Oregon
State University. College of Agricultural Sciences.
Title:
College of Agricultural Sciences
Records
Dates:
1895-1997 ( inclusive )
1911-1986 ( bulk )
Quantity:
21.5 cubic ft. 5 microfilm
reels.
Collection Number:
RG
158
Summary:
The College of Agricultural Sciences
records document teaching, research (through the Agricultural Experiment
Station), and extension programs in agriculture at Oregon State University. The
records consist predominantly of the materials generated or assembled by the
Dean's Office and reflect the relationships between the College and federal and
state agencies and the significant role of the College in Oregon
agriculture.
Repository:
Oregon State University
Libraries University
Archives
Funding for encoding this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
Historical Note
In 1868, the Oregon Legislature designated Corvallis College as the
state's agricultural college, and in 1870 Corvallis College began its
agricultural curriculum. The next year the college acquired its first farm (now
Lower Campus), purchased for the school by the citizens of Benton County. In
1873 the college issued its first agricultural research bulletin, and a decade
later the college established a Department of Agriculture, which was the first
in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station was
established on the campus farm in 1888, and in 1894 the first Farmers' Short
Course was offered.
In 1908, the General Department of Agriculture was reorganized into a
professional School of Agriculture, and included departments in Agronomy,
Animal Husbandry, and Poultry Husbandry. Additional departments were added in
the 1910s and 1920s. By 1928, the School included ten departments, and degree
programs were offered in General Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering,
Landscape Architecture, and Horticultural Products. The School established a
Ph.D. program in 1932, and conferred is first doctorate in 1935. From 1931
until 1965, the dean of the School of Agriculture also served as director of
both the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Extension Service. In 1983,
the name of the School was changed to the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Deans have included A. B. Cordley, 1908-1931; William A. Schoenfeld,
1931-1950; F. E. Price, 1950-1965; Wilbur T. Cooney, 1965-1979; Ernest J.
Briskey, 1979-1987; Roy G. Arnold, 1987-1991; Conrad J. Weiser, 1991-1994; and
Thayne R. Dutson, 1994-.
Content Description
The College of Agricultural Sciences Records consist primarily of the
college dean's office administrative records. Series are usually arranged
chronologically within subject categories. Because of the close and sometimes
indistinguishable relationship between the School/College of Agricultural
Sciences and the Agricultural Experiment Station, many of the records in the
record group pertain to both entities.
Series one includes administrators' and directors' meeting minutes.
Series two contains general administrative records of the college, including
college committees, policies, resident instruction, scholarships, and short
courses. Series three includes correspondence, reports, and meeting minutes of
organizations and associations that the college participates in, such as the
National Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities. Series four
includes correspondence and reports from the various academic departments
within the college. Series five documents the relationship between the college
and the federal government, especially the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Series six includes records pertaining to the financial aspects of the
college, such as budgeting and state and federal appropriations. Series seven
documents college lands purchased and leased. Series eight contains records of
publications produced wholly or in part by the college. Series nine contains
reports of the State Planning Board, the Oregon Rural Rehabilitation
Corporation, and other organizations on which college administrators served.
The series also includes miscellaneous studies, reports, and surveys produced
by the college.
Series ten documents the relationship between the college and various
state agencies, such as the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon State
Board of Forestry, the Oregon Water Resources Board, and various commodity
commissions, such as the Oregon Wheat Commission. Many state agency committees
and all commodity commissions included a College of Agricultural Sciences
faculty member or administrator. Series eleven includes correspondence,
reports, and meeting minutes of other university committees and organizations
with which the college was associated. Series twelve consists of a 1981 blue
ribbon task force report and review of the college's structure and function.
Series thirteen contains the college's long range planning records from the
1980s and 1990s. Series fourteen is a 1930s scrapbook of clippings and
photographs pertaining to School of Agriculture banquets, picnics, shows and
other activities, and the naming of William Schoenfeld as dean.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Two complaints files in series two (Administration) are restricted until
Nov. 1, 2004 and June 1, 2006, respectively, because of the personal nature of
some materials.
Preferred Citation :
College of Agricultural Sciences Records (RG 158), Oregon State
University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The records are organized into fourteen series: I. CAS Administrators'
and Directors' Meetings; II. Administration; III. Associated; IV. Departments;
V. Federal; VI. Finance; VII. Property; VIII. Publications; IX. Reports &
Studies, 1917-1992; X. State; XI. University; XII. Program Review; XIII. Long
Range Planning; XIV. Scrapbook.
Related Materials :
Because of overlapping duties, appointments, and events between several
agricultural units, their respective record groups contain related materials.
Such groups include Agricultural Experiment Station Records (RG 25); Extension
and Experiment Station Communications Records (RG 69); and the Extension
Service Records (RG 111). Record groups for individual departments also contain
related materials.
The photograph collections of the College of Agricultural Sciences (P
36), the Extension Service (P 62), the Extension and Experiment Station
Communications (P 120), and the Agricultural Experiment Station (P 29) have
agricultural and related subject matter. In addition, the photographs for the
Agriculture Collection (P 40) and for individual departments contain images of
many College of Agricultural Sciences events and personnel.
Several publication groups, including PUB 57 Agriculture Today , PUB 196
Ag Leader (College of Agricultural Sciences Newsletter), and PUB 248
Agricultural Conference Days, include information pertaining to the College of
Agricultural Sciences.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series I: CAS Administrators' and
Directors' Meetings, 1979-1987
Container(s)
Description
Box
1
Administrators' (department
heads) meeting minutes, July 1979, 1984-1986
Farmer Cooperative
Service,
" An Evaluation of
Opportunities for Consolidating and Coordinating Activities of Four Oregon
Fruit and Vegetable Processing Cooperatives" , April 1971
13
Filbert Control
Board, 1970-1971
13
Forest
Service, 1958-1963
Soil Conservation
Service
Box
13
General, 1961-1971
Reports
Box
13
" Soils of the
Western United States" , Sept. 1964
