Columbia oral history materials, 1972 - 1992

Paper records include transcripts of audio or video tapes, notes and references about interviews and interviewees, copies of published oral history transcripts from other repositories, and non-verbatim reports of interviews. This subseries is organized into general materials and interview materials.

General materials include articles and pamphlets on proper formation and administration of an oral history project, and radio program abstracts for the programs in subseries 2. There are also records documenting the creation and progress of USDA oral history projects carried out by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Soil Conservation Service (SCS). These records include proposal drafts, blank consent forms, updates on project development, and letters from the National Archives and Records Administration giving guidelines and suggestions for cooperation with USDA.

Interview materials are transcripts, notes made by interviewers about subjects, and the recollections of specific people. These files are arranged alphabetically by name of subject, or sometimes name of interviewer. Most of the interviews conducted by ARS and SCS were carried out by Dr. Anne Effland; there are three oral histories done by the Columbia University Oral History Project, of which two were part of the Eisenhower Administration Project.

Files for Dr. Effland's interviewees contain original letters between Dr. Effland and the persons interviewed, notes on subjects, lists of possible questions, consent forms, publications by the interview subject, and other material. There are also transcripts of completed interviews done by either Dr. Effland or Wayne Rasmussen. Some of the people covered in this section are Wheeler McMillen and Robert McMillen, C. F. Stewart Sharpe, Clarence Pals, and Roy Simonson. There are also copies of the transcripts made by the Columbia University Oral History Project of interviews with Henry A. Wallace (for Columbia University), Don Paarlberg, and True D. Morse (both for the Eisenhower Administration Project). This subseries also contains written recollections of Clarence Pals and Martin Mosher. Mr. Mosher's text discusses his early years in rural southeastern Iowa at the turn of the century.

Also, there are records relating to an audio tape describing photographs of Liberia taken in 1953; for a fuller description, see above, Subseries 2, Other Audio Materials.

The non-verbatim reports were written by Gladys L. Baker, based on interviews she conducted during the 1940s and 1950s. In most cases, the interviewee was not named; he or she is referred to by a code name, usually a letter or series of letters such as "AA" or "UUU." These interviews were found in three loose-leaf binders; included in two of these binders were pages listing the code names along with the actual names of the interview subjects. Over time, some of the code letters were reused for different people in different series of interviews, so the researcher must be careful to use the proper code sheet to identify interview subjects. Most interviews are original typescript, but there are some onionskin copies.

Baker interviewed USDA officials and others who had a close relationship with the department. Topics were usually kept to the decisions surrounding actions the USDA took in situations such as foreign aid controversies and increasing domestic production. Some interviews have hand-made corrections by Ms. Baker.