Academic Affairs. Dean, College Of Natural Sciences, Forestry, And Agriculture. College Of Agriculture (University Of Maine) Records
Scope and Contents
The records mainly contain textual information created by the University of Maine College of Agriculture, but there are also some maps.
The record series College Of Agriculture Faculty and Executive Committees Records contain meeting minutes, correspondence regarding faculty meeting meetings, items related to the Course Committee that looked at changes to agriculture courses, and details of degree, scholarship, and faculty recommendations. Also, includes lists of College of Agriculture faculty.
The record series Cooperative Extension Service Records includes various records regarding the work of the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension Service which was formerly part of the College of Agriculture, includes: correspondence regarding the distribution of seeds and support to farmers, copies of County Farm Bureau programs of work, meeting minutes, plans and constitutions, Extension Service newsletters, press releases, bulletins, and service letters, various Bangor Commercial newspaper clippings regarding children and farming, gardens and crops, and dairy and poultry, also New England Homestead, New England Farmer, Maine Farmer, The Bath Independent, The Lewiston Daily Sun, Hoards Dairyman & Wallace’s Farmer clippings regarding dairy and self-feeding hoppers, information regarding the history of the Extension Service including its organization and staff, miscellaneous correspondence on a range of subjects, copies of various Extension Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, maps of Maine counties, and details of investigations into phone services.
The Record Series Food Production, Preservation & Conservation Records contains various items regarding efforts during World War I concerning food production, preservation, and conservation, includes: meeting material from the Maine State Committee on Food Production and Conservation, bills of sale related to the Federal Food Administration, reports of banking operations, message regarding Food Conservation Day in Maine, and a copy of a letter to Governor Milliken regarding the campaign for the preservation of fruits and vegetables.
The record series Agricultural Experiment Station Research & Financial Records contains copies of various annual progress reports submitted by the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Bankhead –Jones and R&M supported research projects. Also, copies of agreements, and correspondence with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and supporting research and financial material.
Also, copies of Dairy, Poultry, Apple Marketing, and Potato advisory committee meeting minutes, rosters, reports, and supporting material. Maine Potato Handling Research Center progress reports, work programs, project outline, agreements, and correspondence with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the project was to develop more efficient work methods concerning the packing and storage of Maine potatoes and was a collaborative between the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Details of the Agricultural Experimental Station research project on sardines which was funded by the Maine Sardine Industry, includes outline of program, agreement, reference material, and correspondence.
Details of University of Maine research project for the War Research Service during the World War II includes: financial information, correspondence with the Federal Security Agency who funded the research, and a copy of the agreement between the University of Maine and Federal Security Agency.
Financial reports and budgets submitted by the Agricultural Experiment Station to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The record series Maine Federation of Agriculture Associations Records contains Association meeting material, banking information, financial reports, lists of delegates, and correspondence.
The record series Subject Files primarily contain information regarding the operations of the individual departments that formed part of the College of Agriculture and later the College of Life Sciences & Agriculture, including: lists of faculty, correspondence, publications, reports, fliers, material from events, and course and program information. The series also contains information on a range of subjects related to the operations of the College.
Dates
- 1868-1989
- Majority of material found within 1900-1980
Creator
- University of Maine. College of Agriculture (Organization)
- University of Maine. Cooperative Extension (Organization)
- Maine Agricultural Experiment Station (Organization)
- United States. Department of Agriculture (Organization)
- Merrill, Leon S., Dr. (Person)
- Deering, Arthur Lowell (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval. Personal identifiable and legally protected information will be redacted before release.
Some box numbers have changed:
- Old Box #731 (New Box 1)
- Old Box #732 (New Box 2)
- Old Box #733 (New Box 3)
Conditions Governing Use
Information on literary rights available in the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department.
Biographical / Historical
The College of Agriculture was established at the University of Maine in 1868 and would go on to provide courses on animal husbandry, farm management, forestry, dietetics, household management, handwork, childcare and child welfare, home economics education, history and economics of agriculture, food processing, and horticulture. In 1965, during the tenure of President Elliot the College of Agriculture was expanded to include the Life Sciences and renamed the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. Today many of the responsibilities of the College are carried out by the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service is now a separate department.
The majority of the material in this record group was created during the tenure of Dr. Leon S. Merrill who was both the Dean of the College of Agriculture (September 1, 1911 to September 3, 1933) and also the Director of the Extension Service (October 1, 1910 to December 31, 1930). Merrill was also a Food Administrator for the State of Maine and U.S. Food Administrations (August 1917 to July 1919). The Federal Food Administration was setup during the World War I to help ensure food was conserved for war efforts, including feeding U.S. civilians and the military. Merrill was also secretary and treasurer of the Maine Federation of Agricultural Associations which began meeting in 1911. The purpose of the Federation was to unite the various agricultural organizations in the state that all may work in harmony for the common interests of agriculture development. In 1930, Merrill Hall (which originally housed Home Economics) was named in honor of Merrill. Merrill died in Bangor, Maine on September 3, 1933.
Merrill’s successor as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Extension Service was Arthur Lowell Deering who had previously been the Farm Demonstration Director in Kennebec County. Deering also became the Director of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. Deering retired from the University of Maine in 1957. Deering Hall on the University's Orono campus was named for him shortly after his retirement. Biographical and historical notes on Deering's successors can be found in the notes of the College Of Life Sciences And Agriculture Records, UA RG 0006.007.018.
In the early 1940’s the Extension Service (now known as the Cooperative Extension Service) became part of the College of Agriculture. The Extension Service objective was to organize and direct cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics in Maine. County agents were appointed by the University of Maine’s College of Agriculture and would conduct economic production demonstrations for Maine farmers. The Extension Service also ran schools for local people at which agents would instruct the students on agricultural production. The Cooperative Extension is part of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System, which works through the land-grant universities in each U.S. state. Maine’s land-grant university is in Orono at the University of Maine.
Closely related to the work of the College of Agriculture was the Experiment Station (now known as the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station) in Orono. The Station was established in 1885 with assistance from the State of Maine and grew to the federal experiment station authorized by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Station dealt particularly with farm and home research, including: genetics and breeding, entomology, forestry, foods, and potatoes, but as the Station grew it started to expand into other areas as well like dairy and fruit. Starting in 1888, the Station began publishing its own Bulletins. Over time the Station grew to include more buildings for example, Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, Maine. Today the station is the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture’s center for applied and basic research in agriculture and food sciences, forestry and wood products, fisheries and aquaculture, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and rural economic development. The station’s programs strive to enhance the profitability and sustainability of Maine’s natural resource-based industries, protect Maine’s environment, and improve the health of its citizens.
Extent
8 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The Records Group is broken down intellectually into subseries: 1. College Of Agriculture Faculty & Executive Committee Records, 2. Cooperative Extension Service Records, 3. Food Production, Preservation & Conservation Records, 4. Agriculture Experiment Station Research & Financial Records, 5. Maine Federation of Agriculture Associations Records, and 6. Subject Files.
Physically the files are arranged by subject. Some file names were changed and dates added to make them more meaningful and to correct errors.
Some box numbers have changed:
- Old Box #277 (New Box 4)
- Old Box #277a (New Box 5)
- Old Box #277b (New Box 6)
- Old Box #731 (New Box 1)
- Old Box #732 (New Box 2)
- Old Box #733 (New Box 3)
- Old Box #270 (New Box 7)
- Old Box #270a (New Box 8)
Accruals
The College of Agriculture no longer exists, however, the Cooperative Extension Service and the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture who both continue some of the work of the College may also have inherited some of its records, which they could transfer to Special Collections.
Separated Materials
Materials on the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture can also be found in the seperate College Of Life Sciences And Agriculture Records, UA RG 0006.007.018.
Bibliography
"Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station", University of Maine, https://umaine.edu/mafes/ (accessed January 2017).
Processing Information
Boxes 1-3 were processed by Matthew Revitt, January 2017, boxes 4-6 in January 2018, and boxes 7 & 8 in March, 2018, Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department. Processing involved a collection survey and intellectual arrangement into series and the creation of this finding aid. Material was rehoused into appropriate archival folders and the boxes and folders numbered and titled added using information from ArchivesSpace.
- Agreements Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Agricultural extension work -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Agriculture Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Agriculture -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clippings Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Dairying -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Farm produce -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Financial statements Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Food -- Preservation -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Food -- Transportation -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Memorandums Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Minutes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Official reports Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Potatoes -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Potatoes -- Research Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1914-1918 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Maine -- Food supply Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- University of Maine. College Of Agriculture Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matthew Revitt
- Date
- January 25, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Edition statement
- The finding aid was revised in January 2018 to add boxes 4-6 and in March 2018 to add boxes 7 & 8.
Repository Details
Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library University Archives Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686
