Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical Note
The Washington Agricultural Experiment Station began as an element of the Washington Agricultural College, Experiment Station, and School of Science, now Washington State University, in 1892. Located near Pullman on a farm donated to the state, the station became the site of agricultural instruction and experimental work conducted by the staff of the station and the faculty of the College of Agriculture.
Since the station was founded, the Western Washington Research and Extension Center (WWREC) near Puyallup and numerous branch stations located across the state have been established to facilitate a variety of agricultural experimentation. Subordinate to the Pullman station director, the system Of branch stations over the years has included: Waterville Branch Station, Winthrop Branch Station, Dry Land Research Unit (Adams Branch Station) near Lind, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (Irrigation Branch Station) near Prosser, Tree Fruit Research Center (Tree Fruit Branch Station) near Wenatchee, Coastal Washington Research and Extension Unit (Cranberry-Blueberry Laboratory) near Long Beach, Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Unit (Northwest Seed and Truck Crop Laboratory) near Mount Vernon, Southwestern Washington Research Unit (Clark County Experimental Farm) near Vancouver.
While the director of the WWREC serves as vice-director of the experiment station system, the Puyallup station is not a branch station and is not subordinate to the Pullman station director.
In 1946, the Washington Agricultural Experiment Stations were made a part of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, which included the W.S.U. College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Agricultural Extension Service. Formed to coordinate agricultural work and research at the College, the experiment stations, and throughout the state, the Institute existed until 1965 when a revised version of the previous organization was adopted. At this time the station was integrated into the newly-organized Agricultural Research Center of the College of Agriculture.
Content Description
The records of the Washington Agricultural Experiment Station consist of approximately 40,000 items of correspondence and administrative materials, including requests for information, reports, bulletins, photographs and financial and budget materials. Materials relating to the various branch stations can be found in the records as well. The collection spans the years 1901 to 1948, with the bulk dating from the period 1901 to 1924.
The correspondence series spans the years 1901 to 1924 and consists of both letterbooks and office files. The thirty-six letterbooks contain primarily correspondence, including mailing lists and a great many brief replies to requests for information and bulletins published by the Station. The remainder of the series consists of the office files of several members of the Station staff, principally station directors. Although most of the correspondence is of an official nature, one container of Ira D. Cardiff's personal files is also included in the series. Photographs of E.C. Johnson, station personnel and farm equipment can be found in the folder labeled "Prosser Experiment Station, 1918-1920" in container 52.
Materials encompassing a variety of subjects spanning the years 1902 to 1948 are contained in a series immediately following the correspondence series. Of particular interest to the researcher investigating the history of the station is the folder entitled "History of the Experiment Station" in container 62.
The final series is composed of budgets and budget materials of the Pullman Station and the branch stations. Included in the series are reports, expenditures, receipts, and proposed, working, annual, and biennial budgets.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
The Collection is open for research use.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is arranged in three series. The correspondence series is divided into two subseries: letterbooks and office files. Arranged chronologically, the letterbooks containing mainly letters and some reports precede those containing mailing lists and brief replies to requests for station bulletins. The office files are arranged chronologically by individual Station staff member. Materials comprising the subject file are arranged alphabetically. The budgets and budget materials are arranged chronologically.
Acquisition Information :
The records of the Agricultural Research Center were deposited in the Washington State University Library prior to 1970 by the College of Agriculture (UA 76-12). The records of the Agricultural Research Center were separated (UA 78-7) from the records of the College of Agriculture and processed by Craig Holstine and James O'Neill between June, 1977 and May, 1978.
Detailed Description of the Collection
1: Correspondence , 1901-1924
Container(s)
Description
1.1: Letterbooks , 1901-1916
Outgoing Correspondence:
Box
1
(E.B. Elliot, Professor of Agriculture) , April 1902-December 1903
2v.
1
(Elliot; W.A. Linklatter, Instructor in Animal Husbandry; George Severance, Professor of Agronomy) , October 1905-July 1906
1v.
2
(R.W. Thatcher, Chemist) , June 1901-December 1905
3v.
3
(Thatcher) , December 1905-July 1908
3v.
4
(Thatcher) , July 1908-October 1909
2v.
5
(Thatcher) , October 1909-October 1911
2v.
6
(Thatcher, Director) , October 1907-November 1908
3v.
7
(Thatcher) , November 1908-December 1909
3v.
8
(Thatcher) , December 1909-July 1910
2v.
9
(Thatcher) , July 1910-March 1911
2v.
10
(Thatcher) , March-December 1911
2v.
11
(Thatcher) , December 1911-March 1913
3v.
Replies to Requests for Station Bulletins:
Box
12
(Thatcher) , July 1909-December 1911
3v.
13
(Thatcher to April 1913) , December 1911-July 1914
