 to 1932; director of the Iowa Soil Survey from 1910 to 1932; and vice-director of the Experiment Station from 1912 to 1948. He served as a delegate to the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome in 1921-1922. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, publications in printed and manuscript form, photographs, and news clippings. .21 linear foot processed, 2.29 linear feet unprocessed.

SWEENEY, ORLAND RUSSELL (1883-1958). Papers, 1916-1975. 1.8 linear feet. RS 11/04/14. Chemical engineer. Orland Russell Sweeney was born in 1883 in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, and moved to Piper City, Illinois, at an early age. He spent seven years working in the iron and steel industry. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering (1909) and an M.A. (1910) from Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. (1916) from the University of Pennsylvania. During World War I, he worked in the development of large poison gas plants. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania and North Dakota State University, and was head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Cincinnati before coming to Iowa State in 1921 in the same capacity, serving as department head until 1948. Sweeney's research promoted the utilization of agricultural waste materials for products such as insulation and wallboard. His work in the manufacture of furfural (used in the making of lacquer and dyes) from corncobs resulted in an industry of great importance. Sweeney published widely in scientific periodicals, and he was issued about 300 patents for water softening processes, utilization of agricultural wastes, and electrolytic apparatus. His inventions included several medical appliances used in making disinfectants. Collection includes biographical information; correspondence; clippings; honors; patents; publications concerning utilization of agricultural wastes; committee files involving his work with the Greater Iowa Commission, the War Production Board, the Iowa State Planning Board, and the Midwest Research Institute; and project files on chemical warfare, chicle substitutes, coal, and corn alcohol. Processed.

WALLER, EPHRAIM E. Papers, 1981-1995. 0.63 linear feet. MS-347. Director of Midwest Agricultural Chemical Association. Ephraim E. "Ev" Waller grew up in Sioux City, Iowa.  He attended the University of Iowa, where he was commissioned in the U.S. Army Security Agency as a Distinguished Military Student. After a distinguished career in the U.S. Army, he returned to Sioux City in 1981 as the Director of the Midwest Agricultural Chemical Association.  He served in this position until his retirement in 1995. The collection contains biographical information, information regarding presentations given by Dr. Waller, and a publications file.  The publications file contains articles by or about Dr. Waller, or about the Midwest Agricultural Chemical Association. Processed.

WATT, BERNICE KUNERTH (1910-1984). Papers, 1910-1984. 1.26 linear feet. MS-271. Nutritionist. Bernice Lydia Kunerth was born on June 10, 1910, in Ames, Iowa, where her father William Kunerth served as a physics professor at Iowa State University. She earned a B.A. (1932) in foods, nutrition, and chemistry from Iowa State, an M.S. (1933) from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. (1940) in nutrition chemistry from Columbia University. In 1941 she began working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and she married Raymond Dewey Watt in 1942. Her career with the USDA centered on nutritional research; she retired in 1974 as the leader of Nutrient Data Research Center. Under her leadership, nutrient information grew from two tables containing data on 13 nutrients in 275 foods to twenty tables consisting of 50 nutrients and 3,000 foods. She published over seventy journal articles that evaluate the nutritional content of foods. Watt received several awards, including the Distinguished Achievement Citation (1969) from Iowa State; the Borden Award (1972) for fundamental nutrition and experimental foods; the Distinguished Service Award (1974) from the USDA; and the Elvehjem Award for Public Service in Nutrition (1980). Collection includes biographical documents (1918-1987); correspondence (1933-1982); scientific writings (1933-1974); and photographs (1928-1983). The collection primarily documents Watt's career as a nutritionist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Biographical files include certificates and newspaper articles. Correspondence includes personal and professional letters, much of it congratulatory in nature. There are numerous letters from Kansas State University in the 1930s and correspondence with her father relating to German translations. Among the scientific writings are Watt's master's thesis, "The Utilization by Human Subjects of the Nitrogen of Beef Round and Beef Heart" and her Ph.D. dissertation, "The Effect Upon Iron Utilization of Varying Calcium and Phosphorous within the Limits of Normal Dietaries." Documentation of her nutritional research is in the form of journal articles and speeches she gave. Photographs include about 40 images of Watt's parents, friends, and colleagues. The majority are of Watt, either alone or receiving an award. Processed.

WEBER, EVELYN J. (1928- ). Papers, 1910-1987. .21 linear foot. MS-273. Plant biochemist. Evelyn J. Weber, daughter of John and Emma Weber, is a native of Shelby County, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in chemistry (1953) and received a Ph.D. in biochemistry (1961) from Iowa State University. From 1965 through 1987, she was a professor of plant biochemistry in the Agronomy Department at the University of Illinois and a research chemist for the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her research focused on plant metabolism and the development of high-oil corn. She published numerous articles on her research specialty, is a member of several societies including the American Chemical Society and the American Oil Chemists' Society, and is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists. She is currently a professor emerita in the Agronomy Department at the University of Illinois. Collection contains reminiscences, a newspaper clipping, photographs, and journal article reprints. The reminiscence, written by Weber in 1943, details her childhood and includes 11 photographs of her home, family, and friends. The newspaper clipping (photocopy) notes a tea held by Sigma Delta Epsilon (a graduate women's science fraternity) and includes a photograph of Weber. Four other photographs of Weber are also included in this collection covering the years 1928 through 1946. The remainder of the collection consists of journal articles by Weber for the years 1958-1987, and numerous other pamphlets and reprints on related subjects. Processed.

WILLHAM, RICHARD L. (1932- ). Papers, ca. 1955-1993. 10.82 linear feet. RS 09/11/53. Animal scientist and livestock historian. Willham received a B.S. from Oklahoma State University (1954) and an M.S. from Iowa State University in 1955. He received a Ph.D. in animal breeding from Iowa State in 1960. Willham taught at Iowa State from 1959 to 1963, and again beginning in 1979. From 1963 to 1979, he taught at Oklahoma State. He is presently Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture at Iowa State University. Collection includes biographical information; day books; correspondence; commencement addresses; manuscripts of publications, including a typescript and other materials for his book The Legacy of the Stockman (1985); photographs; consulting files; and materials documenting Willham's guest curatorship of an art exhibit of livestock art at the Brunnier Gallery at Iowa State University. Container listed.

WILSIE, CARROLL (1902-1969). Papers, 1923-1962. 1.26 linear feet. RS 09/09/56. Agronomist. Carroll Wilsie was born in Brandon, Wisconsin, in 1902. He received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin (1926) and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University (1931). Wilsie served as an assistant professor of agronomy and genetics at the University of Hawaii from 1931-1937, and as a professor of agronomy at Iowa State University from 1937-1963. He was named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 1957. Collection includes correspondence, some of it interdepartmental and some with seed companies and farmers. It also contains correspondence with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the experiment station network. There are research files on hemp production in Iowa during World War II, alfalfa, legumes, clover, and soybeans. The collection also contains records of the NC-7 group (ca. 1962) which sought to encourage the introduction of new crops in the Midwest. Container listed.