The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records contain subject files, correspondence, files related to the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, and farm building plans. The collection also contains an index of images and associated negatives that were photographed by the department from circa 1915-1951. Subjects of the images include research by the department, various types of agricultural equipment such as: plows, harrows and rollers, cultivators, subsoilers, and harvesting and haying machinery, as well as agricultural buildings such as: barns, silos, corn cribs, poultry houses.

In 1915 J.B. Davidson, head of the Agricultural Engineering Department at Iowa State College, was asked by Dean Thomas F. Hunt to come to Davis to create a professional Division of Agricultural Engineering. L.J. Fletcher, who replaced Davidson in 1919, persuaded the College of Engineering Mechanics at Berkeley to open an option in Agricultural Engineering. Starting in 1924, instruction in this program took place at Berkeley for the first, second, and fourth years while a summer course and third year instruction were given at Davis. The first B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural engineering were granted in 1926, 1927, and 1960, respectively.

67 linear feet

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.

Collection is open for research.