Descriptive summary
|
creator:
|
Kreger, Elmer L. (1886-1972) |
|
title:
|
Papers |
|
dates:
|
1906-1970, n.d. |
|
extent:
|
0.42 linear ft. |
|
collection number:
|
MS 120 |
|
repository:
|
Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.
|
Administrative
information
|
access:
|
Open for research
|
|
publication rights:
|
Consult Head, Special Collections Department
|
|
preferred
citation:
|
Elmer L. Kreger Papers, MS 120, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.
|
Biographical
note
|
|
Cooperative manager Elmer L. Kreger
(1886-1972) began his career in 1906 unloading grain and coal cars
in Jefferson, Iowa. In 1908, he became manager of the Farmers
Elevator Company in Grimes, Iowa. From 1912 to 1926 he managed an
elevator at Ralston, Iowa.
In 1926 Kreger started the Farmers
Elevator Service Company with the idea that if elevator companies
would cooperate in purchasing farm supplies in large units,
substantial savings could be gained for their customers. Ninety-six
elevator operators paid $5.00 each toward the company's operating
capital, and Kreger was guaranteed $100.00 per month plus expenses.
Kreger managed the company, known by the acronym FELCO, until his
retirement in 1954. The original products available to FELCO members
were coal, cedar posts, linseed oil meal, and office supplies.
Eventually the cooperative handled a full line of farm supplies,
including livestock feed, fertilizer, and petroleum.
FELCO later merged with the Nebraska
Farmers Union State Exchange, becoming the Farmers Regional
Cooperative. In 1970, the Farmers Regional Cooperative merged with
Land O' Lakes, a Minnesota-based cooperative, becoming one of the
largest agricultural supply and food marketing cooperatives in the
United States. |
|
Collection description
|
|
The collection (1906-1970, n.d.) includes annual
reports, correspondence, meeting minutes, news clippings, and a
record of Kreger's business expenses during the first two years of
FELCO's operation, 1926-1927. Correspondents include Paul H.
Appleby, Mary H. Rumsey, and Henry A. Wallace. Of special note are
materials pertaining to a trip Kreger made to Washington, D.C., in
1933 in a successful effort to reverse a National Recovery
Administration decision which had declared cooperatives illegal.
|
Container list
A container list is available in the
Special Collections Department, 403 Parks Library.
|
