USDA history

Content Description The USDA Pink Bollworm Project Photograph Collection documents the work of the Plant Quarantine and Control Administration on bollworm detection, prevention, and quarantine measures. Photographs show scientists' processes for cleansing the soil of bollworms, views of infested fields, and the effects of bollworms on cotton and other plants. There are photographs of inspection sites in Texas and New Mexico; field clean-up activities in Arizona; and an album of colleagues' portraits presented...

Content Description The USDA Plant Introduction Station Records consist of correspondence, notes, reports, plant inventories, photographs, lists, books, and drawings from files compiled by the Bureau of Plant Industry's plant introduction garden in Miami, Florida. The bulk of the files contain primarily notes, correspondence, clippings, and pamphlets on the subject of mangoes. There is also original and copy correspondence between David G. Fairchild and personnel at the Miami station. Other records include...

Content Description The USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection contains approximately 7,000 watercolor paintings of fruit and nut specimens received by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from growers and plant explorers. The paintings were created by artists employed by the USDA Division of Pomology from 1888 to the 1930s. Credit information was written by the artist on each watercolor, and typically includes the name of the property owner, county, city, and state or country where the specimen was grown. Many...

Content Description The USDA Potato Research Collection consists primarily of photographs used for research studies, which document labs, fields, experiments, types of potatoes, equipment, personnel, and staff portraits. Various locations are represented, including: Potomac Flats in Washington, D.C.; Honeoye Falls, New York; the Colorado Potato Experiment Station; and locations in Idaho, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Michigan, South Dakota, and Texas. Formats are mostly black and white photograph prints, but...

Content Description The USDA Radio and Television Service Celebrity Pesticide Spots Audio Recordings consist of four 33-1/3 RPM phonograph records containing public service announcements about the safe use of pesticides. The recordings were produced by USDA Office of Information, Radio and Television Service, Washington, D.C. There are two unique recordings, and the remaining two are duplicates. Celebrity voices include Minnie Pearl, Art Carney, Arthur Godfrey, and Eva Gabor. Additionally, there is a typescript...

Content Description

The USDA Radio and Television Service Radio Home Features Typescripts were produced by the USDA Office of Information, Radio and Television Service, Washington, D.C. Dates of typescripts are 1964 to 1967, 1969, and 1970 to 1988.

Content Description

The USDA Representation, Foreign Visitor and Protocol Office Collection consists of items from foreign countries or American organizations that were presented as gifts to various U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials. The collection also contains metal dies of the USDA seal, including the original die made by Bailey Banks & Biddle in 1896.

Content Description The USDA Seed and Grain Branch Records include correspondence from plant breeders, seedsmen, and others, mainly addressed to Clyde R. Edwards, Seed and Grain Branch Division, for clearance of plant variety names in accordance with the Federal Seed Act. The files of vegetable crops and turf grasses are organized in alphabetical order by name of plant. Information within the letters indicates that trademark applications for seeds and U.S. Plant Variety Protection Certificates were sent to the...

Content Description The USDA Small Fruit Improvement Programs Records contain the following: Donald H. Scott's strawberry, blueberry, and blackberry field notebooks (1950-1978) and work notes (1941-1970), Scott's and George M. Darrow's photographs for illustrations of USDA bulletins, and John Hull’s blackberry records (1961-1969).Files from the office of Gene Galletta, including strawberry records (1953-1969), grape papers (1946-1967), correspondence files (1947-1972), and raspberry...

Content Description

The USDA Staff Directories consist of telephone and staff directories for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and some other units of USDA. Directories for some years are missing.