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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 240

National Museum of History and Technology. Division of Agriculture and Mining

Records, circa 1923-1973

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:National Museum of History and Technology. Division of Agriculture and Mining
Title:Records
Dates:circa 1923-1973
Quantity:7 cu. ft. (14 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 240
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

Records document the activities of the Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Mining, and its predecessors and include correspondence, memoranda, exhibits scripts, and reports. Annual reports covering the Sections of Chemical Industries, Chemical Technology, Foods, Manufactures, and Organic Chemistry are also contained in the records, most likely because these sections also reported administratively to the Division of Textiles, until 1938, and to the Division of Crafts and Industries, 1938-1957, and curators often had responsibility for more than one section. Annual reports for the Division of Agriculture and Mining, 1969-1973, also contain material concerning the Section of Mining.

Of special interest is extensive documentation, in the form of scripts, blueprints, correspondence, and notes of work on the Hall of Forest Products, 1960-1967, which was never installed; and correspondence on and papers presented at the Symposium on Eighteenth-Century Agriculture, 1966-1969. Some material on the professional activities of Division staff, particularly Edward C. Kendall and John T. Schlebecker, Jr., is also included.

Historical Note

The Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Mining, of the National Museum of History and Technology, has roots dating back to 1921 when "specimens and models of agricultural implements and objects relating to the history of agriculture in this country" began to be collected. From 1921 to 1932, these collections were kept as part of the textile collections. In 1932, a Section of Agricultural History was set up in the Division of Textiles, and a separate catalog was started. The Section became the Section of Agricultural Industries, Division of Crafts and Industries, in 1938 and retained that title until 1957. Frederick L. Lewton, curator of Textiles, was in charge of the agricultural collections from 1921 to 1946 when Fred C. Reed became associate curator for the Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures. Reed was replaced as associate curator by Edward C. Kendall in 1951.

When the Museum of History and Technology was set up in 1957, a Division of Agriculture and Wood Products was set up in the Department of Science and Technology. This became the Division of Agriculture and Forest Products, Department of Arts and Manufactures, in 1959; it became the Division of Agriculture and Mining, Department of Industries, in 1969. Kendall continued as associate curator until 1965, and John T. Schlebecker became curator in that year.

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Descriptive Entry

Records document the activities of the Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Mining, and its predecessors, and include correspondence, memoranda, exhibit scripts, and reports. Annual reports covering the Sections of Chemical Industries, Chemical Technology, Foods, Manufactures, and Organic Chemistry are also contained in the records, most likely because these sections also reported administratively to the Division of Textiles (until 1938) or the Division of Crafts and Industries (1938-1957); and curators often had responsibility for more than one section. Annual reports for the Division of Agriculture and Mining, 1969-1973, also contain material concerning the Section of Mining.

Of special interest is extensive documentation, in the form of scripts, blueprints, correspondence, and notes, of work on the Hall of Forest Products, 1960-1967, which was never installed; and correspondence on and papers presented at the Symposium on Eighteenth Century Agriculture, 1966-1969. Some material on the professional activities of Division staff, particularly Edward C. Kendall and John T. Schlebecker, is also included.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 240, National Museum of History and Technology. Division of Agriculture and Mining, Records

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Container List

Series 1

SUBJECT FILE, 1944-1973.

Includes correspondence, memoranda, drafts of articles, lists, bibliographies, notes, forms, and other material concerning the operation of the agricultural history sections of the Division of Agriculture and Mining and its predecessors. The series also contains some material relating to the professional activities of staff of the Division, especially Edward C. Kendall and John T. Schlebecker.

Box 1

Folder 1 Accession lists, 1968-1973.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 2 "The Agricultural Collections in U. S. National Museum of History and Technology," 1971. Correspondence, draft, and reprint of article by John T. Schlebecker.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 3 Agricultural History Society, 1965-1966, 1969.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 4 "Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection of the United States National Museum," draft.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 5 Aitken, Robert, 1963, 1966. Includes correspondence.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 6 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1965.

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Folder 7 American Association of Museums, 1964.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 8 American Material Culture Seminar, 1967.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 9 American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1958, 1964.

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Folder 10 Anacostia Museum, 1968.

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Folder 11 Armstrong, Donald, 1972. Correspondence concerning attempted acquisition of corn picker.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 12 Articles by research assistants, 1967-1968.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 13 Association of Curators, 1963, 1966-1968.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 14 Bibliographies - General, 1963-1965.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 15 Bibliography on "Agricultural History," 1968.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 16 Bibliography on "Farm Implements and Tools," undated.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 17 Bibliography on "History of Forests, Lumbering and Forest Products," circa 1966.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 18 Bibliography for the History of Science and Technology, 1968.

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Folder 19 Bibliography on "Tobacco Growing in the United States," circa 1966.

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Folder 20 Bibliography on the "Tractor," undated.

Box 1 of 14

Folder 21 Book reviews, circa 1965-1973. Includes correspondence and reprints of book reviews by Division staff and reviews of staff publications.

Box 1 of 14

Box 2

Folders 1-3 Budget, 1945-1959.

Box 2 of 14

Folder 4 Caterpillar Tractor Company, circa 1953-1959.

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Folder 5 Colleges and universities, circa 1952-1965, 1968. Correspondence.

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Folder 6 Condemnation committees, circa 1948-1960, 1967-1968.

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Folder 7 Dairy Shrine Club, 1963.

Box 2 of 14

Folder 8 Deere and Company, circa 1953-1964. Correspondence.

Box 2 of 14

Folder 9 Design and Production, Inc., 1963, 1966.

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Folder 10 "Farm Implements and Machinery." Circular sent out circa 1950s to locate farm equipment needed for collection.

Box 2 of 14

Folder 11 Hansen, Francis D., 1963-1965. Correspondence concerning exhibition of a tractor owned by Hansen.

Box 2 of 14

Box 3

Folder 1 Heller, Charles F., 1962.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 2 Higgins, Hal F., 1957-1959. Correspondence.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 3 Honorary titles, 1954.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 4 Identification of specimens, 1965-1969.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 5 Kendall, Edward C., American Historical Association meeting, 1963.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 6 Kendall, Edward C., reviews, notes.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 7 Leser, Paul W., 1955-1958, 1962-1963.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 8 "Living Historic Farms," draft of article by John T. Schlebecker for Department of Agriculture Yearbook, 1970.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 9 Massachusetts, list of specimens from, 1948.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 10 Microfilming of catalogs, 1952.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 11 Museum of History and Technology (MHT) Guidebook, 1962, 1965, and undated.

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Folder 12 MHT hall openings, 1966.

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Folders 13-15 New building, 1949, 1953-1963. Concerns planning, space requirements and move from Arts and Industries building.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 16 Ontario Centennial '67 project, 1967.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 17 Organization and staffing of new museum, 1955.

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Folder 18 The Pacific Historian, 1965-1968.

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Folder 19 "The Past in Action: Living Historical Farms," memo and report concerning a meeting to consider setting up a national association of living historical farms, and an extension service for them, 1969.

Box 3 of 14

Folder 20 Photographs, 1958, 1960-1961. Lists of photographs of machinery in Agriculture halls.

Box 3 of 14

Box 4

Folder 1 Publications, 1966-1968. Concern MHT Publications Advisory Committee and publications by Division staff.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 2 Purchase orders, 1948-1973. Concern purchase and renovation of specimens and work on exhibits. Purchase orders for routine supplies and services have been discarded.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 3 Record inventories, 1951-1959.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 4 Requisitions to Buildings Management Department, 1948-1959. Chiefly concern maintenance of exhibits; other requisitions for routine services have been discarded.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 5 Research Awards Program, 1966-1968.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 6 Research Opportunities publication, 1965, 1968.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 7 Richard Rush Studio, 1961-1962.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 8 Scope and work of the Division of Agriculture and Wood Products, 1959.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 9 Shenandoah, Virginia, 1969. Clippings concerning John T. Schlebecker's research trip.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 10 Special Foreign Currency Science Information Program, 1969.

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Folders 11-12 Storage, 1948, circa 1955-1960.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 13 Symposium on American Agriculture, 1969-1970. Concerns symposium jointly sponsored by Smithsonian, Agricultural History Society, Old Sturbridge Village, and the Department of Agriculture, September 16-18, 1970.

Box 4 of 14

Folder 14 Time study, 1944-1945.

Box 4 of 14

Series 2

MEMORANDA, CIRCA 1946-1973.

Includes incoming and outgoing memoranda between Division staff and department, museum, and Institution staff. Also included are minutes of the National Museum of History and Technology director's meetings, 1970-1971.

Box 4

Folders 15-22 Interoffice memoranda, circa 1946-1962.

Box 4 of 14

Box 5

Folders 1-6 Interoffice memoranda, 1963-1968.

Box 5 of 14

Folder 7 Division and department memoranda, 1969-1973.

Box 5 of 14

Folders 8-12 Director's and other offices' memoranda, 1969-1973.

Box 5 of 14

Folder 13 Minutes of the director's meetings, 1970-1971.

Box 5 of 14

Series 3

PUBLIC INQUIRIES, 1941. 1946-1973.

Consists of a chronological file of incoming and outgoing correspondence with the public, chiefly concerning questions on agricultural history including identification of specimens, requests for photographs, offers of objects, and general information requests.

Box 5

Folders 14-18 Public inquiries, 1941, 1946-1954.

Box 5 of 14

Box 6

Folders 1-11 Public inquiries, 1955-1969.

Box 6 of 14

Box 7

Folders 1-4 Public inquiries, 1970-1973.

Box 7 of 14

Folder 5 General correspondence, 1970-1973.

Box 7 of 14

Folder 6 Public inquiries, forest products, 1962, 1965.

Box 7 of 14

Series 4

READING FILES, 1960-1973.

Contains carbon copies of outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically.

Box 8

Folders 1-13 Reading files, 1960-1965.

Box 8 of 14

Box 9

Folders 1-11 Reading files, 1966-March 1969.

Box 9 of 14

Box 10

Folders 1-10 Reading files, April 1969-1973.

Box 10 of 14

Series 5

ANNUAL REPORTS, CIRCA 1923-1973.

Includes annual reports of Division of Agriculture and Mining and its agricultural history predecessors; some sections of the Division of Textiles, 1923-1937; and the Division of Crafts and Industries, 1940-1956, including Chemical Technology, Organic Chemistry, Foods, Chemical Industries, and Manufactures.

Box 10

Folder 11 Section of Chemical Technology, 1923. Carl C. Anderson, aid.

Box 10 of 14

Folders 12-14 Sections of Organic Chemistry and Foods, 1925-1927. Aida M. Doyle, aid.

Box 10 of 14

Folders 15-16 Section of Organic Chemical Industries, 1928-1929. Aida M. Doyle, aid.

Box 10 of 14

Folders 17-24 Section of Organic Chemistry, 1930-1937. Aida M. Doyle, aid.

Box 10 of 14

Folders 25-27 Section of Chemical Industries, 1940-1942. Wallace E. Duncan, assistant curator.

Box 10 of 14

Folder 28 Section of Chemical Industries, 1943. Joseph W. Schutz, assistant curator.

Box 10 of 14

Folder 29 Sections of Agricultural Industries, Foods, and Chemical Industries, 1945. Frederick L. Lewton, curator-in-charge.

Box 10 of 14

Folders 30-31 Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures, 1947-1948. Fred C. Reed, associate curator.

Box 10 of 14

Box 11

Folders 1-2 Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures, 1949-1950. Fred C. Reed, associate curator.

Box 11 of 14

Folder 3 Record inventory, Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures, 1951.

Box 11 of 14

Folders 4-8 Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures, 1952-1956.

Box 11 of 14

Folder 9 Section of Agricultural Industries, 1957.

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Folders 10-11 Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Wood Products, 1958-1959.

Box 11 of 14

Folders 12-20 Division of Agriculture and Forest Products, 1960-1968.

Box 11 of 14

Folders 21-25 Division of Agriculture and Mining, 1969-1973.

Box 11 of 14

Series 6

EXHIBITS, CIRCA 1948-1973.

Includes scripts, blueprints, notes, correspondence, and information concerning permanent and special exhibits of the Division of Agriculture and Mining and its predecessors. Particularly well documented is the work of Edward C. Kendall, associate curator, and Carl A. Rishell, consultant, on the never-completed Forest Products Hall.

Box 11

Folder 26 Exhibits, special and modernization, circa 1948-1960.

Box 11 of 14

Folder 27 Exhibits modernization, 1956-1961.

Box 11 of 14

Folder 28 BYWORD audio units, 1968.

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Folder 29 Cotton exhibit, 1968-1970, 1973-1974.

Box 11 of 14

Box 12

Folder 1 Forest products exhibit, correspondence, 1960-1963.

Box 12 of 14

Folder 2 Forest products exhibit, information.

Box 12 of 14

Folder 3 Forest products exhibit, notes, circa 1960-1962.

Box 12 of 14

Folder 4 Forest products exhibit, West coast trip, 1962.

Box 12 of 14

Folders 5-8 Forest products exhibit, scripts, circa 1960-1965.

Box 12 of 14

Box 13

Folders 1-4 Forest products exhibit, scripts, circa 1965-1967.

Box 13 of 14

Folder 5 Forest products exhibit, blueprints and layout.

Box 13 of 14

Folders 6-8 George Washington Carver Exhibit, 1968-1971. Includes correspondence, notes, photographs, requisitions, and background information.

Box 13 of 14

Folder 9 Growth of the United States, circa 1956-1964.

Box 13 of 14

Folders 10-13 Hall of Agriculture, circa 1956-1960. Includes proposals, outlines, scripts, drawings, opening address, and specimen information.

Box 13 of 14

Folder 14 Hall of Wood Technology, proposal, 1958.

Box 13 of 14

Folder 15 USDA special exhibit, 1971-1972.

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Folder 16 Weather and Crop Service Centennial Exhibit, 1972.

Box 13 of 14

Series 7

SYMPOSIUM ON EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AGRICULTURE, 1966-1969.

Records document the planning and holding of the Symposium on Eighteenth Century Agriculture sponsored by the Smithsonian, the Agricultural History Society, and the Accokeek Foundation, at the Smithsonian, October 11-13, 1967.

Box 14

Folder 1 Correspondence, 1966-1967.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 2 Program file, 1967-1968.

Box 14 of 14

Folders 3-4 Remarks by Francis P. Bolton and S. Dillon Ripley at opening of symposium.

Box 14 of 14

Folders 5-23 Papers presented at symposium.

Folder 5 "Science and Practice in Eighteenth Century British Agriculture," G. E. Fussell.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 6 Comment on Fussell's paper, David J. Brandenburg.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 7 "Plant Hybridization and Plant Breeding in Eighteenth Century American Agriculture," Conway Zirkle.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 8 Comments on Zirkle's paper, W. Ralph Singleton.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 9 "Arthur Young and American Agriculture," Rodney C. Loehr.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 10 Comments on Loehr's paper, Carl R. Woodward.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 11 "The Tobacco Staple and the Planter's Problem: Technology, Labor, and Crops," Aubrey C. Land.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 12 "Some Problems of Colonial Tobacco Planters: A Critique," Weymouth T. Jordan.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 13 Comments on Land's paper, Conway Zirkle.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 14 "The Small Farms in Eighteenth Century Virginia Politics," David Alan Williams.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 15 Comments on Williams' paper, Edward M. Riley.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 16 "The American Revolution and American Agriculture," Merrill Jensen.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 17 Comments on Jensen's paper, Wayne D. Rasmussen.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 18 "Silk Culture in the Colonies," Joseph Ewan.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 19 "Silk Growing in the Georgia Colony," James C. Bonner.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 20 "Farm and Garden: Horticulture in the Eighteenth Century," T. L. Senn.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 21 "Horticulture in Eighteenth Century America," Frank Horsfall, Jr.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 22 "Eighteenth Century Agriculture: Evolution or Revolution," B. H. Slicher von Bath.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 23 "Eighteenth Century Changes in European Agriculture," Folke Dovring.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 24 Remarks of Cecil Wall.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 25 Comments on the symposium, 1967.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 26 Correspondence regarding publication of papers presented, 1967-1969.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 27 Foreword to published papers by John T. Schlebecker.

Box 14 of 14

Folder 28 Table of contents for published papers.

Box 14 of 14

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