USDA Tobacco Market News Service Records

This collection comprises 11.5 linear feet of the Records of the Tobacco Market News Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 1920-2011 gathered by Larry Crabtree. Crabtree focused on a specific part of the Tobacco Division, the inspection and market news services. However, the material includes information on a general level regarding agriculture within the government, different aspects of the Tobacco Division such as specific tobacco services and operations, general legislation, specific tobacco legislation, and tobacco associations. The records are arranged into 18 series and housed in 25 archival boxes in the National Agricultural Library (NAL). In general, the materials are in good condition. However, interspersed within the files are onion skin papers that may deteriorate quickly with use.

The collection includes historical information on the Tobacco Market News Service (1928-1971); tobacco inspection (1927-1963); stocks, standards, and grading (pre-1929-1935); and auctions (1929-1962). There is correspondence, notes, and copies of tobacco annual reports (1932-1953); major legislation (1933-1952); and hearings and testimony (1947-1950). With the development of World War II, there are wartime regulation summaries and reports of tobacco activities (1941-1948); material related to tobacco agreements made with other countries after the war (1945-1952); and notes and reports of USDA committees meeting after the war (1947-1951). There is a large amount of the correspondence of the tobacco division for the years 1949 and 1950. Furthermore, there are notes and publications relating to the main USDA Market News Service which was the head of all of the individual agriculture commodities, including tobacco (1948-1964). In particular, there are files relating to the Tennessee Burley Tobacco Grower's Association (1946-1960), as well as miscellaneous organizations and a conference (1925-1959). Noteworthy miscellaneous files include the Tobacco Division organizational structure, black and white photographs, and various types of maps.

The Larry Crabtree Papers series (1932-1975) provides information on why the materials in this collection were gathered. It is through his correspondence that we know that Crabtree was a United States Department of Agriculture employee who wanted to document the history of the tobacco inspection and market news functions of the government, since no effort had been made to do so by the 1970's. Thus, as Marketing Specialist, Reports & Analysis Branch, Tobacco Division, C&MS, Crabtree obtained permission to gather historical data and seek oral history interviews with important tobacco leaders. The correspondence with these tobacco figures and National Agricultural Library employees dates from 1970-1973. Besides this particular correspondence, there is a 1975 memo written by Crabtree about a meeting with the National Agricultural Library in which he wanted to secure a more formal agreement on the history of the project. There is no indication of what transpired after this meeting or what became of Crabtree's project.

The Papers of J.E. Thigpen series (1948-1954) contain documents of a director of the tobacco division, while he was serving in that capacity. He is the only former director whose papers are included in this collection. Many of the materials that Crabtree collected appear to have been taken from Thigpen's office. In fact, it is possible that most of the collection may have come from Thigpen. His papers provide detailed information on his trips to Europe.

There is a substantial amount of papers in the Legislation series (1933-1952). The legislation pertains primarily to programs to support and stabilize tobacco prices. There are notes, drafts, and copies of a variety of bills and acts. A few of the acts were as follows: The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 which designated tobacco as a basic (storable) commodity and the Agricultural Act of 1938 which authorized marketing quotas.

Tennessee Burley Tobacco Grower's Association series (1946-1960) contains materials relating to a court case brought against the organization by some of its members and the United States government in 1953. Tennessee Burley Tobacco Grower's Association was a cooperative organization formed by the farmers in the Tennessee burley tobacco belt for the marketing of certain tobaccos. Materials document the misuse of funds primarily by H.S. Duncan who operated the properties and funds of the association.