Finding Aids at The University of Minnesota

Department of Agricultural Biochemistry Records, 1893-1974

Summary Information

Title: Department of Agricultural Biochemistry records
Dates: 1893-1974
Creator: University of Minnesota. Dept. of Agricultural Biochemistry.
Extent: 9 boxes (8.3 cubic feet)
Language: Collection materials in English
Collection Number: uarc 583
Abstract:
Records of the Department of Agricultural Biochemistry document development and growth of research, teaching, and outreach in agricultural biochemistry at the University of Minnesota from the 1890s through mid-20th century, with the bulk of the collection dating from around 1910 through 1960.

Repository: University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives

Access and Use

Acquisition Information:
The collection was deposited in University Archives from 1949-1979.
Access Restrictions:
Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.
Copyright:
Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Requests to publish should be arranged with the University of Minnesota Archives.
Processing Information:
This collection was processed with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
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Preferred Citation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry records, University Archives, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Historical Note

The Division of Agricultural Biochemistry was established in 1913 within the Institute of Agriculture, building on an active program of research on the chemistry of cereal grains and cereal products begun in 1888 when Daniel N. Harper was appointed chemist of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1892, Harper published his findings on milling and baking tests conducted on wheat. Clyde H. Bailey was appointed as cereal technologist in 1911 and developed a curriculum to study wheat grains and the physical and physico-chemical properties of wheat. In the 1920s, the division was renamed the Department of Agricultural Biochemistry (references to the department / division in the minutes of the Board of Regents are inconsistent). In 1963 the Department of Agricultural Biochemistry was renamed the Department of Biochemistry and moved from the Institute of Agriculture to the newly established College of Biological Sciences.

Department Heads:

Roscoe W. Thatcher 1913-1917

Ross A. Gortner 1917-1942

LeRoy S. Palmer 1942-1944

William F. Geddes 1944-1961

David F. Briggs, Acting Head, 1961-1962

Collection Scope and Content Note

Records of the Department of Agricultural Biochemistry document development and growth of research, teaching, and outreach in agricultural biochemistry at the University of Minnesota from the 1890s through mid-20th century, with the bulk of the collection dating from around 1910 through 1960.

Substantial early administrative correspondence details ongoing struggles with University purchasing to obtain adequate laboratory supplies, difficulties with the facilities in which the division was housed, and the campaign for a new building.

Other topics include curriculum development related to teaching of chemistry for students of agricultural chemistry; grants and research in areas such as soil analysis and conservation, animal nutrition, cereal chemistry, egg preservation , rubber, and use of alcohol for fuel and lighting.

Highlights of collection include: correspondence with hundreds of Minnesotans requesting advice on issues of concern such as soil and water analysis, stock foods, wheat growing (including rust-resistant varieties), barberry eradication, crop rotation and food preservation; and documentation of the department’s wartime program of outreach and advice for Minnesotans concerning food conservation.

Related Material

Ross Aiken Gortner papers

Subject Terms

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries.

University of Minnesota. Dept. of Agricultural Biochemistry -- Archives.

University of Minnesota. Division of Agricultural Biochemistry.

Gortner, Ross Aiken, 1885-1942.

Palmer, Leroy Sheldon, 1887-1944.

Detailed Contents

Location Title

Box 1
Administrative Matters 1893-1928 Box 1

Alcohol for Motor Fuel, Minnesota Committee on 1933-1935 Box 1

Alcohol in Gasoline 1932-1935 Box 1

All-University Animal Control Committee 1968-1974 ( 7 folders ) Box 1

Army Medical Research Branch 1961 Box 1

Assembly Mechanisms in Biology 1970 Box 1

Atomic Energy Commission, Equipment Grant 1963 Box 1

Atomic Energy Commission 1954 Box 1

Atlas Powder Company Research Grant 1948 Box 1

Atomic Energy Commission, Schultz 1964-1966 ( 3 folders ) Box 1

Atomic Energy Commission, Warner 1967 Box 1

Board of Scientific Counselors of National Institute of Dental Research 1957-1962 Box 1

Bone and Tooth Society 1955-1962 Box 1

Brekhus Laboratories 1961 Box 1

Central Soya Company Fellowship, Dr J.K. Gunther 1946 Box 1

Chronobiology Committee 1968 Box 1

Cobalt Content of Minnesota Hay, M.O. Schultz 1949 Box 1

Conference on Phosphate and Dental Caries 1962 Box 1

Corn Industries Research Foundation 1950 Box 1

Box 2
Corn Industries Research Foundation Memorandum of Agreement 1956 Box 2

Corn Products Sales Company 1948, 1953 ( 2 folders ) Box 2

Box 2-3
Correspondence 1893-1928 ( 45 folders ) Box 2-3

Box 7-8
Correspondence 1894-1911 ( 21 Volumes ) Box 7-8
Note Some bleeding of ink; handwritten

Box 9
Correspondence 1903 Box 9

Box 3
Correspondence and Papers 1933-1961 ( 2 folders ) Box 3

Correspondence re: fossil bones from Midland, Texas 1955-1956 Box 3

Box 4
Cottonseed Storage Study, Geddes 1948 Box 4

Curriculum and Instruction, 1912-1917 Box 4

Crawford, Dean William H. 1955-1963 Box 4

Development of Life Sciences Committee 1963 Box 4

Educational Development Committee 1973-1974 Box 4

Ethylene Treated Wheat 1947-1949 Box 4

Ethylene Treatment Correspondence. General Mills 1948 Box 4

Experiments. Alcohol Distillation 1911 Box 4

Experiments. Egg Preservations. Sodium Silicate 1912 Box 4

Experiments. Lighting-West, Rodney 1909-1911 Box 4

Box 9
Experiments, Work Sheets 1915 Box 9

Box 4
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 1953-1963 Box 4

First Conference on Biology of Hard Tissues 1965 Box 4

Fitzsimons General Hospital, Department of the Army 1966 Box 4

Fluoridation (Minneapolis City Counsel) 1952-1954 Box 4

Frasch Research, Application Statement and Correspondence 1924-1947 Box 4
Note Frasch refers to the Elizabeth Frasch Bequest

Frasch Research Correspondence, etc. 1939-1949 Box 4

Frasch Research Progress Reports 1939-1946 Box 4

Frazer, Dr. A. C. 1950-1963 Box 4

General Mills Fellowship 1940 Box 4

General Mills, Inc. Fellowship. Ethylene Treatment - Dr. Geddes, Leader 1948 Box 4

General Mills, Inc. Vitamin E Essay Work Performed in this Division 1939 Box 4

Gortner Memorial Lecture. Dean Bailey's File 1950 Box 4

Gortner, Ross Aiken, Miscellaneous Personal 1906 Box 4

Gould, R. Gordon 1954-1959 Box 4

Greenwood, D.A. - Conference at Logan, Utah 1962-1963 Box 4

Hawaii Experiment Station Dr. Beaumont Director - Miscellaneous Correspondence 1939-1944 Box 4

Hawaiian Experiment Station - Food Value of Ti Products 1940 Box 4

Herbert Freundlich 1941-1942 Box 4

High Voltage Engineering Corporation 1961-1962 Box 4

Hormel Foundation - Various Fellowships and Projects 1946 Box 4

India - Job 1959 Box 4

International Conference on Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy 1955 Box 4

Journal-Lancet 1962-1966 Box 4

Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Inc. Betty Lewis 1966 Box 4

Koa Haole 1942 Box 4

Kraft Foods Company Dairy Husbandry and Biochemistry 1947 Box 4

Eli Lilly and Co. 1953 Box 4

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory 1954-1955 Box 4

Lyon, E.F. Memorial Lecture 1957 Box 4

Macy Conference 1948-1953 ( 4 folders ) Box 4

Box 5
Medicine Search Committee 1965-1966 Box 5

Merck and Company Fellowship 1941-1947 Box 5

Box 4
Minutes 1912-1914 Box 4

Miscellaneous 1907-1917 Box 4

Box 9
Miscellaneous 1901-1911 Box 9

Box 5
National Dairy Council 1945 Box 5

National Institute of Dental Research, Correspondence 1952-1956 Box 5

National Research Council, War Problems - Tannic Acid Jelly 1942 Box 5

National Science Foundation Application, Kirkwood 1956-1962 Box 5

Nutrition Foundation Project 1942 Box 5

Oak Ridge Advanced Biochemistry Course 1954 Box 5

Phillips Electronic Instruments 1962-1964 Box 5

Plant Industry, Bureau of 1949 Box 5

Production of Sugar in Fermenting Dough 1954 Box 5

Quaker Chemical Corporation, Fellowship Correspondence 1942 Box 5

Quaker Oats Project - Contract and other Information Concerning 1946 Box 5

Quaker Oats Project - Corn Sample Requests 1946 Box 5

Quaker Oats Project - Correspondence 1946-1948 ( 3 folders ) Box 5

Radioisotopes in the Biosphere 1959 Box 5

Reports, Miscellaneous 1939-1940 Box 5

Riboflavin Assay Study 1941 Box 5

Rogers' Project - Miscellaneous Correspondence, Reports, Data, etc. 1932-1942 Box 5

Rubber (from Leafy Spurge) 1943 Box 5

Rubber (Synthetic) Scientific Material 1943-1945 Box 5

Sample Analyses 1935-1946 Box 5

Second Symposium on Phosphorus 1952 Box 5

Small Grain Milling Conference 1943 Box 5

Soy Flour Association 1948-1951 ( 2 folders ) Box 5

Soy Flour Association Grant 1947 Box 5

Soy Flour Association Progress Reports 1943-1950 Box 5

Soy Flour Association re: Soy Flour in Bakery Products 1943-1948 Box 5

Box 6
Soya Food Research Council 1951 Box 6

Soybean File 1941 Box 6

Soybean Project 1940-1942 Box 6

Soybean Research 1938-1940 Box 6

Soybean Research - Bailey Geddes 1938-1941 Box 6

Space Allocation and Utilization, Task Force on 1970 Box 6

St. Paul Campus Long Range Planning Committee 1963-1965 Box 6

St. Paul Campus Development 1970 Box 6

State Testing Mill 1939-1943 Box 6

Swift and Company, Biosynthesis of Vitamin C. - M. O. Schultze, leader 1947 Box 6

Thatcher, Roscoe W. Correspondence 1901-1911 ( 5 folders ) Box 6

Box 9
Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred, Miscellaneous 1901-1911 Box 9

Box 6
Troengaard, Neil "On the Constitution of Proteins" 1939 Box 6

University Shops Facilities Committee 1963-1975 Box 6

Veterans Hospital Isotope Research 1948-1951 Box 6

Visking Corporation Scholarship 1950 Box 6

Wallace and Tierman Fellowship - Geddes 1940-1946 Box 6