John M. Okie collection on agricultural history

John M. Okie (retired from the real estate department of Girard Trust) became a member of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture in 1916, and served as the Assistant Secretary of the Society from 1922 to 1938. He was awarded the Society's medal in 1935, at the 150th anniversary of P.S.P.A. He was very active in the affairs of the society, and initiated projects to restore the gravestones of Elizabeth and John Beale Bordley, to donate a plaque commemorating University of Delaware Professor Harry Haward, and to publish Memoirs VI . It was John Okie who made the discovery of the original letters and papers of the Society's early members in 1935. Okie took on the task of rehousing, transcribing, and cataloging these manuscripts, eventually producing bound volumes of typescript copies of these papers. In February of 1938 John Okie resigned from his formal positions in the administration of the Society, feeling slighted that his labor with the manuscripts had not been rewarded with a Life Membership in the Society (he had been offered an Honorary Membership instead). Despite continuing tensions between him and the officers of the Society, John Okie continued to devote his time and labor to researching the history of P.S.P.A. During this time he compiled fifteen bound volumes of material related to his research, including transcripts of research letters, excerpts from the Society's papers, photographs, memoranda, and research notes.