Administrative Information | Search Terms | Background Note | Scope and Contents Note | Arrangement | PDF of Finding Aid
 

COLLECTION SUMMARY

Title:     College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Plant Science Department records

Dates:     1932-2007 (bulk 1968-1996)

Creator:     Plant Science Department, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, South Dakota State University

Physical description:    0.42 linear feet—1 container, 1 CD-ROM, 2 DVDs

Collection number:     UA 5.8

Language:     Collection material in English.

Repository:     South Dakota State University Archives, Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D.

Abstract:     Collection is composed of records and publications generated by the Plant Science Department, including correspondence, course notes, pamphlets, reports, posters, and programs.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION 

Provenance: The bulk of this collection was found in the Archives in 1997. There is no indication of where they came from or how they came to be here.

This is an on-going collection with material arriving through departmental records transfers, the university campus mail, or random donation by various individuals.

Access Restrictions: This collection is open to research without restriction. Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Copyright Status: Copyright 2008 by South Dakota State University and SDSU Archives. Please credit the SDSU Archives if you copy or reproduce material from this finding aid.

It is the responsibility of anyone reproducing material to determine the copyright holders and obtain permission from them if necessary. Archives staff will provide available copyright information on request. Please note that most collections, especially those received before 1997, may not have complete information on file. (Revised 15 SEP 2003)

Preferred citation: [Identification of item]. College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Plant Science Department records, UA 5.8, South Dakota State University Archives, South Dakota State University, Brookings, S. D.

Processing information: This collection was processed by Crystal J. Gamradt on March 11, 1999 with revisions on August (cjg).

SELECTED SEARCH TERMS

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the subject guide. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Persons:

• Brown, Paul—Student notes.

Subjects:

• Agronomy Department—South Dakota State University.

• Cereal Bowl—South Dakota State University.

• Collaboration with Universidad Academica Campesina (Carmen Pampa, Bolivia)—South Dakota State University

• Entomology and Zoology Department—South Dakota State University.

• Field days—South Dakota State University.

• James G. Ross Memorial Lecture—South Dakota State University.

• N.E. Hansen Lecture—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Courses—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Employment advertising—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Lectures and lecturing—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Pamphlets—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Personnel—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Records and correspondence—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Reports—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Scholarships—South Dakota State University.

• Plant Science Department—Student notes—South Dakota State University.

• Robert H. and Katherine Burris Distinguished Lecture Series in Plant Biochemistry—South Dakota State University.

• Seed Laboratory—South Dakota State University.

• Travel—South Dakota State University.

• Universidad Academica Campesina (Carmen Pampa, Bolivia)—Collaboration with South Dakota State University.

BACKGROUND NOTE

The Plant Science Department was formed in 1969, when the Agronomy Department and the Plant Pathology Department were combined.  Ten years later, entomologists joined the department when the Entomology and Zoology Department was eliminated.  The history of the Plant Science Department, then, is really the history of these three departments.

Instruction in agronomy was a core part of the South Dakota State University curriculum from the outset.  In 1888, the first agronomy crops were sown with the assistance of the Agricultural Experiment Station, establishing a pattern that continues to this day.  In 1897, when departments were formally organized, agronomy coursework was found in the Geology and Agronomy Department.  By 1902, agronomy had achieved its independence from geology and an independent department was formed.  Through the years, the department strengthened and expanded, developing strong areas of research and teaching in plant breeding, crop and soil science, and seed varieties, among others.  Different faculty had different interests, but the overall work of the department remained mostly unchanged until it joined with plant pathology.

The plant pathology department followed much the same pattern as the agronomy department.  Through the years, research in plant pathology as conducted through the Agricultural Experiment Station and courses were taught, although the department went by a number of different names.  In the earliest years, courses were taught in the Botany Department.  In 1911, the name changed to Botany and Plant Pathology, where it remained until 1918.  From 1918-1923, the department was Botany and Plant Diseases, from 1924-1928 Botany and Plant Pathology, 1928-1950 Botany, Plant Pathology and Bacteriology.  Finally, in 1950 the department became known as Plant Pathology.

The Entomology and Zoology Department was a department from 1920-1979.  Courses were taught in those subjects from 1887, however, and scientific investigations in those areas were performed at the Agricultural Experiment Station from 1888.  Initially, the administration of the Entomology and Zoology Department fell under the General Science Division, but in 1925, it moved to the agriculture division.  In general, instructors in these subjects were sparse, but courses continued to develop.  From 1938-1963, wildlife and wildlife management classes were taught through the department, but eventually they separated into their own area.  The fate of the entomology and zoology subjects was not as good, however, and in 1979, the department was dissolved.  The entomologists went to the Plant Science Department, and the zoologists moved to biology.

Today, the primary goal of the Plant Science Department is to prepare people for leadership in business, government, and farming enterprises related to crop production, insect control, plant disease control, pest management, and soil management.  Graduates with training in plant science are sought by agri-business, private foundations, and federal and state agencies for employment in domestic and international agriculture.  Plant science, with its variety of disciplines, provides and excellent background for independent pursuits in farming or ranching.

The department offers instruction leading to the BS degree with a major in Agronomy.  Three areas of emphasis are offered in the major: 1) Business, 2) Production, and 3) Science.  The department if equipped with modern classroom, laboratory, greenhouse, and field plot facilities.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS NOTE

This collection is composed of departmental records and publications of the Plant Science Department.  Folders contain pamphlets, reports, posters, programs, and computer media. Also included are correspondence and a list of Agronomy personnel for 1968-69. An item of note is a book of notes for a soils class from the early 1930’s, which belonged to a student by the name of Paul Brown.

ARRANGEMENT of the RECORDS 

Folders are arranged in alphabetical order.

Box 1.

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Updated 6 August 2008 by cjg

Email questions or comments to: arcrefs@sdstate.edu

Copyright 2008 by South Dakota State University and SDSU Archives.
Please credit the SDSU Archives if you copy or reproduce material from this page.