Oregon State College Agricultural Engineering students
visit the J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wisconsin, enroute to the National
Convention of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, June
1937. Accompanied by assistant professor Ralph N. Lunde (front row
right), the group also visited the International Harvester Company in
Chicago; the Caterpillar Tractor Company in Peoria; and the John Deere
Company in Moline, Illinois.Scope and Content Note
Organized into 11 series (see series outline). Series
4 documents the research activities of the department. Series 7 consists primarily
of correspondence of faculty member John Wolfe, much of it concerning irrigation.
Series 8 consists of reports and short features broadcast over radio station
KOAC in the 1930s and 1940s. Series 9, annual reports of research, spans the
years 1970 to 1983.
Series 10 consists of materials pertaining to the flax industry in Oregon from
1938 to 1954: references, reports, design specifications, and building and equipment
plans and drawings. These materials resulted from state and federal fiber flax
processing investigations between the US Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural
Engineering Department of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.
Series 11 consists of plans and drawings for homes; farm structures and equipment;
selected campus buildings and structures including buildings at some Branch
Experiment Stations; and plans for non-OSU buildings and/or sites designed by
Agricultural Engineering Department faculty, primarily H.R. Sinnard. Most of
the farm structures and equipment plans and drawings were published and distributed
by the Extension Service.
New Accession, 2004
New Accessions, 2007
Historical Note
The Department of Agricultural Engineering was created in 1916 when the Department
of Agronomy was subdivided, and was placed within the School of Agriculture.
It was originally housed in the Farm Mechanics Building (now Gilmore Hall).
The first department chair was William James Gilmore. In 1947 the department
became jointly administered by the Schools of Agriculture and Engineering. The
department's name was changed to Bioresource Engineering in 1991.
Fiber flax processing investigations were conducted at Oregon State College
from from the late 1930s through mid 1950s through a joint USDA/Oregon Agricultural
Experiment Station project. Engineering research led to the development and
introduction of improved equipment for pulling, deseeding, scutching, and cleaning
flax. Also, improved designs for flax mills were developed and recommendations
made for prevention and control of flax mill fires. Researchers involved in
this project included W.M. Hurst, L.M. Klein, J.E. Harmond, and M.C. Widger.
Fiber flax had been grown in the Willamette Valley since 1915, but prior to
World War II the acreage was small and production and processing methods were
based largely on European practices. When European flax supplies were cut off
by World War II the acreage of flax and number of mills increased significantly
and research results were available so that improved equipment could be installed
in all the flax mills.
Related Materials
College of Agricultural Sciences, Dean's Office Records
(RG 158); Agricultural Experiment Station Records
(RG 25); Extension Service Records (RG 111);
Bioresource Engineering Department Photograph
Collection (P106); PUB 10-11a.
Location
8/1/6/10-20; 8/1/6/40; Oversize Cabinet Drawers 10, 13, and 15; 20x24 Oversize
Boxes at 7/2/3/d-f; Microfilm Cabinet.
Series Outline