University of California Cooperative Extension Records, Merced County, 1916-2003

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Summary

Creators:
Grass, J.F., Jr., Walker, Ralph, Tiffany, F.G., Graham, W.A., Quail, John Lester, Alison, W.H., Jr. (William H.), Wright, R.V., Bennion, L.L., Volz, Albert G., Jackson, Sheldon N., Burlingame, B.B., Robertson-Fiske, Ada, Burgess, Marion C., Smith, Freda, Eddy, Eleanor, Peterson, Don A., Voskuil, Glenn, Carlson, Verner, Conley, Chester C., Price, Fred, Schroeder, J. Price, Stewart, J. Ian, Gibson, Alex, Hendricks, Lonnie C., Scheuerman, Robert W., Farley, Jim (James), Hauser, Deanna F., Coulson, Joan (Dade), Weir, Bill L., Mahacek, Richard L., Hardwood, Jan (Holly), Norton, Maxwell V., and Manton, Linda Marie
Extent:
69 Linear Feet and 220.5 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

University of California Cooperative Extension Records, Merced County, UCCE MER, UC Cooperative Extension Archive, University of California, Merced Library, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343

Background

Scope and content:

The University of California Cooperative Extension Records for Merced County span the years of 1916-2000. Records include reports and information on irrigation districts, fire protection districts, infrastructure improvement, economic outlook, migrant workers, rodent eradication, WWI and WWII home front activities, Great Depression impact and relief programs, land management, rural development, and correspondence. A large portion of the records are related to agriculture in Merced County, San Joaquin Valley, and California and include trial reports and reference material on crops, domesticated animals, wildlife, integrated pest management, fertilizer, pesticides, water, soil, and climate. These records also include reports and information on the work of the Home Demonstration Agents, who later became the 4-H advisors. Subjects include: home economics, nutrition education, home gardens, home beautification, youth development, and lesson plans. The collection includes a wide variety of formats: typed reports, data sets, local newsletters and press releases, maps, audiovisual material, photographs, slides, scrapbooks, and a variety of publications from the county, state, and national level.

Biographical / historical:

At the turn of the previous century, growing concern over the quality of life for rural Americans prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to appoint a Commission on Country Life in 1908. One of the direct outcomes of the Commission's recommendations was the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914, which established a national extension service to place the knowledge generated at land-grant universities into the hands of farmers and rural citizens. The Agricultural Extension Service formalized and built upon existing efforts of land-grant universities to enhance the knowledge of farmers and apply scientific discoveries for improved agricultural practices.

Beginning in 1913, the Agriculture Extension Service, later known as UC Cooperative Extension, placed farm advisors employed by the University of California in every county that formed a farm bureau and agreed to sponsor Extension Service work. While arrangements have evolved, advisors continue to work in all California counties today and address problems ranging from soil conditions and land reclamation to irrigation; from livestock breeding to improved varietals; and from mechanization to disease and pest management, to enable farms to increase efficiency and productivity.

Cooperative Extension was established in Merced County in 1917 with a unanimous vote by the County Board of Supervisors. In its first year, Cooperative Extension had a membership of 406 members. J.F. Grass, Jr was the first Farm Advisor in Merced. Cooperative Extension has played an important role in the county with the formation of the irrigation districts, fire suppression, cow testing, farm visits, home economics, and pest extermination campaigns. Farm Advisors and Home Demonstration Agents addressed both statewide and local priorities and programs. Prior to the 1950s, the Merced County office had limited staff and the Farm Advisors did not specialize in areas. Their work was largely dictated by federal and state programs, such as wartime activities and the Agricultural Adjustment Act. These federal and state programs at times curtailed their local programs and priorities, which included cow testing, 4-H club work, and vine and tree fertilizer work. After the 1950s, as the county office staff grew in size, the farm advisors started to specialize in different commodities, with a focus on sweet potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, fruit trees, cattle, and dairy, as well as youth development and nutrition.

County Directors:

J.F. Grass Jr., 1917-1923

John L. Quail, 1923-1931

W.H. Alison Jr., 1931-1953

Don A. Peterson, 1953-1973

Glenn Voskuil, 1974-1983

Robert W. Scheuerman, 1983-1985

Linda M. Manton, 1985-1990

James Farley, 1991-2005

Richard L. Mahacek, 2005-2012

Maxwell V. Norton, 2012-2015

Scott Stoddard, 2015-Present

Arrangement:

The arrangement is based on the original order of the collection at the time of accession. Series 2 through 5 reflect the original order and name of the farm advisor who was the last custodian of the records in that series. The records in these series reflect the custodian's research focus and tenure but also include records inherited from previous farm advisors.

This collection consists of 14 series and 44 subseries:

Series 1. Administrative Files

Subseries 1. Annual and Weekly Reports

Subseries 2. Trial Reports

Series 2. Maxwell Norton Files

Subseries 1. Correspondence and Reports

Subseries 2. Fruit Trials

Subseries 3. Historic Files

Series 3. Robert Scheuerman Files

Series 4. Bill Weir Files

Subseries 1. Meeting, Talks, and Project Materials

Subseries 2. Soil

Subseries 3. Crops

Subseries 4. Water

Subseries 5. Publications

Subseries 6. Lab Materials

Series 5. Lonnie Hendricks Jr. Files

Subseries 1. Pomology

Subseries 2. Almonds

Subseries 3. Apricots and Pistachios

Subseries 4. Walnuts

Subseries 5. Soils, Weather, and Weeds

Subseries 6. Fruit

Subseries 7. Grant Funded Project Files

Subseries 8. Old Files

Series 6. Crops

Subseries 1. Sweet Potatoes

Subseries 2. Tomatoes

Subseries 3. Vegetables

Subseries 4. Fruit and Nut Trees

Subseries 5. Grains and Soils

Series 7. Livestock

Subseries 1. Dairy Science

Subseries 2. Poultry

Series 8. 4-H

Subseries 1. Photographs

Subseries 2. Judging Forms

Subseries 3. Lesson Plans

Subseries 4. Publications

Subseries 5. Scrapbooks

Subseries 6. Inactive 4-H Records

Subseries 7. Motion Picture Film and VHS Tapes

Subseries 8. Artifacts

Subseries 9. Outreach Material

Series 9. Photographs and Audiovisual Material

Subseries 1. Aerial Photographs

Subseries 2. Agricultural and Historical Photographs

Subseries 3. Motion Picture Film and Audio Recordings

Subseries 4. Slides

Series 10. Publications

Subseries 1. Cooperative Extension Publications

Subseries 2. Experiment Station Publications

Subseries 3. Fruit Notes and Tree and Vine Notes

Subseries 4. USDA Publications

Subseries 5. Other Publications

Series 11. Maps

Series 12. Specimens

Series 13. Trophies

Series 14. Antique Farm Equipment

Physical facet:

Located at UC Merced Library

Located at UC Cooperative Extension Merced County Office

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. A portion of the records have been digitized and are freely available online. Series 1 through 7 are located at UC Merced Library, Series 8 through 14 are located at the Merced Cooperative Extension Office. For help locating material please contact library@ucmerced.edu.

Access to files containing information on University personnel matters is restricted for fifty years from the latest date of the materials in those files.

Terms of access:

This collection is intended to support teaching, research, and private study. Copyright belongs to the Regents of the University of California. Use of the materials beyond that allowed by fair use or by any Creative Commons licenses assigned requires the written permission of the copyright owner(s). For further information, please contact the University of California, Merced Library at library@ucmerced.edu.

Preferred citation:

University of California Cooperative Extension Records, Merced County, UCCE MER, UC Cooperative Extension Archive, University of California, Merced Library, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343

Location of this collection:
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, CA 95343, US
Contact:
(209) 228-4444
archives@ucmerced.edu
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