James M. Gwin Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS0072

Staff Only

Content Description

The James M. Gwin Collection contains approximately 50,000 items of poultry information resources. It consists primarily of business correspondence pertaining to several poultry associations, catalogs from poultry equipment manufacturing firms, documents about early breeders in the poultry industry, egg and poultry legislation, papers on industry meetings held in various states of the United States, and miscellaneous publication clippings related to the egg and poultry industry.

Dates

Creation: 1906-1993

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

James M. Gwin (1906-1993) pursued a lifetime interest in poultry to gain national recognition as an educator, an administrator, an industry promoter, and a collector of poultry literature. Gwin's education included a bachelor's degree in Poultry Husbandry from the University of Connecticut, a master's degree from American University, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. During his career, he served in various capacities related to the poultry industry, including: military procurement officer in WWII; regulatory official in grading and inspection; professor of poultry husbandry; Director of Extension at the University of Maryland; marketing manager for a major feed supplier; general manager of the Poultry and Egg National Board; and as Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois, Edwardsville.

Gwin was a charter member of the American Poultry Historical Society. He served as its president from 1960 to 1962, and was elected to the American Poultry Hall of Fame in 1977. Gwin received numerous awards and honors, and much of the poultry and egg grading system in place today is a result of his groundwork.