George L. Crookham (1907-1999) studied botany and plant breeding at Oregon State College intermittently during the years 1927-1931. In 1929, he and a friend, Don Baldridge, purchased Crookham Seed Company in Caldwell, Idaho (now known as Crookham Company) from Crookham's father; his college studies were interspersed with business and crop responsibilities.
Founded in 1911, Crookham Company was the first company to produce hybrid sweet corn seed on a commercial scale in the 1930s.
In addition to his business activities, Crookham served as mayor of Caldwell, Idaho; an Idaho state legislator (1955-1961); and first Chairman of the Idaho Water Resources Board in 1968. Crookham was a candidate for Idaho governor in 1962 and was instrumental in the adoption of a sales tax in Idaho.
The George L. Crookham Memorial Scholarship was established in 2001 by Crookham's daughter, Judith C. Krueger, as an award for a student in horticulture at Oregon State University with an interest in plant breeding.
The George L. Crookham Papers consist of class notes and student ephemera from Oregon Agricultural College; transcripts of testimony, speeches, and publications pertaining to water resources in Idaho; publications and documents pertaining to the Crookham Company; newspaper clippings documenting Crookham's business and political activities; several photographs; and materials pertaining to the George L. Crookham Memorial Scholarship at Oregon State University.
Crookham's class notes include a dairying laboratory; a farm crops course on crop efficiency; and a botany course (including plant speciments). The ephemera consists of a pennant, rook caps, and a belt buckle.
The photographs include portraits of Crookham, a 1958 snapshot of Crookham and his wife Bernice underneath the Trysting Tree, and photocopies from an album depicting Crookham's student years at Oregon State.
Collection is open for research.
George L. Crookham Papers, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
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