Register of the Basil M. Bensin papers

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff

Hoover Institution Library and Archives

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Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6003

hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu

URL: http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives

Title: Basil M. Bensin papers

Date (inclusive): 1913-1970

Collection Number: 2001C60

Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Language of Material: In English and Russian

Physical Description: 1 microfilm reel (0.15 Linear Feet)

Abstract: Speeches and writings, biographical data, and photographs, relating to agriculture, especially in northern climates, and to Russian émigré affairs.

Creator: Bensin, Basil M.

Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Basil M. Bensin Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of Originals

Originals in: Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco.

Biographical Note

1881 January 30 (O.S.)	Born, Russia
1912	Returned to Russia
	M. S., Agricultural Sciences, University of Minnesota
1913	Author, Izuchenie zasukhoustoichivykh ras sel'sko-khoziaistvennykh rastenii
1923	Author, Sel'skoe khoziaistvo i kooperatsiia v S.-Amerikie
1924	Author, Shkola i sel'skoe khoziaistvo
1930	Arrived in the United States
1945-1948	Instructor, University of Alaska
	Agronomist, Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station

Biography

B. M. Bensin was born in Russia on 30 January 1881 (O. S.). He received his education in agricultural sciences at the University of Minnesota, graduating with an M.S. in 1912. Returning to Russia, he authored a pamphlet entitled Izuchenie zasukhoustoichivykh ras sel'sko-khoziaistvennykh rastenii in 1913. After 1920, he emigrated to Czechosovakia, where he published Sel'skoe khoziaistvo i kooperatsiia v S.-Amerikie (Prague, 1923) and Shkola i sel'skoe khoziaistvo (Prague, 1924).

Coming to the United States in 1930, he continued his agricultural researches: as an agronomist for the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station and instructor at the University of Alaska from 1945 to 1948, he identified strains of plants capable of withstanding the extreme cold and harsh climate of the region. Bensin was also active in the Russian émigré Sokol movement, and his collection contains some materials on that topic. He died in North Carolina in February 1973.

Scope and Content Note

Basil M. Benzin (Vasilii Mitrofanovich Benzin) was an agricultural expert active in Russia (to 1920), Czechoslovakia (1921-1930) and the United States (1910-1912 and 1930 to his death). The collection includes his written works on varioua aspects of agronomy and its economic organization, as well as a file of unique materials on the history of Russian Sokol organizations in Europe and the United States (SUBJECT FILE/Athletic clubs). Also interesting are the files on his son's (Igor Bensen) career as an engineer for General Electric and inventor of flying contraptions (BIOGRAPHICAL FILE/Family file/Bensen, Igor, and PHOTOGRAPHS/Bensen, Igor).

Detailed processing and preservation microfilming for these materials were made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Hoover Institution and Museum of Russian Culture. The grant also provides depositing a microfilm copy in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. The original materials remain in the Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco as its property. A transfer table indicating corresponding box and reel numbers is available at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

The Hoover Institution assumes all responsibility for notifying users that they must comply with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17 United States Code) and Hoover Rules for the Use and Reproduction of Archival Materials.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Russians -- United States

Agriculture

Biographical File 1945-1951

Scope and Contents note

Articles, award, bibliographies, clippings and family file, arranged alphabetically by physical form

reel 1

Articles about B. M. Bensin

Scope and Contents note

Museum of Russian Culture Box/Folder 1 : 1. Includes entry from International Who's Who, 1948 June

reel 1

Award

Scope and Contents note

Museum of Russian Culture Box/Folder 1 : 2.

reel 1

Bibliographies of works published

Scope and Contents note

Museum of Russian Culture Box/Folder 1 : 3.

reel 1

Clippings about or mentioning B. M. Bensin

Scope and Contents note

Museum of Russian Culture Box/Folder 1 : 4.

Family file

reel 1

Bensen, Igor Vasil'evich (son)

General note