In 1954 Arden Jacklin, George Royes and Dwight Hopkins incorporated the Merion Blue Grass Association in Oregon. The purpose of the Association was to promote, advertise and educate the public in the "use and desirable features of" Merion Blue Grass, thereby increasing its consumption. The Association was a non-profit organization. It met annually in Oregon or Washington to discuss and further its business, and conducted public relations through an office in New York. The Merion Bluegrass Association was dissolved in 1989. The balance of the Association's funds were donated to the Ralph Engel Turfgrass Scholarship Fund at Rutgers University.
This collection contains records of the Merion Bluegrass Association. The collection consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence, financial reports, by-laws, meeting minutes and committee reports, and papers pertaining to membership, public relations, and research and development. Additionally, the collection contains material relating to the dissolution of the Merion Bluegrass Association in 1989, including IRS documents. The collection also includes advertisements and advertising research files, turf grass pamphlets, Lawn Institute material, photographs, film negatives, and a slideshow with narration (33 1/2 rpm disc).
Series 1: Administrative, 1957-1989. This series contains material on the operation of the Merion Bluegrass Association. This includes meeting minutes, meeting files, board meetings, by-laws, and membership applications.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1978-1991. This series contains all correspondence material including correspondence with members, their public relations firm, and researchers, notably C. Reed Funk at Rutgers University. Also present is a mailing list.
Series 3: Research, 1970-1991. This series contains research and statistical data. Included are turf grass pamphlets and Rutgers University research correspondence material.
Series 4: Financial, 1979-1990. This series contains all financial material, including financial reports and Internal Revenue Service material that detail the dissolution of the Merion Bluegrass Association in 1989.
Series 5: Promotions and Events, 1961-1988. This series contains advertising material including flyers and brochures. Also included is a lawn and turf benefits pamphlet, photographs, and slide show with accompanying narration in the form of a vinyl record.
The documents in this collection are arranged in five series: Series 1, 3, and 5 are arranged alphabetically; Series 2 and 4 are arranged chronologically.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Merion Bluegrass Association Records, 1957-1991 (Cage 867)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Donated to Washington State University on behalf of the Merion Bluegrass Association in 1991 (MS 1991-59).
This collection was processed by Chris Halderman and Steven Bingo in 2017
Merion Bluegrass Association Records, 1954-1982
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.