Agriculture Commons^™

Oxen: Status, Uses And Practices In The U.S.A., Encouraging A Historic Tradition To Thrive, Andrew B. Conroy

Faculty Publications

Oxen in the United States of America have played an important role throughout its history. Unlike other countries,oxen were never completely given up for horses, mules, or tractors. Instead, the culture of keeping oxen has been maintained by a small group of teamsters in the North- eastern states collectively called New England. Their continued presence has been largely due to agricultural fairs and exhibitions where they have been used in competition for the last 200 years. Ox teamsters were sur- veyed in 2021via social media using Qualtrics. The 423 ox teamsters responding owned 1791 oxen in 39 states, with the …

Sewing And Dressmaking In Martha Mcmillan's Day (1891), Elizabeth G. Allen

Martha McMillan Research Papers

This paper describes the process of sewing and dressmaking in America from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s and provides historical context for Martha McMillan's discussion of sewing and dressmaking in her 1891 journal.

Solanum Jamesii As A Food Crop: History And Current Status Of A Unique Potato, David Kinder, John Bamberg, Lisbeth Louderback, Bruce Pavlik, Alfonso Del Rio

Pharmacy Faculty Scholarship

Solanum jamesii is a wild potato found in the US southwest. There is ample evidence that this potato was used by ancestral Puebloans as a food source, where some researchers think it was used as a starvation food while others consider it to be regular food source. Currently this potato is being grown by Native Americans, notably the Navajo, as a specialty food as well as a food crop. There are several attributes to this potato that make it especially suitable for development as our climate changes and food needs become more demanding, including its drought tolerance and ability to …

German Immigration And Its Ties To Landscape Change In Nebraska, Lindsey Labrie

Honors Theses

This thesis uses a multidimensional approach to frame the different waves of German immigration within the context of land use change in Nebraska. By recounting the historical challenges and struggles Germans faced in their homelands, this thesis provides similarities between historical immigration patterns throughout the state. Observing the timing of these movements of people paints a clearer picture of how these immigrants might have helped change the farming and cultural landscapes of Nebraska. Knowing and recognizing historical immigration in Nebraska cultivates a deeper appreciation for the current relations between immigrants and Nebraska’s physical landscape.

Resistance And The Black Freedom Movement: Reflections On White’S Freedom Farmers, Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, Priscilla Mccutcheon, Ashanté Reese, Angela Babb, Jonathan C. Hall, Eric Sarmiento, Bradley Wilson

Geography Faculty Publications

First paragraphs:

Landmark: 1. An object or feature of a landscape . . . that is easily seen and recognized from a distance, especially one that enables someone to establish their location. Synonyms: mark, indicator, guiding light, signal, beacon, lodestar. 2. An event or discovery marking an important stage or turning point in something. Synonyms: milestone, watershed . . . major achievement. (“Landmark,” n.d., para. 1 & 4)

Dr. Monica White’s Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement stands literally as a landmark, ushering in a new era of community-based scholarship with and for agrarian justice. From here …

York, Mack Sherman, 1889-1962 (Sc 3502), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3502. Documents relating to tobacco farming and sales by Mack Sherman York, Auburn, Kentucky. Includes warehouse and growers association receipts, notices of acreage allotments and marketing quotas, information about tobacco price supports, and notices of referendums.

Young Dairymen, Mammoth Cave Chapter (Mss 662), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scans of scrapbooks (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 662. Scrapbooks (scanned copies only) and newsletters for the Young Dairymen, Mammoth Cave Chapter which was located in south central Kentucky and organized byH. Bland Dorris, Jr. The scrapbooks chiefly contain photographs of the group’s activities. Also included are the Chapter’s newsletters, 1982-1986.

Edens, William Jeptha, 1898-1969 - Relating To (Sc 3404), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3404. Report of an interview conducted by WKU student Mary Helen Jenkins of William J. Edens, a former WKU agriculture professor and Arkansas State College president who was then serving as attaché with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The interview discusses his education and career, particularly as an agricultural advisor overseas.

Nunn, Louie Broady, 1924-2004 (Sc 3405), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3405. Letter, 25 October 1971, to “Fellow Kentuckian” from Kentucky Governor Louie B. Nunn. Preparing to leave office, he provides a report on his administration’s accomplishments with respect to agriculture in the state. Much of the detail is set out in a report to Nunn from the Commissioner of Agriculture that is included with the letter.

Minton, John Dean, Sr., 1921-2008 (Mss 660), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 660. Letters written by John D. Minton, Sr. to his brother, Layton Minton, while both were in military service during World War II. The collection also contains a small amount of Minton family correspondence and some vocational agriculture notebooks kept by the brothers while in high school.

Thomson, Patrick Henry, 1819-1901 (Sc 3266), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3266. Farm journal kept by Patrick Henry Thomson of Hurricane Hall, Fayette County, Kentucky. He records daily temperatures and farm operations, and makes occasional mention of his and wife Julia's activities. A loose item dated 10 November 1852 gives him notice of a meeting in regards to the recent fire at the county courthouse.

Donerail, Kentucky Grange No. 44 (Sc 3267), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3267. Minute book of Donerail Grange No. 44, Fayette County, Kentucky. Includes rolls of members as of 1 January 1875.

Giltner Brothers - Eminence, Kentucky (Sc 3264), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3264. Certificates and associated correspondence relating to the sale of a Polled Hereford bull, “Plutocrat 5^th,” to Charles Settle, Springfield, Kentucky, by Giltner Brothers Kentucky Herefords, Eminence, Kentucky. Includes Certificates of Entry for the bull’s pedigree and a letter with information on the Giltner Brothers herd.

Carley Family Papers (Sc 3223), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3223. Letters and papers of George Carley of Georgetown, Kentucky and family (mainly daughters, a granddaughter, and nieces). Relatives in Ontario, Canada and in Pennsylvania report family news and mourn the soldiers of World War I; a daughter writes from Arkansas of taxes and the economy, her stepson writes of medical studies during the influenza pandemic, and her brother-in-law writes of oil and investments. George’s papers include solicitations from makers of fencing and farm supplies.

Also includes children’s letters and poems.

Ennis, William Franklin, Sr., 1856-1939 (Mss 614), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 614. Journals with short entries about daily happenings and listings of farm expenses for William F. Ennis, a farmer, quarry owner, and businessman from Warren County, Kentucky. Also includes some poetry, weather information, and data about an unnamed individual conducting a school.

Meador, Thomas (Sc 3074), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3074. Agreement, 25 February 1854, between O. S. Warner and Thomas Meador setting out the terms of Meador’s employment on Warner’s farm in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. The agreement provides for payment, the provision of housing and produce from an orchard, and the use of pasture by Meador. Meador’s 12-month, full-time engagement makes allowances for his family and business, and for “unnecessary exposure” to “wet weather or heavy dews.”

Interview With Paul Kilgus, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Interview With Pat Feeney, Part 1, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Interview With Pat Feeney, Part 2, Ben Halpern

Oral History Interviews & Transcripts

No abstract provided.

Agricultural And Industrial Development Board (Sc 2993), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2993. Summary report for 1948 on the activities of the Agricultural and Industrial Development Board, an agency created by the Kentucky General Assembly in February, 1948 to survey, study and promote the state’s natural and man-made resources for future development.

Wiggins, Otis Lee, B. 1905 (Sc 2949), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2949. Two cassette tapes which include an interview conducted by Robert H. McGaughey with Otis Lee Wiggins about the resettlement program undertaken by the Resettlement Administration Project 14 in Christian County, Kentucky. Wiggins was an administrator for the U.S. Resettlement Administration and discusses the Christian County program in great detail.

Washer, Gladys Pernie, 1879-1975 (Sc 2854), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2854. Reminiscence titled "Sketches of My Childhood To My Grandchildren" in which Gladys P. Washer talks about her childhood in the Three Forks area of Warren County, Kentucky. She discusses farming, recreation, education and schools, and social life and customs. Also includes a news clipping about her from 1965.

Jeffrey, Jonathan David, B. 1960 (Sc 2847), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2847. Historic Farms Certificate Application, Kentucky Historic Resources Abbreviated Survey Form and supporting material, prepared by Jonathan D. Jeffrey to designate the Paschal Howell Farm, Warren County, Kentucky, a centennial farm. This designation is bestowed on farms that have been owned by the same family for one hundred years or more. Includes compact disc with 13 photographs.

French, Richard, 1792-1854 (Sc 2825), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2825. Letter of U.S. Representative Richard French, 29 December 1844, written from Washington, D.C. to his wife in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He expresses regret for the time spent away from home, acknowledges the need to consult with her about their future after his return, and discusses apparent tensions between her and a farm manager.

Shakers - South Union, Kentucky (Sc 1395), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1395. Catalog of garden seeds grown by the Shaker society at South Union, Kentucky, 1867; Shaker letterhead with cake recipe; and instructions for growing summer turnips.

Pearcifield & Mcgown - South Union, Kentucky (Sc 1238), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1238. Franked advertising envelope from the firm of Pearcifield & McGown, South Union, Kentucky, to E.D. Hicks, Nashville, Tennessee. The company was a dealer in Shaker garden seeds and Berkshire and Poland China pigs.

Moore, Carlos Wright, 1884-1951 (Mss 156), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 156. Family and business papers of Warren County, Kentucky farmer Carlos W. Moore and school teacher Mae White, who became his wife. Topics include courtship, farming and school teaching.

Borders, Forest, 1893-1971 (Sc 1173), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1173. Miscellaneous materials from Forest Borders, including newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and advertising related to his Borders Pure Milk Company of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Also includes a soil conservation plan with maps for his Warren County farm.

Devine, Lillian K., 1895-1990 (Mss 463), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 463. Farm ledgers for the Devine family farm in Grass Township, Spencer County, Indiana, as well as personal daily dairies of Lillian K. Devine, 1960-1981.

Hoskinson, Virginia Adeline (Smith), 1892-1956 (Sc 2691), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2691. Handwritten memo, undated, of Virginia Hoskinson, Glendale, Kentucky, doing business as Mrs. Stanley P. Hoskinson, breeder of Bourbon Red Turkeys and Golden Wyandotte and Buff Leghorn Chickens. She quotes a price for a particular turkey and describes the quality and pricing of other stock.