Oversize Boxes

he Southeastern United States Collection: Screwworm Eradication Program Records comprise five and one half linear feet of the Screwworm Eradication Collection. The records begin in 1932, with initial eradication theories, research, and numerous land surveys, and end in 1960, after documenting a full-scale eradication program completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Bulk dates span the 1950s. The records are in good condition with no restrictions on their use.

The collection, which is divided into five series, documents the methods for rearing and sterilizing flies; fly trapping; field testing on Sanibel Island, Florida, and Curacao Island, Netherlands Antilles; construction of and production from the fly production plants in Orlando (constructed during 1952-1953), Bithlo (1956) and Sebring (1958), Florida.

Correspondence (Series I) constitutes the bulk of the collection. The most notable communication is between scientists Alfred W. Lindquist, Raymond C. Bushland, Alfred H. Baumhover, and Edward Fred Knipling. Scientists Clinton C. Skipper, A. L. Smith, Gaines W. Eddy, Andrew J. Graham, and veterinarian Benjamin A. Bitter also feature in the communications. It is important to note that this series includes correspondence between USDA personnel and various individuals at other federal, state, and local government agencies, universities, and private corporations, all of whom were working to eradicate the screwworm.

All of the raw scientific data, surveys, maps, and authored reports which more formally present the retrieved data appear in Series II. The surveys include some information from screwworm eradication zones other than the southeast. Some of the reports have photographs and architectural drawings included.

The administrative materials (Series III) include information on funding, payroll, travel procedures, and safety materials. The materials used to inform and educate the public on the screwworm and the USDA's efforts to eradicate it from the Southeast are featured in Series IV. Series V consists of maps and blueprints detailing the screwworm rearing facilities in Florida.