Percy B. Rowley Papers, 1920-1987

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Rowley, Percy B.
Title
Percy B. Rowley Papers
Dates
1920-1987 (inclusive)
Quantity
5 linear feet of shelf space, (8 boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 790 (collection)
Summary
This collection consists of manuscripts, photographs, and business records related to Rowley Poultry Farm and Percy Rowley's professional activities as a poultry breeder, along with some personal and family materials.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Percy Bateman Rowley (1902-2000) was a poultry breeder and expert. With his wife, Cecelia (1907-1989), he owned and operated Rowley Poultry Farm in Puyallup, WA. He was actively involved at the state, national, and international levels of the poultry industry for approximately fifty years. He often collaborated with the Western Washington Research and Extension Center (WWREC) in research and development of egg type poultry breeds and best practices for poultry facilities. He specialized in two breeds, single-comb white leghorns and New Hampshire reds. Rowley's business included a substantial international trade, with customers in Asia and Europe as well as North and South America. He was active in industry groups including the Washington Poultry Improvement Association and the Washington Baby Chick Association, serving as president of both groups; he was an advisor to Washington State College, serving as a member of the Poultry Advisory Board and the Central Advisory Committee. He was also actively engaged in civic and service groups including Kiwanis and the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange).

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of manuscripts, photographs, and business records related to Rowley Poultry Farm and Percy Rowley's professional activities as a poultry breeder, along with some personal and family materials. His international travel for poultry industry programs is especially well documented.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] Percy B. Rowley papers, 1920-1987

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series:

Series 1: History packets compiled by Percy Rowley, 1920-1987

These files are mostly topical in nature, and contain photographs, manuscripts, clippings, and ephemera. Rowley bundled the materials together in packets, and annotated many of them. Most of these packets represent his professional activities and travel, along with some personal and family matters. Formerly mounted on boards, the contents of the packets have been transferred into folders, maintaining Rowley's arrangement. In cases where he created titles for the packets, these have been transcribed in the container list below.

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940s-1986

Series 3: Scrapbook and miscellaneous items, 1922-1986

Series 4: Poultry breeding and performance records, 1927-1955

This series includes a loose-leaf volume of detailed breeding and laying records (1943-1955) with a few inserted photographs and clippings, and poultry performance records (trapnest, 1927-1941).

Acquisition Information

Percy Rowley donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries between 1984 and 1987 (MS 1984-35 and MS 1987-33).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Cheryl Gunselman.

Related Materials

At the National Agricultural Library (Washington, D.C.): Percy B. Rowley Papers (1922-1997; collection number HD9437.U62R68 R).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: History packets compiled by Percy Rowley, 1920-1987Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Beirut and Jordan (1962); World Poultry Congress (Australia, 1963)
1962-1963
1 2
World Poultry Congress (Russia)
1966
1 3
World Poultry Congress (Spain)
1970
1 4
World Poultry Congress (Rio de Janeiro)
1978
1 5
Rio de Janeiro
1978
1 6
World Poultry Congress (Finland, 1984), with some older items
1940s-1984
1 7
Washington Poultry Leaders delegration to Europe (1966); Helsinki trip (1983)
1966, 1983
2 8
Seoul, South Korea (United Nations mission)
1952
2 9
Hong Kong (1962, 1964, 1973, 1981)
1962-1981
2 10
Story of Kadoorie in Hong Kong
1960s-1986
2 11
Canadian hatchery convention (Vancouver, 1964); also Tacoma Sister City and Kiyoshi Yamanaka correspondence
1964-1969
2 12
Japan
1964-1984
2 13
Kimiko Toyama and Shigera Toyama correspondence
1963-1985
2 14
Patricia Aludino (also includes some Tacoma-Kokura sister city correspondence)
1927-1986
3 15
Sa Pereira (exchange student)
1964-1978
3 16
Tay Kok Nam, Singapore (also Ruth McDonald photographs)
1962-1977
3 17
Kenya (Sturdevant project, 1968); Leon Losey correspondence (1930s-1940s)
1930-1968
3 18
World Tour
1962
3 19
Bangkok
1962-1972
3 20
Inchon, Korea; Taiwan and Singapore (Kiwanis)
1972-1973
3 21
China trip
1981
3 22
China
1981
3 23
Mostly about our friend J.W. Kalkus, Supt. WWREC
1927-1986
4 24
1920-1981 (primarily Rowley Poultry Farm history)
1920-1981
4 25
A good collection of early pictures (includes photographs, ephemera, clippings)
1920s-1984
4 26
50 Years Industry Work Together (includes professional and personal materials; compiled circa 1987)
circa 1930-1987
4 27
Unlabeled packet of photographs, ephemera, and clippings about the Rowley family and the poultry business
1927-1983
4 28
Recognition certificates and miscellaneous copies
1964-1981
4 29
Unlabeled packet (mainly Washington State College central advisory committee materials and Wilson Compton materials)
1931-1983
4 30
20821 After Day One (Percy and Cecelia Rowley materials, including Christmas letters, with some business-related items)
1963-1983 and undated
4 31
Dixy Lee Ray
1979-1982
4 32
Mrs. Henry A. Wallace
1954-1981

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940s-1986Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
5 33
Unsorted correspondence
1963-1986
5 34
Horace Kadoorie, Hong Kong
1960-1983
5 35
Japan correspondence
1962-1985
5 36
Michigan State University archives
1959
5 37
Henry Beernink
1951-1965
5 38
Somalia, Singapore, and Nau Ru
1970-1981
5 39
Ray Schar
1980-1984
5 40
60th wedding anniversary letters (reproductions)
1985
5 41-42
Central Committee, Advisory Boards to the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, State College of Washington
1948-1952
5 43
Washington Poultry Improvement Association
1968-1979
5 44
Washington Poultry Improvement Association
1980-1986
5 45
Donald McQ. Shaver
1984-1985
5 46
Catalogs of some hatcheries that use Rowley's stock
circa 1940s-1950s
6 47
WWREC (Kathy Sain)
1984-1985
6 48
Bill Jasper
1980-1984
6 49
Wilson Compton
1947-1979

Series 3: Scrapbook and miscellaneous items, 1922-1986Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
6 50
Scrapbook
1922-1984
6 51
Miscellaneous items
1922-1986
7 58
Niwatori-No-Kenkyu (Japanese poultry trade journal; 3 issues)
1960s
7 60
[supporting documentation and processing file for collection]

Series 4: Poultry breeding and performance records, 1927-1955Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
6 52-54
USDA National Poultry Improvement Plan reports, with some breeding records
1937-1956
6 55
Breeding records
1944-1949
6 56
Breeding records
1949-1952
6 57
Breeding records
1952-1956
7 59
Performance records
1927-1931
8 61
Performance records (trapnest)
1927-1941
8 62
Breeding and laying record (loose-leaf volume with inserted clippings and photographs)
1943-1955

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top