Academic Affairs. Dean, College Of Natural Sciences, Forestry, And Agriculture. Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station (University Of Maine) Records
Scope and Contents
The records mainly contain textual information created and curated by the University of Maine's Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station, but there are also photonegatives.
The record series Administrative Records includes: budget reports including spending estimates, requests, and actuals, various salary information for Station and College of Agriculture staff, correspondence with Alden Stewart, Business Manager and David I. Carter, Director of the Budget regarding various financial matters, and copies of Council meeting minutes.
The record series Subject Records includes files on a range of subjects related to the Station includes correspondence regarding students, staffing of the Station, research projects, reference material, meeting minutes, and reports. Also, various historical information regarding the College of Agriculture and the Station including maps of Highmoor Farm, Monmouth, Maine, seed drill, research data, and various correspondence regarding seeds samples, trends in agriculture, and the exchange of seeds between the US and Russian agricultural experiment stations.
The record series Blueberry Advisory Committee Records includes meeting meetings, reference material, and reports relating to the work of the Committee.
The record series Potato Tax Records includes various reports, papers, statistics, correspondence, and supporting material regarding the Station’s research on potato tax.
The record series Photonegative Records show activities, produce and research on experimental farms of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and also of staff and events.
The record series Nutrition & Food Inspection Records includes what appears to be data for Experiment Station research on nutrition and information regarding food inspections.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1955-1992
- Creation: 1888-1987
Creator
- Maine Agricultural Experiment Station (Organization)
- Patch, Edith M. (Edith Marion), 1876- (Person)
- Dow, George F. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval. Personal identifiable and sensitive information will be redacted before release.
Conditions Governing Use
Information on literary rights available in the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department.
Biographical / Historical
Faculty and students at the University of Maine have been conducting experiments and research (particularly in agriculture) since its formation. In 1883, the Maine Board of Agriculture called for the establishment of a formal experiment station in Orono. With the support of state funds the Maine Fertilizer Control and Agricultural Experiment Station (later becoming the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station). Eventually the Station would expand its research into genetics and breeding, entomology, forestry, food, potatoes, blueberries, and dairy. Such studies have been funded by both state and federal agriculture grants.
Much of the Station's research has been published in reports (including to funding bodies) and the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station's Bulletin. One of the Stations’ research areas was blueberries to support this work a Blueberry Committee Advisory was established in 1944. One of the major research projects featured in this record group is on potato tax and the problems facing the Maine potato industry during the 1950s and 1960s looking particularly at storage, processing, marketing, and disease control.
Federal funds were first issued as part of the provisions of the Hatch Act of 1887. Subsequent federal funding including as a result of the 1906 Adams Act allowed the Station to expand its research including the building and expansion of Holmes Hall on campus and the establishment of various off-site laboratories.
Whitman H. Jordan was appointed the first director of the Station in 1887 a position he would hold until 1896 when he was succeeded by Charles D. Woods who would stay in post until 1920. From 1920-1931 Warner J. Morse was the director and Fred Griffee from 1931 until 1951. Much of the material in the record group was created during the tenure of George F. Dow (Class of 1927) who was director from 1957 until 1969 when he was awarded emeritus status. Succeeding Dow was future UMaine president (1992-1997) Dr. Frederick E. Hutchinson who was also dean of agriculture.
A number of prominent faculty have worked at the Station including the entomologist Edith M. Patch whose research is included in this record group.
Since the early twentieth century the Station has been closely connected to the various department of the College of Agriculture (later known as the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture and now known as the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture) and the Cooperative Extension Service. 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.
Today the station maintains its offices and principal research laboratories in Orono. Additional research facilities include Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle, Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro, J. F. Witter Teaching and Research Center in Old Town, the Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden and the Roger Clapp Greenhouses in Orono, and the Dwight B. Demeritt Forest in Old Town and Orono.
Extent
8 boxes
3 boxes (3 boxes : photonegatives ; 10 x 14 cm)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The Records Group is broken down intellectually into the following record series: 1. Administrative Records, 2. Subject Records, 3. Blueberry Advisory Committee Records, 4. Potato Tax Records, 5. Photonegative Records, and 6. Nutrition & Food Inspection Records. Physically boxes 1 and 2 are arranged by subject, boxes 3-8 are arranged in alphabetical order by folder title, and boxes 9-11 are arranged numerically by negative number. Some file names and dates were changed to make them more meaningful and to correct errors. Material was separated and divided into multiple sub-folders where necessary and rehoused into archival quality storage.
Some box numbers have changed:
- Old Box #250 (New Box 1)
- Old Box #267 (New Box 2)
- Old Box #390 (New Box 3)
- Old Box #391 (New Box 4)
- Old Box #392 (New Box 5)
- Old Box #393 (New Box 6)
- Old Box #394 (New Box 7)
- Old Box #395 (New Box 8)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Box 1 Folder 6 had a note on the folder from Edward Piper, Assistant Director that the information was found in Holmes Hall and transferred to Special Collection in 1979.
Box 3 had a note in it that the contents were transferred on 1974-0502.
Box 4 Folder 16 had a note on the folder that it was transferred to Special Collections from the office of Professor Edward F. Johnston as accession #2011-0415a.
Box 8, Folder 28 was transferred to the Library Annex from the office of former head of special collections Richard Hollinger in 2022.
Accruals
Accruals from the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station are anticipated.
Bibliography
"Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station", University of Maine, https://umaine.edu/mafes/(accessed December 28, 2017).
General
Boxes 9-11 were formerly SpC MS 1717.
Processing Information
Processed by Matthew Revitt, December 2017, 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 using information from ArchivesSpace.
Source
- Piper, Edward H., 1922-2009 (Person)
- Johnston, Edward (Person)
Genre / Form
- Annual reports
- Budgets
- Correspondence
- Financial statements
- Payroll records
- Plans (reports)
- Research notes
Topical
- Agricultural economics
- Agricultural experiment stations -- History -- Maine
- Agricultural experiment stations -- Maine
- Agricultural extension work -- Maine
- Agriculture -- Equipment and supplies
- Agriculture -- History -- Maine
- Research -- Maine -- Orono
- Research laboratories
- University of Maine -- Research grants
- Title
- University Of Maine. Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matthew Revitt
- Date
- Deccember 28, 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.
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