Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records, 1915-2014

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Summary

Creators:
University of California, Davis. Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering
Abstract:
The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records contain subject files, correspondence, files related to the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, and farm building plans. The collection also contains an index of images and associated negatives that were photographed by the department from circa 1915-1951. Subjects of the images include research by the department, various types of agricultural equipment such as: plows, harrows and rollers, cultivators, subsoilers, and harvesting and haying machinery, as well as agricultural buildings such as: barns, silos, corn cribs, poultry houses.
Extent:
67 linear feet
Language:
Collection materials in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], AR-012, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records contain subject files, correspondence, files related to the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, and farm building plans.

The collection also contains an index of images and associated negatives that were photographed by the department from circa 1915-1951. Subjects of the images include research by the department, various types of agricultural equipment such as: plows, harrows and rollers, cultivators, subsoilers, and harvesting and haying machinery, as well as agricultural buildings such as: barns, silos, corn cribs, poultry houses.

The image index is arranged according to a classification scheme devised by J.B. Davidson, the first chair of the department.

Please note that this finding aid does not describe the entire index to images. Descriptions for additional portions of the index are forthcoming.

Biographical / historical:

In 1915 J.B. Davidson, head of the Agricultural Engineering Department at Iowa State College, was asked by Dean Thomas F. Hunt to come to Davis to create a professional Division of Agricultural Engineering. L.J. Fletcher, who replaced Davidson in 1919, persuaded the College of Engineering Mechanics at Berkeley to open an option in Agricultural Engineering. Starting in 1924, instruction in this program took place at Berkeley for the first, second, and fourth years while a summer course and third year instruction were given at Davis. The first B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural engineering were granted in 1926, 1927, and 1960, respectively.

In 1928 the division moved into its new agricultural engineering building, named Walker Hall in 1959 in honor of Harry B. Walker, who succeeded Fletcher in 1928. Under Walker's direction a farm crop mechanization program was initiated, starting with funds granted by the American Sugar Beet Association in 1938. The mechanization program involved many of the division's engineers for the next 45 years.

In 1948 Roy Bainer succeeded Walker as division head. Under Bainer's leadership further expansion of the division included projects on pest control and animal environment, while crop mechanization projects were broadened to include lettuce, grapes, onions, cantaloupe, celery, and asparagus. Perhaps the largest and longest-lived project began in 1953 on the mechanization of canning tomatoes, directed by Coby Lorenzen in collaboration with Jack Hanna from the vegetable crops department.

In 1951 the offering of instruction in basic science and mathematics through the new College of Letters and Science enabled agricultural engineering students to take three years of course work at Davis and one year at Berkeley, although the degrees were still granted by Berkeley. In 1962 the College of Engineering was founded at Davis under Dean Roy Bainer and in 1963 began granting agricultural engineering degrees. Research broadened to include farm safety; ergonomic studies of farm workers; farm produce handling and processing; and aquacultural, forest, and food engineering. In 1973 the Farm Practices Program was transferred to agricultural engineering to offer students practical experience. A new facility completed in 2000, the Western Center for Agricultural Equipment, was designed to house the farm practices program as well as to provide laboratory space for other engineering activities.

In 1992 further changes in the department's mission developed with the name change to Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Biological and Agricultural Department history by Norman B. Akesson and David J. Hills in Abundant Harvest: the History of the University of California, Davis, (2001) by Ann F. Scheuring.

Acquisition information:
Transferred from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Processing information:

Sara Gunasekara processed this collection with assistance from student employees Megan Peterson, Maria Wong Chang, and My-Hanh Nguyen.

Arrangement:

This collection has two different arrangements: one for the paper records and one for the image index and negatives. The paper records are described in a pdf document which can be accessed via the "Additional Collection Guides" link on the right hand navigation bar. The image index, which can be found in the document below, is arranged according to a classification devised by J.B. Davidson, the first chair of the department.

Physical location:
Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], AR-012, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Records, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
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