USDA History Collection

The USDA History Collection documents the work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), its staff and agencies. It is particularly strong concerning the activities of the Secretaries of Agriculture, their assistants and staffs, especially for the administrations of Henry Agard Wallace, Ezra Taft Benson, and Orville Lothrop Freeman. Large sections of the records relate to the USDA's response to such crises as World War I, World War II, and the Great Depression; droughts, floods and other disasters; and the changes brought by the economic and technological developments of the 20th century. In addition, there are records or copies of records documenting the earliest years, as well as material covering the entire history of agriculture in the Americas. --The collection includes letters, memoranda, reports, speeches, press releases, organizational charts, statistical tables, pamphlets, booklets, clippings, newsletters, scrapbooks, annual reports, audio and video tapes, oral histories and photographs relating to the activities of the USDA and the history of agriculture. Also included are papers and writings of USDA staff and other individuals on agricultural history, correspondence and other records of the USDA's Economic Research Service, Agricultural and Rural History Section, and a small group of letters, account books, diaries and other manuscript material relating to U.S. agriculture dating from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries."