Maine Dairymen's Association Records

Collection

Identifier: SpC MS 0311

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains records of the Board of Directors and the Executive Secretary of the Maine Dairymen's Association.

The collection is organized into two series: I. Records of the Board of Directors, and II. Administrative Records. Series II is further divided into five sub-series: 1. Legal Records, 2. Correspondence, 3. Financial Records, 4. Membership Records, and 5. Subject files. The collection had been re-foldered at an earlier date by Library staff; folder headings have been left as found with information added for clarity if needed.

Series I contains minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors from the 1940s through the 1960s. It also contains auditor's reports to the Directors from 1938-1968, providing a financial picture of the organization throughout its history.

Series II contains office records of the organization maintained primarily by executive secretary Douglas Struven from 1958 to 1963, followed by Rosa Prime, who was executive secretary until the organization ended in 1969. It contains a small sub-series of legal records, primarily market and membership agreements with members, followed by correspondence, 1948-1973, much of it to or from the executive secretaries, as well as Association president Philip Andrews. The financial records include records of money received as well as check registers and paid invoices.

The membership records which make up Sub-series 4 contain lists of locals as well as cancelled memberships and folders of membership fees for individual dairies or creameries. The subject files in Sub-series 5 are arranged alphabetically and include information on various organizations of interest to the Association as well as files documenting the internal workings of the office. Included in this section is a run of the organization's newsletter, the Northern Milk Producer, as well as a history of the organization, The Maine Dairymen's Association, 1937-1969, written by Rosa Prime.

Dates

Creation: 1934-1979
Creation: Majority of material found within 1948-1968

Creator

Maine Dairymen's Association (Organization)

Restrictions on Access

Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.

Use Restrictions

Information on literary rights available in the Library.

Historical Note

The collection contains records of the Maine Dairymen's Association, a cooperative organization for farmers engaged in dairying and milk production, including records of the Board of Directors and the Executive Secretary of the Maine Dairymen's Association.

The Maine Dairymen's Association was formed in December, 1937, "to enable its members to secure the full market value of their dairy products, to bargain for the disposition of the same, [and] to establish proper checks on weights and tests of products sold..." The need for such an organization arose from the unsettled conditions for selling milk which existed during the 1930s. Collective bargaining between associations of producers and dealers had broken down and various efforts by the federal government to set prices were beginning to be felt. Farmers in the Maine market realized the need for the sort of stabilization provided by a cooperative association, which would pay its members for milk supplied, market the milk, and return any profit to the farm owners.

The Maine Dairymen's Association was divided into locals and a central organization, with the locals made up of individual dairymen who then elected representatives to form the central organization. The Association became active in promoting the needs of its members at the state and federal level, influencing industry legislation and working to maintain strong markets. It had a field man who worked actively with members in testing milk. Funds were available to help members in case of loss of milk payments or other financial difficulties. A newsletter, the Maine Milk Producer, began in 1941, merging in 1958 with another publication to become the Northern Milk Producer.

By the late 1960s, many members had come to believe that the Association was too small and weak to have sufficient bargaining power for its members. The Board of Directors began to discuss the possibility of a merger with another organization. In February, 1969, a proposal was presented to merge with the New England Milk Producers Association, now Agri-Mark, and on May 9, 1969, the Maine Dairymen's Association ceased to exist.