Skip to main content

Faculty Records (University Of Maine). Professor Deering (Arthur Lowell) Records

 Record Group
Identifier: UA RG 0011-020

Scope and Contents

The records mainly contain textual information created and curated by Arthur Lowell Deering who was a nationally known educator and expert in Maine agriculture and agricultural education, but there are also some photographic material of staff in the Extension Service and events at the University of Maine and other academic institutions and an audio recording from an outstanding farmers awards ceremony (1957). The records cover his service to the University of Maine at Orono as Director of Extension, as Dean of the College of Agriculture, and as Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station.

The record series Subject Records contains correspondence, memorandums, reports and publications, and meeting material on a range of subjects including University of Maine Board of Trustees, education, the economy, history of Aroostook County, tax revision in Maine, and the Maine potato industry.

The record series Organization For European Economic Cooperation & Foreign Travel Records contains details of trips Deering took to Europe as a representative of the Organization For European Economic Cooperation to study extension work and agricultural education methods and facilities as part of the agricultural aid in the U.S. government’s Marshall Plan. Includes notes, reports, correspondence, travel guides, clippings, itineraries, and photographs. Also, includes travel reports from earlier trips Dering took to attend conferences in England and Scotland.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Records contains copies of reports and meeting material from some of the Organization’s conferences, particularly the 1945 conference held in Quebec City which Deering attended as a representative of the U.S. Government. Also, includes copies of various Food and Agriculture Organization publications including their newsletter, facts about FAO, and United Nations reports on food and agriculture.

The record series Agriculture & Extension Service History & Education Records contains copies of various addresses and speeches given by Deering and others on the subject of agriculture and extension work, various miscellaneous reports, clippings and publications regarding the work, staff, and history of the Maine and U.S. agricultural extension services, agriculture in general, the University of Maine’s College of Agriculture and University of Maine. Also, includes photographs, reports, clippings, and programs from Extension Service events (particularly Farm and Home Week) and conference both at the University of Maine and at Cornell University, Iowa State College, and the University of Arkansas. There is also material on Cornell University’s Extension Education Program which Deering taught at including: syllabus, papers on the history and objectives of extension work and agricultural education (including some by Deering), teaching material, lists of students, reference material, summaries of panel discussions, schedules, questionnaires, and bibliographies.

The record series Bibliographical Information and Personal Records including miscellaneous biographical material on Deering including details of awards he received, copy of his retirement letter and a press release regarding his retirement, details of a scholarship fund in his honor, curriculum vitae, and a copy of a Bangor Daily News tribute to Deering. Also, includes miscellaneous personal material related to Deering’s membership in Phi Kappa Sigma and the University of Maine Class of 1912 and other interests including Aroostook County, education, and banking.

Dates

  • Majority of material found within 1919-1957
  • 1909-1980

Creator

Restrictions on Access

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

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Information on literary rights available in the repository.

Biographical Note

Arthur Lowell Deering was born in Denmark, Maine in 1888 and died in Orono, Maine in 1965. A graduate of Bridgton Academy he received his B.S. degree in agriculture from the University of Maine in 1912 and his Doctor of Agricultural Science in 1934. He was employed by the University of Maine in 1912 as one of the state's and nation's first county agricultural agents. In 1927, he was appointed assistant director and in 1930 director of the Maine Agriculture Extension Service. In 1933, Deering was appointed Dean of the College of Agriculture and in 1943 was appointed head for all agricultural teaching, research, and extension responsibilities of the University of Maine.

Material in this record group also relates to Deering's committee work outside of the University of Maine, particularly as a United States representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Conference (1945), consultant to Economic Cooperation Administration in Europe (1950) under Marshall Aid, consultant to the Portuguese government (1951), director of the Farm Credit Administration, first district president of the University of Maine General Alumni Association (1931-1934), and the Maine Tax Law Revision Committee.

Deering retired in 1957. Deering Hall on the University's Orono campus was named for him shortly after his retirement.

Extent

6 boxes

1 box (Oversized flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The Records Group is broken down intellectually into the following record series: 1. Subject Records, 2. Organization For European Economic Cooperation & Foreign Travel Records, 3. Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations Records, 4. Agriculture & Extension Service History & Education Records, and 5. Biographical Information & Personal Records.

Physically the boxes are arranged by subject. File names and dates were added and material was separated and divided into multiple sub-folders where necessary. Material was rehoused into archival quality storage.

Box numbers have changed:

  1. Old Box #350 (New Box #1)
  2. Old Box #351 (New Box #1)
  3. Old Box #352 (New Box #3)
  4. Old Box #353 (New Box #4)
  5. Old Box #354 (New Box #5)
  6. Old Box #355 (New Box #6 & #7)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Box 1 Folder 1g and Box 6 Folders 10-18 were added to Special Collections as Accession #2002-0831a.

Accruals

Accruals of records related to Professor Fife are not anticipated.

Related Materials

There are records related to Deering's career at the University of Maine in the record groups: Cooperative Extension Service Records, UA RG 0006.008, College Of Agriculture Records, UA RG 0006.007.017, and Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station Records, UA RG 0006.007.004

General

Formerly SpC MS 0132.

Processing Information

Processed by Matthew Revitt, November 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 using information from ArchivesSpace.

The newspapers in Box 7 were originally rolled up in folders in Box 6, but to allow them to be unfolded and stored flat they were moved to an oversized flat box. This and space saving made from destroying duplicate copies of reports and publications and refoldering material that had previously been stored in binders meant the contents of the old Box #1 could be assimilated into Box 6.

Title
University Of Maine. Professor Deering (Arthur Lowell) Records
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew Revitt
Date
November 21, 2018
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

Contact:
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686