6. Descriptions of the Collections


course, a public school; yet they were an essential ingredient in the integration of rural and urban life
during the nineteenth century. It was not until 1918 that the first concrete highway opened. For several
decades farm traffic moved from field to market along roads made either of dirt, or in some places, of
wooden planks.

In the beginning Iowa farmers grew mainly wheat, with some barley, rye, oats, and corn on the side.
Additionally, they maintained a few head of cattle, some hogs, and--especially in the pre-Civil War
period--sheep. By the 1870s, Iowa farmers began to raise corn and hogs, which provided the diversified
basis for agricultural production that is still in effect today. To assist farmers in their quest for improved
farming methods, the Congress passed the 1862 Morrill Act which gave federal support to the creation of
land-grant agricultural and mechanical arts colleges. Established by the Iowa General Assembly in 1858,
the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm was designated the nation's first land-grant college when
Iowa became the first state to accept the terms of the Morrill Act in 1864. The school--also the first land-
grant institution to be co-educational from the beginning--opened its doors in the fall of 1868, and
established firm connections with its rural citizenry. This relationship was enhanced by the'creation of
the Agricultural Experiment Station at Ames as a result of the 1887 Hatch Act. Earlier in 1879 the
college had established its Department of Veterinary Medicine. In 1906 another important service to
Iowa's rural constituency commenced with the founding of a Department of Extension, whose mission
was to inform farmers in every corner of the state about new agricultural developments.

From the start the college enjoyed dynamic leadership in its agricultural programs with leaders in
agriculture such as James "Tama Jim" Wilson, who later became the longest-serving Secretary of
Agriculture, with appointments in the McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft administrations. Such leadership
attracted able students, such as Iowa State's first African-American alumnus, George Washington Carver,
who went on to a distinguished career at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

To the academic triad of college, experiment station, and extension should be added the prominent role
that agricultural publications such as the Wallace's Farmer--edited by the redoubtable "Uncle" Henry
Wallace, whose son and grandson would later succeed James Wilson as secretaries of agriculture in the
twentieth century. Beginning in 1893, Wallace's Farmer promoted scientific agriculture coupled with an
emphasis on practical application and a concern for the entire rural community. The Iowa Homestead,
launched in 1856 and later absorbed by the Wallaces into their publication in 1929, also served as an
effective vehicle for information about Iowa agriculture.

The combination of education, outreach, and readily available dissemination of current agricultural
research instilled a desire in Iowa's farmers to constantly improve their farming methods. Agricultural
press titles such as Wallace's Farmer, Iowa Agriculturist (1903- current), Iowa Homestead (1856-1929),
Iowa Farmer (1925-28), Western Stock Journal and Farmer by Seaman Knapp who later became IAC
president (1893-1899), and Progressive Farmer by IAC's first president Adonijah Strong Welch (1975-
76) provided the latest scientific farming methods as well as the commentary of the day on the economic,
political, and social conditions of the Iowa farmer. This is just a glimpse of the range of productive Iowa
publishers that document agriculture and rural life in the state.

Since the state's inception in 1846, Iowa has had a rich tradition of agricultural publishing. The National
Agricultural Library in Maryland holds approximately 2,000 Iowa titles. Many more exist in Iowa's
public and private colleges, public libraries, and historical societies. Iowa State University Cooperative
Extension Service and Experiment Station published more than 500 titles. The State of Iowa departments
of Agriculture, Public Instruction (Education), Natural Resources, and Highway Commission
(Transportation) all produced publications relating to Iowa agriculture and rural life. These include the
Annual Iowa Yearbook of Agriculture (1900-1951) and Annual Report of the Stallion Division of the
Department of Agriculture (1921-1951), among others.