Department of Horticultural Science records

The collection documents the early history of the department of horticulture from its inception in 1887 under the leadership of Samuel B. Green through the mid-1980s. The collection consists primarily of professional correspondence, as well as nursery ledgers, field notebooks, minutes, publications, reports and photographs. Of particular interest is the correspondence and letterbooks of Samuel B. Green (1898-1907), and early correspondence of E.G. Cheyney (1911-1912), Leroy Cady (1904-1912) and Wyman Elliot (circa 1860-1900). Also included in the collection are early Biological Club manuscripts, a WPA History of Horticulture in Minnesota, miscellaneous diaries collected by Joseph Ball, general alphabetical files (1920-1965), and materials regarding Gamma Sigma Delta (1917-1939).

Because there is an extensive amount of correspondence in several of the sub-series which was sent routinely to the same subjects, folders for these subjects will be found throughout the collection. They have been arranged together intellectually in the finding aid, with box numbers identified after the folder title and date(s).

The collection is arranged into six series: Correspondence, Minutes and Reports, Subject Files, Publications, Photographs and the WPA History of Horticulture in Minnesota.

Series 1, Correspondence (1896-1967), contains divisional and academic staff correspondence with the general public, commercial fruit growers and breeders, and other University departments and experiment stations. The series is divided into 6 subseries: County, consisting of correspondence between the division and county extension agents; Experiment Stations, consisting of correspondence between the division and experiment stations in the University system; general correspondence; United States and International correspondence; Samuel B. Greene letter books and correspondence (1896-1907); and University correspondence, consisting of memos and correspondence between division and other University departments and services.

Series 2, Minutes and Reports (1915-1949, 1984-1987) contains minutes from division committee and faculty meetings, student committees, and topical, travel and project reports.

Series 3, Subjects Files (1887-1967), contains information on fruit and fruit growers associations, professional associations, and departmental concerns, as well as stock accession records and field notebooks on various fruits, vegetables, orchards and gardens. Some subject files include a small amount of correspondence as well as reports, summaries, inventories and notes.

Series 4, Publications (1914, 1927-1977, 2004), consists of division monographs, journal articles, and newsletters.

Series 5, Photographs, includes an album of photographs from the turn of the century featuring planting, growing and harvesting activities in Minnesota. Some locations are identified. Photographs in the series are undated, but most appear to have been taken between 1910 and 1949.

Series 6, The WPA History of Horticulture in Minnesota (1845-1950), consists of original and secondary source materials located by Joseph Ball, a WPA employee. Other WPA materials in the collection were not included in Ball's history, and have been kept in their original arrangement.