Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation Records

In May of 1984, Emilie Wenban-Smith Brash, granddaughter of Charles Valentine Riley, presented a gift on behalf of her aunt Cathryn's Trust to the Secretary of Agriculture, John Block, to be used to support activities to honor Charles Valentine Riley. Resources from this original gift were used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to plan and conduct the original Riley Memorials Program with the assistance of an advisory group originally chaired by Edward H. Smith of Cornell University and later by Ross S. Whaley of Syracuse University. Others involved included John C. Gordon of Yale University, Durward F. Bateman of North Carolina State University, Gideon D. Hill of E. I. Du Pont Co., I. Garth Youngberg of the Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Harry C. Mussman, then with the National Food Processors Association, Dan M. Martin of the MacArthur Foundation, and Raymond J. Miller of the University of Maryland.

Those involved in the advisory group came from a relatively wide array of disciplines, organizations, and backgrounds. As is often the case, the dynamics of the group superseded its proximal purpose. In the course of their meetings they realized, more or less quickly, several things. First, they came to appreciate that Riley was considerably more than a pioneering entomologist and that his larger vision was not fully appreciated by many less familiar with his history. Second, the group felt that they knew what agriculture was, and knew how to explain this to people, including each other. But, third (and this took place more slowly), they grew to realize that their explanations all differed in important respects. For example, was agriculture the "food and fiber production system?" This seemed descriptive, but where were water and air and "open space?" And fourth (even more slowly, particularly for those from academia and government), they came to realize that the lack of common understanding about agriculture was both a challenge and an opportunity to honor Riley by articulating and forwarding his vision. It was obviously a challenge, because if the "experts" couldn't explain agriculture to each other, how could they expect the typical citizen - an urban or suburban dweller with no connection to a farm or the rural landscape - to understand it? Thus, understanding of agriculture in its broadest sense emerged as possibly the most appropriate framework within which to memorialize Riley.

Despite the magnitude and complexity of the challenge, the advisory group for the Riley Memorials Program embraced the broad vision of Charles Valentine Riley and the recognition of a serious need to enhance the public's understanding of agriculture and the contributions that scientific knowledge makes to everyone"s welfare. The original advisory group was joined in 1985 by several additional individuals to form the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation. These included John (Duke) S. Barr III, a farmer from Louisiana; Bennie I. Osburn, of the University of California at Davis; Earl R. Swanson of the University of Illinois; Robert Tweedy, representing farm machinery manufacturers; and Emilie Brash. It should be emphasized that Cathryn Vedalia Riley's desire to honor her father and the Trustee's overture to the U.S. Department of Agriculture were proximal causes of the creation of the Riley Memorial Foundation.

The premise upon which the Riley Memorial Foundation was formed was described in the preamble to the Articles of Incorporation filed with the Government of the District of Columbia on August 27, 1985:

"The systematic acquisition of food, clothing, and shelter was the earliest form of collective human activity and gave birth to civilization. Industry, art, and science are all products of a civilization founded on and supported by agriculture. Thus, agriculture, directly or indirectly, touches all aspects of human activity."

"While much has been gained during the evolution of agriculture from hunting and gathering to settled crops and animal production and thence to complex modern systems for producing and distributing food, fiber, and shelter, much also has been lost. Generally, throughout the developed world, agriculture is no longer recognized as central to human life and culture. However, over the long term, societies with unhealthy agricultures fail."

The perspective in the preamble provided the basis for defining the original goals of the Riley Foundation (Riley Memorial Foundation 1991): "to promote a broader and more complete understanding of agriculture as the most basic human endeavor, . . . to make secure the lever that is agriculture and its fulcrum, the natural environment, during this and succeeding generations, [and]. . . to facilitate the exchange of disparate views between individuals and groups and to make these views more apparent to the public at large without being an advocate for any particular point of view."

The Riley Foundation was formally organized on November 4, 1985, when the bylaws were adopted and a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Riley Foundation was signed by then Secretary of Agriculture John Block and the first President of the Board of Directors of the Riley Foundation, John Gordon. Documents related to the establishment of the Charles Valentine Riley Memorials Program by USDA and on the operation of the Riley Foundation from 1985 through 2006 are housed in Special Collections and named the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation Records.