Agriculture - Overview
From butter churns to diesel tractors, the Museum's agricultural artifacts trace the story of Americans who work the land. Agricultural tools and machinery in the collections range from a John Deere plow of the 1830s to 20th-century cultivators and harvesters. The Museum's holdings also include overalls, aprons, and sunbonnets; farm photographs; milk cans and food jars; handmade horse collars; and some 200 oral histories of farm men and women in the South. Prints in the collections show hundreds of scenes of rural life. The politics of agriculture are part of the story, too, told in materials related to farm workers' unions and a group of artifacts donated by the family of the labor leader Cesar Chavez.
"Agriculture - Overview" showing 1145 items.
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View from Mexico"--Emil Uhlmann, El Paso (Texas) [picture postcard]
- Notes
- Series III, Box 27, Local Color (People)---Mexico
- Summary
- Black and white photograph showing a burro (donkey) with a sack of dry goods on his back. Next to the donkey a man is bent over, his back to the camera, holding a bucket and draining something out of the sack. He wears a hat that covers his face
- Cite as
- Victor A. Blenkle Postcard Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 19||
- publisher
- Uhlmann, Emil, El Paso (Texas)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
International Harvester Model 1486 Tractor
- Description
- This 1979 tractor was owned by Gerald McCathern of Hereford, Tex., who used it in his fields for 700 hours before driving it 1,800 miles to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 1979 American Agriculture Movement demonstration. As wagon master, McCathern coordinated tractorcades that, while bringing the desperate situation facing American farmers to the attention of Congress, also substantially slowed rush-hour traffic. In the midst of the protest, a large snowstorm nearly paralyzed the city, and farmers used their tractors to pull cars out of snowbanks, earning the goodwill of many people.
- The American Agriculture Movement bought the tractor and presented it to the Smithsonian in 1986. The IH 1486 is representative of the technology that typifies modern agriculture. It has sixteen forward and eight reverse speeds, power steering and brakes, diesel turbocharged engine, wide adjustable front end, detachable front weights, air-conditioning, AM-FM radio tape deck, hydraulic adjustable seat, and an adjustable steering wheel.
- Date made
- 1979
- user
- McCathern, Gerald
- maker
- International Harvester
- ID Number
- 1986.0179.01
- catalog number
- 1986.0179.01
- accession number
- 1986.0179
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1985-1992
- Notes
- Project developed by NMAH curator Pete Daniel and Lu Ann Jones, to document the effect of vast social and technological changes on Southern farm people since 1950
- Summary
- Collection consists of the project records, photographs and oral history materials comprising the Southern Agriculture Oral History Project. The project was developed by NMAH employees Lu Ann Jones and Pete Daniel with support from SI photographers and other personnel. For several years beginning in 1986, Jones traveled the Southern U.S. conducting oral history interviews with farm workers. The interviewees include people who worked on or owned farms of varying sizes, from very small to corporate sized. They were farmers of rice, tobacco, cotton and livestock. The interviewees were ethnically diverse. A series of interviews was conducted with Mexican workers. Over 150 interviews were conducted, and some of the interviews are transcribed or have distillations or edited versions of the interview. Other items Jones collected include life history forms, correspondence, articles, interviewer's notes, business cards, photographs. Photograph files contain photographs taken by a Smithsonian photographer or copies of photographs supplied by the subject. Interviewees are listed below and are arranged alphabeticallly by state and thereunder, alphabetically by subject
- Cite as
- Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1985-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1986
- 1986-1991
- 1985-1992
- 20th Century
- 1950-2000
- project director
- Daniel, Pete
- interviewee
- Accardo, Paul
- Aguirre, Gloria Olmos
- Allen, David
- Anderson, Adra
- Anderson, Walter
- Andrews, John William
- Ardoin, Leslie
- Bailey, Charles
- Bailey, Howard Taft
- Baird, George E., Jr
- Baronet, Joe
- Bell, Walter M
- Bennett, Novella
- Bennett, W.J
- Benson, Dick
- Benton, Aubrey
- Benton, Ina Belle
- Blackstock, Tom
- Blackstock, Velva
- Blanchard, J.F
- Booth, N.J
- Booth, Mrs. N.J
- Bossleman, Norman
- Bosselman, Willie
- Bowman, Wilbert A
- Bradford, Nara N
- Bradford, Norwood)
- Brantley, L.D
- Breaux, Jessie Al., Sr
- Brinkley, Johnnie
- Brinkley, Lucile
- Broussard, Sam
- Brown, Gordon
- Brown, Mamie
- Bunting, Benny
- Bunting, Joe
- Burkett, Ben
- Burkett, Bennie F
- Bush, Miller
- Byers, Ruby
- Byers, Sanford
- Carline, Herman C
- Caesar, Clarence
- Carnahan, Cotton
- Carter, Ethel H
- Castleberry, Guy W
- Caughron, Kermit
- Caughron, Rex
- Caughron, Roy
- Cazer, Garland
- Ceras, Delfino
- Claffery, Clegg, Sr
- Clapp, Clyde
- Clark, Fletcher Talmadge
- Clayton, WIlliam P
- Cockerham, Lester
- Cockerham, Marie
- Cole, Buster
- Coleman, Harold
- Coleman, Mrs. Harold
- Colvin, R.C
- Comeaux, Lewis
- Connell, Alton
- Cromertie, John L
- Crosby, Ruth
- Crosby, Victor
- Cummins, W.R
- Cummins, Mary Lee
- Cunningham, Tom
- Daniel, Florentine
- Davis, Fredda
- Davis, Otto
- Davis, Pauline
- Davies, W. J. K
- Delasbour, Anna
- Derbigney, Durrell
- Dillard, John T
- Dorminy, Henry Clayton
- Dove, Dorothy
- Ducrest, Jesse
- Dulaney, T.W
- Elam, Edward
- Feilke, Mabel
- Felknor, Jessie F
- Finchum, Amos
- Finchum, Eva
- Fleming, Arthur B
- Fletcher, Mrs. Merle Ford
- Flores, Roque Olmos
- Foster, Jim
- Foster, Vergie
- Friesen, Viola Liechty
- Gardner, C.E
- Garrich, Carl
- Gay, Andrew
- George, Leler
- Gosney, Jessie
- Gosney, Kenneth
- Gray, Leonard
- Gray, Wardell
- Green, Alone
- Green, Clarence
- Griffin, A.C
- Griffin, Grace
- Hahn, E.L
- Hall, Joe
- Haransky, Charlotte
- Harrington, A.M
- Harris, Edna
- Harris, John, Rev
- Harris, Robert B
- Harper, Woodrow, Sr
- Hawkins, Charlie
- Hemphill, Elvin
- Hemphill, Mattie
- Hill, Frank
- Jefcoat, Laz
- Jensen, Olga B
- Johnson, Herbert
- interviewer
- Jones, Lu Ann
- interviewee
- Kilby, T.H
- Knight, Martin
- Koen, Eulah
- Lamson, Alfred Ellis
- Landry, Steve
- Lane, Clyde D
- Laney, John B
- Langley, Nellie
- Latoilas, Donald
- Lawrimore, Rufus B
- Leary, Mrs. Stillman
- Leary, Stillman
- Legnon, Hilton
- Legnon, Lena Porrier
- Lenius, Jane
- Lewis, Bobby
- Lewis, Dorothy
- Lewis, Ralph
- Proffitt, Harry, Jr
- Littlejohn, Andrew
- Loewer, Arthur
- Long, Welchel
- Lowder, Clayton
- Lowder, Kathy R
- Mangum, O.L
- Martin, Lillian
- McBrayer, Loomis
- McCarty, Ben
- McGee, Dean
- Mercer, Midi
- Minchew, Edna
- Mire, John
- Mohamed, Ethel Wright
- Moody, Edgar
- Morris, Edward
- Murphree, Leo
- Murray, Lurline S
- Nacquin, Leo
- Nix, Joe
- Nix, Agnes
- Parker, Jonah
- Patout, William A
- Patterson, Vanona
- Pender, Bessie
- Petticrew, Donald
- Player, C.B., Jr
- Porter, Virginia
- Purvis, Clyde
- Redmond, Virgie
- Reed, Bunice
- Reed, Howard
- Rice, Frank
- Richardson, Rosetta
- Rivers, Marion
- Roberts, Gerti
- Roberts, James
- Rodriguez, Ignacio
- Rountree, G. Emory
- Rucker, William
- Salas, Maria
- Sarten, Della
- Sims, Lavana
- Scoggins, Lillie
- Scroggins, Alma M
- Seidenschwarz, Rosie
- Seidenstricker, Laverne
- Seidenstricker, L.F
- Serrano, Adolofo
- Serrano, Edith
- Serrano, Lidia
- Shannon, Jack
- Shepherd, Grady
- Sizemore, Martiel
- Skinner, Annie
- Skinner, Jarvis
- Smith, Ethel
- Smith, George
- Soileau, Rouseb
- Spivey, Wayland
- Steen, Albert
- Spicer, J.M
- Starke, Granville
- Stowers, J.W
- Strange, Fred
- Strohl, Carl
- Strohl, Mary
- Sumner, Ruby C
- Temple, Effie
- Thomas, Lottie
- Thompson, Mioma
- Thresto, Chuck
- Tomlinson, Clifton
- Turner, Mrs. O.C
- Van Houten, Rudy
- Van Houten, Rosetta
- Vickers, Lloyd
- Vidrine, Levie A
- Walton, W.W
- Watson, Mary
- White, Wallace
- Wigley, Mabry
- Willey, Gretchen
- Willey, John F
- Young, Walter
- Welborn, S.L
- Wells, Homer, Dr
- Wells, Arnalee
- Winskie, Dent
- Woodard, Henry
- Yohe, Alma M
- Yohe, Perry
- Local number
- 2001.3053 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
William C. Kost Farm Records, 1939-1989
- Notes
- From 1946 until his death, Kost lived on a farm near Vermont, Ill. He previously had farmed on shares and worked at the Peoria State Hospital, Bartonville, at the Caterpillar Co., and as a bookkeeper. He kept elaborate records of his farm's transactions
- Kost farmed corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay. In the mid-1950s he entered a partnership with the Welch farm, a beef cow/calf, feeder calf, hog operation. In the mid-1960s the Welch farm was sold and Kost bought out his share of the cows/calf operation and transferred it to his own farm. He also rented another farm on the east side of Vermont, Illinois
- Summary
- Financial records of a family farm in Vermont, Illinois. They are thorough, and document crucial years in the transformation of U.S. agriculture. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture encouraged larger farmers to expand their acreage, buy machinery, and modernize. Kost took this advice and rented additional land and expanded his operation into livestock. These records offer the historian or economist the opportunity to examine a farm operation in detail
- Cite as
- William C. Kost Farm Records, 1939-1989, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1939
- 1939-1989
- 1940-1990
- 20th century
- author
- Kost, William Cassell (farmer) 1917-1989
- donor
- Kost, William Elvidge
- collector
- Agriculture and Natural Resources, Division of (NMAH, SI)
- Local number
- 1993.3072 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Agriculture [series], 1786-1971
- Summary
- Primarily trade catalogs, printed advertisements, correspondence on letterhead stationery, price lists, bills, receipts, addresses, envelopes, advertising cards, reports, manuals, memorandum books, fair tickets, lithographs, photographs, almanacs, etc., from manufacturers and distributors of farming machinery and implements. Many agricultural tools and products are represented. Also includes material from agricultural societies, such as the American Agricultural Association and the Livestock Society of America, and from experiment stations, along with general publications and periodicals
- Cite as
- Agriculture, Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, box #, folder ##, digital file ###
- Date
- 1786
- 1971
- 1786-1971
- collector
- Warshaw, Isadore d. 1969
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980 (bulk 1919-1965)
- Notes
- Bickley was one of the more active inventors of twentieth century. While his main and most portable invention was an automatic bean sorter, his other inventions were numerous and wide in scope. Examples are: a photographic exposure meter; fly killing device; dance charts; nut-cracking device; and outdoor electric sign
- Summary
- Correspondence, patents, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs, particularly rich in information on Bickley's sorting devices. World War II innovations, and other inventions such as an exposure meter, dance charts, fly-killing device, and an outdoor electric sign known as the Motograph
- Spans much of the twenthieth century and is of value to researchers interested in product development, the patent application process, product marketing and promotion, World War II innovation, and the daily operation of a small, privately owned industry. General correspondence, patents and patent correspondence, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs; also, several artifacts designed by Bickley, including a photographic exposure meter (Fotimer), a prototype slide mount (Color Tight Slide Mount), dance chart, and even a clipboard (Deskette)
- Cite as
- The Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1919
- 1919-1980
- bulk 1919-1965
- 20th century
- 1930-1950
- creator
- Bickley, Everett H. 1888- 1972
- donor
- Beyer, Audrey Bickley
- Subject
- Bickley Manufacturing Company
- H. J. Heinz Company
- Local number
- 1999.3022 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Belle City Mfg Co.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Variant company name
- International Harvester Co. of America, Chicago, IL.
- Company Name
- Belle City Mfg Co.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_7178
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Benicia Iron Works]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Benicia Iron Works
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_7228
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from W. F. & John Barnes]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- W. F. & John Barnes
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_7406
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Bickley Mfg. Co.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Bickley Mfg. Co.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_7548
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
