Descriptive Entry

Records document the activities of the Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Mining, and its predecessors, and include correspondence, memoranda, exhibit scripts, and reports. Annual reports covering the Sections of Chemical Industries, Chemical Technology, Foods, Manufactures, and Organic Chemistry are also contained in the records, most likely because these sections also reported administratively to the Division of Textiles (until 1938) or the Division of Crafts and Industries (1938-1957); and curators often had responsibility for more than one section. Annual reports for the Division of Agriculture and Mining, 1969-1973, also contain material concerning the Section of Mining.

Of special interest is extensive documentation, in the form of scripts, blueprints, correspondence, and notes, of work on the Hall of Forest Products, 1960-1967, which was never installed; and correspondence on and papers presented at the Symposium on Eighteenth Century Agriculture, 1966-1969. Some material on the professional activities of Division staff, particularly Edward C. Kendall and John T. Schlebecker, is also included.

Historical Note

The Section of Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Mining, of the National Museum of History and Technology, has roots dating back to 1921 when "specimens and models of agricultural implements and objects relating to the history of agriculture in this country" began to be collected. From 1921 to 1932, these collections were kept as part of the textile collections. In 1932, a Section of Agricultural History was set up in the Division of Textiles, and a separate catalog was started. The Section became the Section of Agricultural Industries, Division of Crafts and Industries, in 1938 and retained that title until 1957. Frederick L. Lewton, curator of Textiles, was in charge of the agricultural collections from 1921 to 1946 when Fred C. Reed became associate curator for the Sections of Agricultural Industries and Manufactures. Reed was replaced as associate curator by Edward C. Kendall in 1951.

When the Museum of History and Technology was set up in 1957, a Division of Agriculture and Wood Products was set up in the Department of Science and Technology. This became the Division of Agriculture and Forest Products, Department of Arts and Manufactures, in 1959; it became the Division of Agriculture and Mining, Department of Industries, in 1969. Kendall continued as associate curator until 1965, and John T. Schlebecker became curator in that year.