Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Stephen Wilhelm Collection
- Dates:
- 1955-1980
- Creators:
- Abstract:
- The Stephen Wilhelm Collection contains materials pertaining to Dr. Wilhelm’s work researching plant diseases and his activities as a professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Extent:
- 2 linear feet
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stephen Wilhelm Collection, D-311, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains materials from 1955-1980 that include reports and correspondence relating to cotton breeding, farming, and legislation.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Stephen Wilhelm was born on April 19, 1919, in Imperial, California. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1941 to 1944. After graduation, he served in the United States Army during World War II. Upon completion of his military service, Wilhelm attended graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, earning his PhD in 1948. Dr. Wilhelm started his professional academic career at UC Berkeley, becoming an assistant professor of plant pathology and an assistant plant pathologist at the Berkeley Experiment Station. He remained at the university for the rest of his career, retiring as professor emeritus. Dr. Wilhelm became best known for his successful research in controlling Verticillium wilt. His studies led him to realize the value of the fumigant chloropicrin in the chemical control of the disease. Before he endorsed the commercial use of chloropicrin, he studied its proper application, as well as its action and relationship to normal soil. Chloropicrin’s effect on the environment was a high priority in these studies. Dr. Wilhelm also introduced multiple cultivars that carried resistance to certain plant diseases such as Verticillium disease. In addition to his academic accomplishments, Dr. Wilhelm left a legacy in California agriculture due to the applications that emerged from his research. Growers of strawberries, cotton, olives, bush berries, and raspberries, and scientists working with these crops put his recommendations into practice and also took advantage of the germ plasm he made available. Strawberries’ dependence on a healthy rhizosphere became one of his challenges, and led him to study all phases of microbiology, not just Verticillium wilt pathogens. His publications demonstrated his understanding of the value of the biological balance that occurs in healthy soils. The commercial success of soil fumigation and the strawberry industry owe much to his investigation of soil pathogens and their relationship with host root systems. Dr. Wilhelm had great respect for growers and took their observations seriously. He battled the California One-Cotton Law that prohibited commercial use of multiple cotton cultivars in the state. Dr. Wilhelm taught a course at Berkeley called “The Principles of Plant Pathology,” where he emphasized the history of a plant disease and how it had been controlled and then contrasted that to how it is controlled today. When he retired from the University of California, he became raspberry breeder for the Sweet Briar Company, which later became part of Driscoll Strawberries, Inc., in California. Dr. Wilhelm’s career accomplishments include authoring or co-authoring of over 300 scientific articles. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1958–1959. In 1974, along with James E. Sagen, he wrote A History of the Strawberry from Ancient Gardens to Modern Markets (University of California Press). Through the translations of European work published in the 1700s, they were able to shed light on the origin of our present strawberry. He also received four patents throughout his career for groundbreaking discoveries. At the time of his death, more than 50% of the fresh raspberries consumed in the United States were produced from cultivars developed by Dr. Wilhelm. Dr. Wilhelm passed away on July 15, 2002, in Walnut Creek, California.
- Processing information:
-
The biography was written by Sacramento State Public History graduate student Gabriel Suarez. Michelle Trujillo updated this finding aid in 2026.
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stephen Wilhelm Collection, D-311, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library100 NW QuadDavis, CA 95616-5292, US
- Contact:
- (530) 752-1621