Summary
Creator
- Pennsylvania State College. Agricultural Experiment Station. Animal Nutrition Institute (Organization)
Abstract
The collection contains central farm reports, barn books, farm account books, record book of crops and plots, tobacco experiments, financial records and account books, faculty notebooks, glass plate slides, blueprints and drawings for labs and equipment, fruit charts and articles, and correspondence generated by the Animal Nutrition Institute, which operated at the Pennsylvania State University from 1907 until 1946, when it officially became the Department of Animal Nutrition.
Dates
- Creation: 1859-1979
Extent
99 Linear Feet
Background
Biographical / Historical
In 1887, the United State’s Congress passed the Hatch Act, which provided money for the establishment of Agricultural Experiment Stations at Land Grant Institutions. That same year, Henry P. Armsby was appointed as the Director of the Pennsylvania State College Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1898, in conjunction with the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Armsby began investigations into animal nutrition. In 1902, with the assistance of Professors Jons A. Fries and I. Thornton Osmond, Armsby designed, constructed, and installed the Respiration Calorimeter, a device that monitored the metabolism of cattle. It was the only one of its kind in the country.
During its September 19, 1905 meeting, the Pennsylvania State College Board of Trustees concluded that it was necessary for the School of Agriculture to create a new department, to be called the Institute of Animal Nutrition. On July 1, 1907, Armsby become the Director of the newly-formed Institute. The Institute was reorganized to function as a department in 1933, although the name was retained until 1946 when it officially became the Department of Animal Nutrition.
Scope and Contents
Farm reports, account books, and record books of crops and plots, the earliest being an 1859 plot diary of the Superintendent of the Eastern plots, Thomas M. Harvey, help make up this collection. Experimental records involving steer, cows and rats are part of the material that goes with faculty notebooks, charts, and analysis pertaining to the intake and output of the animals. Glass slide negatives depicting educational programs pertaining to the growing of various plants and vegetables, as well as farm animal management, are also included.
Faculty correspondence going back to H.P. Armsby’s 1906 letters to/from faculty members from the Penn State Agricultural College, as well as other agricultural colleges at universities such as Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois, are in the collection. There is also correspondence with organizations such as the Institute of American Meat packers, the American Society of Agriculture Engineers, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Animal Industries. The collection also contains photographs and slides taken at various agricultural shows and programs showing members of the Future Farmers of America, tool and equipment demonstrations, faculty members, and workshop sites.
Volumes of the Agricultural Experiment Station Report from 1888-1906 are included in the collection, as well as Agricultural Bulletins from 1882-1886. The collection provides a rich history of the agricultural research on Penn State’s University Park campus, both on plots of land as well as inside of the Armsby Respiration Calorimeter building.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into 10 series: Administrative Files, Correspondence, Equipment, Experiments and Projects, Financial, Glass Lantern Photographic Slides, Notebooks/Record Books, Photographs, Publications, and Tests.
Physical Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Penn State University Libraries catalog via the link above. Archival collections may be housed in offsite storage. For materials stored offsite, please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Paul Karwacki and Special Collections staff.
Subjects
- Animal nutrition Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Crops and soils Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Experiments Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fruit growers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Tobacco Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Names
Creator
Using These Materials
Repository Details
Part of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Repository
104 Paterno Library
Penn State University
University Park 16802 USA
(814) 865-1793
spcollections@psu.edu
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Photocopies of original materials may be made available for research purposes at the discretion of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Photocopies or reproductions of original materials may be subject to fees as outlined by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries reproduction policies. Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Patrons seeking advice on the availability of unpublished materials for publication should consult relevant copyright law and laws of libel.
Preferred Citation
The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Animal Nutrition records, 00044, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
- Title
- Guide to the Pennsylvania State University, Department of Animal Nutrition records
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Finding aid written by Special Collections staff
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 11/21/2017: Minimally processed version of the finding aid.
- 2019: As part of batch updates, Lexy deGraffenreid added date expression, resource type, finding aid author, and updated the preferred citation, July 23, 2019