William Jasper Spillman (1863-1931) is held to be the father of Agricultural Economics and independently discovered what came to be known as Mendel’s laws of genetics. He met future WSC president E.A. Bryan while teaching botany and physics at Vincennes University. Spillman came to WSC in 1894, where he spearheaded the school’s wheat and agricultural research before leaving in 1902 to join the USDA.
This consists of two documents. The first is a 23-page record of the memorial ceremony for William Jasper Spillman held on the Washington State College campus on October 22, 1931. It includes who was on stage, a list of special guests, and a list of speakers plus the texts of most of their talks. These are: introductory remarks by WSC president E.O. Holland (his remarks are the only thing in the following list for which the text is not present); messages from U.S. secretary of Agriculture Arthur M. Hyde, University of Missouri president Walter Williams, Farm Journal editor Arthur H. Jenkins, University of Idaho dean of Agriculture E.J. Iddings, Washington State Grange master A.S. Goas, and State Farm Bureau president Troy Lindley; and then talks by emeritus WSC president E.A. Bryan, WSC Farm Management and Agricultural Economics head Rex E. Willard, and Washington Oregon Idaho Farmer editor E.A. Smith.
The second document is a 5-page memorial talk given by Clarence Beaman Smith (1870-1948), assistant director of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service, with the date and audience not noted, though it appears to be addressed to a national agricultural organization.
The contents of the two documents are retained in their original orders.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished works created in 1931 remain in copyright until 70 years after the death of the author, or until the end of 2051 if created by the college (or an unknown author).
[Item description]
Memorials Honoring the Late W. J. Spillman, 1931 (Cage 5173)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Based on the library-created cover, this was given to the WSC Library (date unknown) and retained with the accession identifier 226177. It was placed in the Library’s Pacific Northwest Collection. At some point it was removed to the Owen Science and Engineering Library.
Owen Science and Engineering Library transferred it to the WSU Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) in the fall of 2023.
University Archivist Mark O’English processed this collection in April 2026. It was removed from its sewn binding at that time, and the library-created cover was discarded.
Some other memorial Spillman materials may be found towards the end of the William
Jasper Spillman Papers, 1891-1940
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