Elvin A. Duerst Papers, 1929-1999

Series 1 is comprised of personal and professional correspondence, personal calendars, financial and real estate records, class notes and projects, Oregon Association of the Future Farmers of America records, Oregon State College Agricultural Club records, employment records, personal art collection records, and newsclippings. Educational records include four animal husbandry and farm management project books from McMinnville High School from 1929-1932; Oregon State Agricultural College course notes in farm management, agricultural economics and soil science; and Duerst’s thesis submitted as part of his degree requirements for Master of Science in Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana in 1939. The thesis is titled "Farm Security Administration Credit and Organization of Low-Income Farms, Brown County, Illinois." Additional educational materials include post-graduate courses in economics at both American University (1955) and Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies (1955 & 1960). Also present are land resource planning reports for the 1939 Bureau of Agricultural Economics study of Coos County, Oregon, which Duerst prepared after obtaining his master’s degree.

Series 2 is comprised of correspondence, notes, newsletters and bulletins, 4-H Club reports, county reports, project reports, publications, and agricultural subject files. Duerst served as a land use planning agent and assistant county extension agent in Montana from 1940-1942. He developed community land use planning programs, 4-H Clubs and other extension programs. As the Sanders County agricultural extension agent from 1942-1945, Duerst led educational activities in agriculture and home economics. In this position, he wrote extensive annual reports of Sanders County, which include several annotated photographs. One photograph album and loose photographs of agricultural work in Montana are included in Series 19. A conservation survey map of Wibaux County can be found in Series 20.

Series 3 is comprised of correspondence, notes, memoranda, progress reports, newsletters, project files, reports, publications, and subject files related to the agricultural rehabilitation efforts of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Also included in this series are Duerst’s employment records related to his position as assistant to the chief of the UNRRA Agricultural Rehabilitation Division in Shanghai from 1946-1947. His work primarily related to agricultural supply planning and administration. Included are several reports written by UNRRA colleagues regarding reclamation of the Yellow River in the Henan province. Other agricultural reports discuss tractor delivery and trainings, livestock breeding, and the impact of communist violence on relief efforts. As the assistant in charge for the special advisory group of the FAO in Nanking and Shanghai, Duerst worked on agricultural technical services and administrative management from 1947-1948, which focused heavily on revitalization of Chinese fisheries. Six photograph albums and loose photographs detailing UNNRA’s work in China can be found in Series 19. 7 maps related to Chinese agriculture are located in Series 20.

Series 4 is comprised of budget and administrative records, monthly progress reports, correspondence, memoranda, working files, reports, publications, agricultural subject files, and news clippings related to the Institute of Inter-American Affairs (IIAA), Servicio Tecnico Interamericano de Cooperacion Agricola (STICA), and Crédito Agricola de Habilitacion (CAH) in Paraguay.  As a senior agricultural economist for IIAA from 1948-1952, Duerst focused on program planning and evaluation, and produced economic sector analyses.  He authored several articles in this series regarding agricultural development and economic resources in Paraguay.  Additionally, he conducted and coordinated several ethnographic studies including the “Study of 162 CAH Farmer-Borrowers in Central Paraguay” from 1948-1950. Related photographs are included in Series 19. Maps relating to soil reconnaissance in Paraguay are located in Series 20.

Series 5 is comprised of project reports, publications, agricultural subject files, and notes related to the activies of the Institute of Inter-American Affairs in Brazil.  Duerst served as an economic adviser to the Joint Brazil-U.S. Economic Development Commission (JBUSEDC) from 1952-1953. Also included in this series are studies about the Leopoldina railway, and agricultural development in the state of Parana. Related photographs are included in Series 19. Several maps related to transportation and agriculture in Brazil are located in Series 20.

Series 6 is comprised of correspondence, notes, employment records, memoranda, subject files, reports, and publications related to the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) in Bolivia from 1958-1959.  As a United States Operations Mission (USOM) officer, Duerst coordinated U.S. aid activities, supervised agricultural and mining credit programs and advised on economic stabilization. Related photographs are included in Series 19.  35 maps related to Bolivian agriculture and government can be found in Series 20.

Series 7 is comprised of correspondence, notes, memoranda, employment records, reports, publications, and subject files related to the International Cooperation Administration in Peru.  As a United States Operations Mission (USOM) program officer from 1959-1960, Duerst coordinated development activities, advised on economic stabilization, conducted field investigations, and advised on budget proposals.  Related photographs are located in Series 19.

Series 8 is comprised of United States federal aid publications and subject files pertaining to agriculture, mining and economic development. Duerst was not formally stationed in Korea, but these materials may have been collected in anticipation of a ICA/USOM assignment. 4 maps including roads, coal and mineral deposits are included in Series 20.

Series 9 is comprised of correspondence, memoranda, circulars, bulletins, notes, employment records, news clippings, aid publications, program files, reports, publications, and subject files related to the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Central America.  From 1960-1964, Duerst was a program planning officer and economic adviser stationed in El Salvador.  He advised on programs related to university education, school lunches, rural health, transportation, housing development, and small loans to farmers.  A map showing communities in El Salvador that received aid from the Alianza para el Progreso (Alliance for Progress) is located in Series 20.