College of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: UA 27

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The College of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, Records (1879-2011; 18.1 cubic feet) includes correspondence, field notebooks, photographs, reports, slides, and other materials documenting the work of the department.

Dates

Creation: 1879-2011
Other: Date acquired: 08/02/2008

Creator

Purdue University. Department of Agronomy (Organization)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Access Information

Collection is open for research.

Copyright and Use Information

Some material in this collection are in the public domain, while other material copyrights are held by Purdue University. Consult with Purdue University Archives and Special Collections prior to reproduction of materials.

Historical Information

It is believed that the Department of Agronomy began around 1907, but curricula in agronomic subjects and crop experiments date as early as 1882, when Professor William O. Latta conducted experiments on corn, wheat, and oats. Today, the Agronomy Department regards Latta as Purdue’s “first agronomist.” Actual Agronomy courses first appeared in the 1905-1906 Purdue course catalog, and in 1908, Alfred T. Wiancko was appointed the first official head of the as the School of Agriculture’s Department of Agronomy. The department awarded its first masters of science degree in 1913 and its first PhD twenty-one years later. Agronomy awarded 1,375 graduate degrees by the end of 2005. Agronomy became a department within Purdue’s Agricultural Experiment Station in 1908.

Note written by John Michael Foster

Extent

18.10 Cubic Feet

3 c.f. boxes, 29 mss. boxes, 3 slide boxes, 2 lantern slide boxes, 5 photograph boxes, 2 flat boxes other_unmapped

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

The Records are organized into a single series with items arranged chronologically by type of material.

Physical Access Requirements

Field notebooks, summary books, and lantern slides are fragile and should be handled with care.

Acquisition Information

Purdue University records transfer by Darrel G. Schulze, Department of Agronomy; Kelly Delp, Department of Agronomy; William F. Trent; College of Agriculture on August 2, 2008. Records transferred by Darrel G. Schulze, Department of Agronomy, February 20, 2007; Kelly Delp, Department of Agronomy, July 1, 2008 and November 9, 2009; and William F. Trent, College of Agriculture, April 14, 2011.