Merced County, UC Cooperative Extension Records, 1916-2003

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Title:
Merced County, University of California Cooperative Extension Records
Dates:
1916-2003
Creators:
Grass, J.F., Jr., Hendricks, Lonnie C., Scheuerman, Robert W., Weir, Bill L., and Norton, Maxwell V.
Extent:
78.51 Linear Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

University of California Cooperative Extension Records, Merced County, UCCE-001, 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, the 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:

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:

This collection consists of 10 series and 52 subseries:

Series 1. Administrative Files

Subseries 1. Annual and Weekly Reports

Subseries 2. Trial Reports Series 2. Maxwell Norton Records

Subseries 1. Correspondence and Reports

Subseries 2. Fruit Trials

Subseries 3. Historic Files Series 3. Robert Scheuerman Records Series 4. Bill Weir Records

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 Records

Subseries 1. Pomology

Subseries 2. Almond

Subseries 3. Apricot and Pistachios

Subseries 4. Walnut

Subseries 5. Soils/Weather/Weeds

Subseries 6. Fruit

Subseries 7. Grant Funded Project Files

Subseries 8. Old Files Series 6. Crops

Subseries 1. Sweet Potato

Subseries 2. Tomato

Subseries 3. Vegetables

Subseries 4. Grains and Soils

Subseries 5. Fruit Trees Subseries 6. Flower Series 7. Livestock Subseries 1. Dairy Science Subseries 2. Poultry Series 8. 4-H Subseries 1. Administrative Files, 1993-2002

Subseries 2. Inactive 4-H Records

Subseries 3. Judging Forms

Subseries 4. Outreach Material

Subseries 5. Publications

Subseries 6. Scrapbooks Series 9. Photography and Audio-Visual Material

Subseries 1. Aerial Photographs

Subseries 2. Slides

Subseries 3. Motion Picture Film and Audio Recordings

Subseries 4. Agriculture Photos Series 10. Publications

Subseries 1. Cooperative Extension Publications

Subseries 2. Fruit Notes and Tree and Vine Notes, 1961-1985

Physical facet:
Located at UC Merced Library
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Carol Wilson Lisa Vallen Natalie Khoury
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-07-07 11:23:49 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. A portion of the records have been digitized and is freely available online.

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 archives@ucmerced.edu.

Preferred citation:

University of California Cooperative Extension Records, Merced County, UCCE-001, 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
Website