MZFMSU00003.xml Guide to the M. L. Wilson Collection 1935-1960 Wilson (M.L.) Collection Kim Allen Scott, 2009. Updated by Heather Mulliner, 2022. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Montana State University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Manuscript Collections 2022
P.O. Box 173320, Centennial Mall Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-11-10. Finding aid written in English Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard) Montana State University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Manuscript Collections M. L. Wilson papers Wilson, M. L. (Milburn Lincoln), 1885-1969 MSU.00003 8.1 linear feet 1935-1960 The M. L. Wilson Collection consists of original copies of Wilson's unofficial correspondence; photoduplicates of original correspondence held by the National Archives and Records Administration documenting Wilson's activities as Undersecretary of Agriculture and Director of Extension; subject files; agricultural history and Thomas Jefferson material; speeches; statements; articles; and materials from his personal files. Topics include: the Agricultural Adjustment Administration; various agricultural bills; domestic allotment; Farm Bureau; various New Deal programs concerning labor, land, rural housing, extension schools, erosion, and subsistence homesteads; agricultural history; Thomas Jefferson; conservation, economics; social sciences; politics; and postwar reconstruction. Collection materials are in English

This collection is open for research.

Original documents and photocopies of material pertaining to the career and activities of M. L. Wilson were compiled by employees of Montana State University in the 1960s to create this artificial research collection. Provenance of much of this material has been lost, but many files were apparently copied from originals held by the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D. C.

Series 1 Non-official Correspondence, 1935-1960

Series 2 Undersecretary of Agriculture Incoming Correspondence, 1933-1940

Series 3 Director of Extension -- Correspondence, 1940-1953

Series 4 Undersecretary of Agriculture -- Correspondence, 1932-1948

Series 5 Undersecretary of Agriculture Subject Files, undated

Series 6 Division of Subsistence Homesteads, 1933-1935

Series 7 Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Office of Farm Mgt., 1924-1925

Series 8 Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, 1934-1941

Series 9 Mordecai Ezekial, Domestic Allotment Plan, 1929-1933

Series 10 Chester C. Davis Material, undated

Series 11 Agricultural History and Thomas Jefferson Material

Series 12 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc., 1932-1956

Series 13 General and Miscellaneous Material, undated

Series 14 M.L. Wilson Personal Files, 1914-1955

Series 15 Miscellaneous Notebooks, and Scrapbooks, 1916-1948

Series 16 Photographs

Milburn Lincoln Wilson was born in Atlantic, Iowa on 23 October 1885, the son of John Wesley and Mary E. (Magee) Wilson. He received a B.S.A. from Iowa State College, Ames, in 1907 and his M.S. in agricultural economics and rural sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1920. He began his career as a farmer in 1907. He served as Assistant State Agronomist at Montana State College, Bozeman, 1910-1912; County Agent in Custer County, Montana, 1912-1914; Montana State Extension Agent Leader, 1914-1922; and an extension agricultural economist at Montana State College, 1922-1924. Between 1924 and 1926 he took charge of the U.S.D.A. division of farm management and cost accounting. During his stint as professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Montana State College, 1926-1933, he provided consultation on large-scale wheat farming in the U.S.S.R., 1929. From May 16 to September 1, 1933, Wilson served as the Chief Wheat Production Secretary in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and then moved on to the directorship of the Division of Subsistence Homesteads in the Department of the Interior until June 30, 1934. In 1934, Wilson was appointed the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and in 1937 the Undersecretary of Agriculture until 1 February 1940 when he became the Director of Extension Work at U.S.D.A. While Director, he also filled in as the Chief of Nutrition Programs and in the Production and Marketing Administration between 1943 and 1949. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Farm Economic Association (president, 1925), Epsilon Sigma Phi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Alpha Zeta. He was also a Unitarian and belonged to the Cosmos club. His writings include Farm Relief and the Domestic Allotment Plan (1933) and Democracy Has Roots (1939). Married on December 17, 1913 to Ida Morse from Cromwell, Minnesota, Wilson made his home in Washington, D.C. where he died in October 1969 and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

This collection was processed 2009 April 30

This collection includes materials created or collected by M.L. Wilson and in turn collected and arranged by Montana State University. It contains original copies of Wilson's unofficial correspondence; photoduplicates of original correspondence held by the National Archives and Records Administration documenting Wilson's activities as Undersecretary of Agriculture and Director of Extension; subject files; agricultural history and Thomas Jefferson material; speeches; statements; articles; and materials from his personal files. Topics include: the Agricultural Adjustment Administration; various agricultural bills; domestic allotment; Farm Bureau; various New Deal programs concerning labor, land, rural housing, extension schools, erosion, and subsistence homesteads; agricultural history; Thomas Jefferson; conservation, economics; social sciences; politics; and postwar reconstruction. Photographs have been removed from files marked by an asterisk (*) and placed in Series 16. Large items have been removed for separate storage and files from which they have been removed marked by an asterisk (*).

 Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 American Farm Bureau Federation United States. Agricultural Adjustment Administration United States. Department of Agriculture. Officials and employees Montana State University (Bozeman, Mont.). Extension Service. Montana State University (Bozeman, Mont.). Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics Agricultural extension work-Government policy-United States Agricultural laws and legislation-United States Agriculture and state-United States Agriculture-History Farm law-United States New Deal, 1933-1939 Reconstruction (1939-1951) Agriculture Civil Procedure and Courts Colleges and Universities Montana Bozeman Photographs Scrapbooks Non-official Correspondence 1 1935-1960

Letters, memos, and notes pertaining to a wide variety of subjects including extension work, various studies, addresses, travel, foreign aid, United Nations, and Ford Foundation material. This material is very scattered in content and volume, with no personal or family letters included. Wilson's official job related correspondence has been arranged in subsequent series.

 Non-official Correspondence 1935-1953 1 1-43 Non-official Correspondence 1953-1960, undated 2 1-35 Personal Correspondence, Dixon Co., Iowa Real Estate 2 36-41 Alumni Merit Service Award, Iowa State College 2 42 Undersecretary of Agriculture -- Incoming Correspondence, A-Z 2 1933-1940

Photocopies of original correspondence held by the National Archives. It is a selection of non-official and official correspondence received by Wilson while he served as Undersecretary; it does not represent the total volume of that correspondence. Subjects include Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), agriculture education, extension, land-grant colleges, agricultural experiments, sociology, science, and international relations. The letters have been arranged alphabetically by the author's name.

 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence, A 1934-1940 2 43-44 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence, B-R 1933-1940 3 1-45 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence, R-Z 1933-1940 4 1-16 Director of Extension, Correspondence 3 1940-1953

Photocopies of original correspondence held by the National Archives. It is a selection of non-official and official correspondence received by Wilson while he served as the Director of Extension; it does not represent the total volume of that correspondence. There is no correspondence for the years 1944 through 1946. The chronological arrangement, as received, has been retained.

 Director of Extension Correspondence 1940-1941 4 17 Director of Extension Correspondence 1942 4 18-20 Director of Extension Correspondence 1943 4 21-24 Director of Extension Correspondence 1947-1965 4 25-29 Undersecretary of Agriculture and Director of Extension Correspondence 4 1932-1948

Photocopies of original correspondence held by the National Archives. It is a selection of non-official and official correspondence sent by Wilson while he served as Undersecretary and the Director of Extension; it does not represent the total volume of that correspondence. These letters may have originally been filed under a subject or name arrangement but were not received in such an arrangement. Some of the letters are duplicates of correspondence found in other parts of this series.

 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence 1932-1936 4 30-34 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence 1937 4 35-39 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence 1938 4 40-44 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence 1939 4 45-47 Undersecretary of Agriculture Correspondence 1939 5 1-8 Director of Extension Correspondence 1940-1943 5 9-12 Director of Extension Correspondence 1944-1948 5 13-16 Undersecretary of Agriculture, Subject Files 5

This material includes photoduplicated letters, reports, articles etc. dealing with the various subjects listed for each folder. The subject headings which appeared on the cover envelopes have been retained.

 Agriculture Adjustment Administration 5 17 Conservation -- Transfer from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Interior 5 18 Cristgau Bill 5 19 Decentralization, Cont'd in Folder 21 5 20-21 Domestic Allotment I 5 22-28 Domestic Allotment II 5 29-34 Domestic Allotment III 5 35-39 Farm Bureau 5 40 Farm Labor - Volunteer Land Corps 5 41-43 Land Planning Committee 5 44 Land Planning Committee 6 1 Land Policy Materials 6 2-6 National Agricultural Conference 6 7 New Deal - Economic Philosophy - Mordecai Ezekial 6 8 Regional Meetings 1935 Spring 6 9 Regional Meetings 1935 Summer 6 10 Regional Meetings, Letters to Colleges 6 11 Reports (Miscellaneous) 6 12-15 Rural Housing 6 16 Schools for Extension Workers 6 17-21 Smith Lever Act 6 22 Wind Erosion 6 23-26 Division of Subsistence Homesteads 6 1933-1935

This contains correspondence and other records of Mr. Wilson as Director of the Division of Subsistence Homesteads within the Department of Interior, 1933-35. Listed as Record Group 96 in the National Archives.

 Division of Subsistence Homesteads 6 27-28 Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Office of Farm Management 7 1924-1925

Records of the Office of Farm Management within the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 1924-25. H.R. Tolley, Head. Includes those records relating to M.L. Wilson. Listed as Record Group 83 in the National Archives.

 Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Office of Farm Management 6 30-34 Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering 8 1934-1941

Bureau Chief's Correspondence, 1934-41, F.D. Richey and E.C. Auchter, Heads of Bureau. (Records relating to M.L. Wilson) Listed as Record Group 54 in the National Archives.

 Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering 6 35-37 Mordecai Ezekial, Domestic Allotment Plan 9 1929-1933

Material from the files of Mordecai Ezekial, Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the Domestic Allotment Plan. This material consists of photoduplicated copies of material from the National Archives.

 Domestic Allotment Plan - J.D. Black 1929 6 38 Domestic Allotment Correspondence 1932 6 39-42 Domestic Allotment Correspondence 1932 7 1-4 Domestic Allotment Correspondence 1933 7 5-7 Condensed Summary of Events 1932-1933 7 8 Chester C. Davis Material 10

Recollections and correspondence donated by Mr. Davis for inclusion in the Wilson file. Contains information about M.L. Wilson, Gov. Joe Dixon, Newspapers - Miles City Star, Avant Courier, Montana Farmer, Non-Partisan League.

 Chester C. Davis Material 7 9 Agricultural History and Thomas Jefferson Material 11

This material includes speeches, articles, notes, clippings and correspondence on the subjects of Thomas Jefferson and agricultural history. Included are materials from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, a proposed Agricultural Hall of Fame and agricultural museums. Much of the material is devoted to the Jefferson Bicentennial.

 * Agricultural History - Miscellaneous Material 7 10 Agricultural History - Miscellaneous Material 7 11-16 History of the Plow 7 17-19 M.L. Wilson, "Thomas Jefferson and Modern Scientific, Agriculture" 1949 7 20-23 Jefferson Bicentennial -- Copies of letters and memoranda 7 24-29 Jefferson Bicentennial -- minutes of meetings - conference on plans 7 30 Jefferson Bicentennial -- Publication - Clippings 7 31 Jefferson Bicentennial Committee -- minutes of meetings, membership, correspondence 7 32-34 Jefferson Bicentennial Committee -- Land Grant College and Extension participation 7 35-36 Jefferson Bicentennial Committee -- Miscellaneous correspondence, articles, clippings 7 37-40 Jefferson Bicentennial Committee -- Miscellaneous correspondence, articles, clippings 8 1-10 Thomas Jefferson -- Bibliographies and Quotations 8 11-20 Jefferson and Agriculture -- Sourcebook by Everett E. Edwards 8 21-22 Thomas Jefferson -- Pamphlet and Journal Material 8 23-27 * Thomas Jefferson -- Photographs used in connection with the Bicentennial 8 28 Speeches, Statements, Articles 12 1932-1956

This material represents mostly the product of Mr. Wilson himself, or articles about him. Those which were attributed to others but retained by Mr. Wilson are so designated on the chronological listing attached to this inventory as Folder 36.

 Material for M.L. Wilson Speeches 8 29 Library of Congress references in connection with the preparation of speeches 8 30-32 Material on Science Lecture 8 33-33a List of M.L. Wilson addresses, articles, etc. prepared in the office of Extension, U.S. Department of Agriculture 8 34-35 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc. 1932-1942 9 1-43 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc. 1942 January -1944 December 10 1-46 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc. 1944 April-1947 December 11 1-47 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc. 1948 January-1956 12 1-29 Speeches, Statements, Articles, etc. 12 30-38 General and Miscellaneous Material 13

Subject files relating to the New Deal, agriculture, extension, economics, education, nutrition, etc.

 Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) -- New Deal Material 12 39-41 Agriculture -- Miscellaneous 12 42-43 Agriculture -- Miscellaneous 13 1-11 Agriculture -- Land-Grant Universities and Colleges 13 12 Agriculture -- Radio Talks 13 13 Agricultural Extension 13 14-20 Agricultural Extension* 13 21-22 Agricultural Extension 13 22-34 Agricultural Extension 14 1-2 American Philosophical Society 14 3-11 * Conservation 14 12 Conservation 14 13 Economics 14 14-16 * Education, Sociology, Political Science 14 17 Education, Sociology, Political Science 14 18-20 * Education, Sociology, Political Science 14 21 Education, Sociology, Political Science 14 22-27 Foreign Aid 14 28-30 Homestead Material 14 31 India -- Provincial Extension Directors 1952 14 32-33 Labor 14 34 Nutrition 14 35-39 Nutrition 15 1 Politics -- Miscellaneous 15 2-4 Politics -- Campaign of 1936 1936 15 5-11 Rural America 15 12-18 Science History -- Discussion 15 19 Soviet Union 15 20-23 United Nations and Subordinate Organizations 15 24-26 War and Reconstruction 15 27-32 War and Reconstruction, "Democracy in the Present Crisis" 15 33-37 Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1930, 1932 15 38-39 Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1933-1937 16 1-5 M.L. Wilson Personal Files 14 1914-1955

Series 14 consists of materials from the personal files of M.L. Wilson forwarded with some comments by Dr. P.L. Slagsvold. Some of this material was drawn from the files of the Agricultural Economics Department, Montana State College, but has been retained in this series as a file kept separately by Wilson.

 Correspondence 1914-1920 16 6 Projects, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station 16 7-13 Agricultural Outlook Material 16 14-16 Allin, Bushrod, "Collective Economics of John R. Commons" 16 17 Farm Problems, Pamphlets 1927-1932 16 18 Agriculture Situation 1930-1933 16 19-20 Ezekial, Mordecai, "Farm Problems" 1932 16 21 Wallace, Henry A 16 22 Material for M.L., Land Utilization Speech and discussions 1932-1933 16 23-25 Farm Relief Bills 1932-1933 16 26-27 Anderson, Sydney, Agricultural Relief Plan 16 28 Farm Relief -- California Plan 1933 16 29 Black, John D., The Agricultural Situation 1933 January 16 30 Rodgers, R.R., Farm Problems and Solutions 1933 16 31 American Bakers Association, Farm Relief Problems and Plans 1932-1933 16 32 Tugwell, Rexford, "Agricultural Planning" 1934 16 33 Agricultural Planning Suggestions 1933-1935 16 34 Domestic Allotment, Notes and correspondence on Roosevelt's Topeka Farm Speech 16 35-36 Wilson, M.L., Domestic Allotment and Farm Relief -- speeches 1933-1934 16 37-41 Food Research Institute, Domestic Allotment -- Analysis 1932 16 42 Domestic Allotment and Farm Problems -- Correspondence 1932-1933 17 1-3 Domestic Allotment -- Notes and Discussions 17 4-5 Domestic Allotment and other suggested farm plans -- analysis 17 6 Millers' National Federation, Domestic Allotment -- Criticisms 17 7-10 Lippmann, Walter, Domestic Allotment Plan -- Clippings 17 11 Decentralization of Industry 17 12 Agricultural Adjustment [partial text of speech] 17 13 Agricultural Planning -- Miscellaneous Material 1936-1938 17 14-16 Material for M.L. -- General Correspondence 1953 17 17-21 Material for M.L. -- General Correspondence 1954 17 22-24 Material for M.L. -- Ford Foundation Correspondence 1953 17 25-27 Material for M.L. -- Ford Foundation Correspondence 1954 17 28-29 Wilson, M.L. - Ford Foundation Expenses, Fees, etc. 1954-1955 17 30-32 Miscellaneous Pamphlets 17 33-35 Association of Land Grant Universities and Colleges 17 36 American Farm Bureau Federation 17 37-38 Geologic Map of Western United States 17 39 Miscellaneous Notebooks and Scrapbooks 15 1916-1965 Farmers' Bureau 1916-1919 18 1-3 Weekly Letters to State Directors of Extension 1945 18 4-14

Note: the Weekly Letters are arranged according to the original arrangement found in M.L. Wilson's ring binder

 Weekly Letters to State Directors of Extension 1946 18 15-27 Weekly Letters to State Directors of Extension 1947 18 28-40

Includes Table of Contents for 1947

 Weekly Letters to State Directors of Extension 1947 19 1-3 Weekly Letters to State Directors of Extension 1948 19 4-18 Press Clippings, Nationwide Judging Tour, Community Service Contest 1956 19 19-25 Miscellaneous House and Senate Bills and Resolutions with suggested changes, related letters, etc. 19 26-30 Missoula County Farm Bureau Organization 19 31-33 Domestic Allotment Draft Bill 20 1 Material for M.L. -- Miscellaneous 20 2 Scrapbook -- General Agricultural Newspaper clippings and articles 21 1 Scrapbook -- Farmers' Bureau 21 2 Data Regarding Subject Matter Specialists Agricultural Section (2 sheets) 1 Data Regarding Subject Matter Specialists Home Economics Section (1 sheet) 1 Farmers' Institute [poster] 1 Mr. Taxpayer . . . [announcement for short course] 1 Lower Madison Community Fair and Labor Day Picnic [poster] 2 Farmers Hear [poster] 2 Farmers' War Meeting [poster] 2 Dry Farming Exhibit for Triangle Farmers [poster] 2 Official Bulletin of the Dairymen's League 2 Photographs 16

This series includes photographs removed from various folders throughout the collection.

 Photographs #1-5 20 3 Photographs #6-10 20 4 Photographs #11-15 20 5 Photographs #15-20 20 6 Photographs #21-27 20 7 Photographs #28-32 20 8