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Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes, 1954-1994

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon State University. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Title
Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes
Dates
1954-1994 (inclusive)
1961-1978 (bulk)
Quantity
1.70 cubic feet, including 116 motion picture films and 9 videotapes, (3 boxes)
Collection Number
FV 245
Summary
The Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes consist, in bulk, of film reels documenting the cultivation, harvest and processing of apples, cherries, peaches and pears among many other crops. Several of these films were produced by AREC faculty member R. Donald Lagmo for use in research, instruction and training. The collection also contains a smaller number of videotaped lectures delivered by OSU faculty and other regional experts participating in "Economics and the Endangered Species Act," an AREC seminar course offered in Winter 1994.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Classes pertaining to agricultural economics were first taught at Oregon Agricultural College early in the 20th century as part of the Agronomy Department. In 1917 that department was divided into four separate ones; the Farm Management Department included the agricultural economics courses. Other classes in the subject area were also taught by Dr. Hector MacPherson in the School of Commerce. With the reorganization of higher education in Oregon in the early 1930s, the Oregon State College School of Agriculture in 1933 was divided into divisions, one of which was Agricultural Economics. E.L. Potter was appointed head of the division, as well as head of the Agricultural Economics Department formed within the division.

In 1949, the division system was abolished and the Farm Management Department was absorbed by the Agricultural Economics Department. Barton DeLoach served as the first chair of the combined department, but resigned shortly thereafter. Grant Blanch served as acting chair until 1951, when G. Burton Wood was appointed department chair. Wood served as department chair until 1966.

In 1974, the department name was changed to Agricultural and Resource Economics to reflect its broader role in research and teaching involving new technologies, rural population, income distribution, resource conservation and development, and international trade and development. In 2014 the department changed its name again, this time to Applied Economics, and began offering degrees in Agricultural Business Management and Environmental Economics and Policy.

Oregon native and OSC alum R. Donald Langmo began his teaching career at Oregon State College in 1948 as a member of the Industrial Engineering Department; a decade later, he switched his academic home to the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department. As a researcher, Langmo specialized in the study of industrial engineering as it applied to the harvest and processing of agricultural products. Langmo retired from OSU in 1994 and passed away in 2011 at the age of 92.

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Content Description

The Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes are comprised of 116 8-mm and 16-mm film reels, and nine VHS video cassettes.

The film reels contain footage of a wide array of agricultural practices specific to the tending, harvesting and processing of crops cultivated in the Pacific Northwest and along the west coast. Apples, cherries, peaches and pears stand out as crops that are heavily documented in the films, though the collection's reels also record activities associated with blueberries, filberts, green beans, olives, onions, peas, pistachios and strawberries. Footage related to the cultivation and processing of oysters, shrimp and turkeys, and to the packing of ice cream, is available as well.

Most of the films are minimally produced and appear to have been used for research and instruction as well as training. Container annotations also suggest that AREC faculty member R. Donald Langmo was involved with the creation of many of the items. Topically, the films cover a broad swath of activities including thinning and harvesting crops as well as receiving, weighing, washing, brining, freezing, packing and labeling agricultural products following their harvest. Individual films also appear to have been created to document the effectiveness of specific types of equipment and to examine the efficiency of particular workflows, especially those used to harvest fruit. Many of the films are set in Wenatchee, Washington, though other Oregon locations including Pendleton, Albany and Medford appear in the collection, as do Moro Bay and Tulare, California.

At least two finished productions are held among the collection's film reels: an item titled "Pea harvesting and brining" that was broadcast on television in June 1960, and a 1980 OSU Agricultural Experiment Station film titled "Strawberries for Tomorrow."

The collection's nine VHS cassettes document a series of lectures delivered by OSU professors and other regional experts during Winter term 1994 as part of the Agricultural and Resource Economics seminar course, "Economics and the Endangered Species Act" (AREC 407/507). Each lecture is presented by a different speaker and topics generally focus on the need to balance moral imperatives with economic considerations when developing policies related to the management of endangered species and their habitats.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes (FV 245), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Motion Picture Films and Videotapes are organized into two series: 1. Motion Picture Films, 1954-1980; and 2. VHS cassettes, 1994. Items are arranged chronologically within each series.

Acquisition Information

The materials were transferred to the University Archives by the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department in 2002 and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in 2006.

Processing Note

This finding aid replaces a stub record created in 2012.

Related Materials

The Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Records (RG 128) and the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department Photographs (P 245) both document the history of the AREC department, as do the manuscript collections of numerous department faculty including Emery Castle, D. Curtis Mumford, Fred W. Obermiller and G. Burton Wood. Six sets of oral history interviews - including three sessions conducted with Emery Castle - held in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 26) also focus on agricultural economics as a major theme.

SCARC is home to several additional moving images collections that document agricultural processes and production, or that focus on endangered species. These collections include the Agricultural Engineering Department Motion Picture Films (FV 106), the Alderman Farms Films (FV 214), the Experiment Station Communications Films (FV 132), the Extension and Experiment Station Communications Moving Images (FV 120), and the Fisheries and Wildlife Department Films and Videotapes (FV 243).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Series 1: Motion Picture Films, 1954-1980

    116 items

    Series 1 consists of 8-mm and 16-mm films documenting agricultural and processing methodologies as applied to a wide variety of crops. The series is comprised primarily of 3- and 3.5-inch reels, though 5-, 7- and 9-inch reels are present as well. The 3-inch reels are assumed to contain about 50 feet of footage. Other extent estimates are as follows: 3.5-inch reels, 75 feet; 5-inch reels, 200 feet; 7-inch reels, 400 feet; 9-inch reels, 700 feet.

    In most instances, the description of a given item has been derived from annotations made to the packaging in which the reel was stored by its creators. In other cases, film footage has been analyzed to discern the contents of items that are lightly annotated or not described at all.

  • Series 2: Videotapes, 1994

    9 items

    The VHS cassettes described in Series 2 provide nearly complete documentation of the lectures offered to AREC undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a Winter 1994 seminar class titled "Economics and the Endanged Species Act" (AREC 407/507). A tenth lecture titled "How Economics is Being Used in Columbia River Salmon Planning" and scheduled for presentation by University of Washington professor Daniel Huppert on March 8, 1994, is not included in the series. AREC 407/507 was organized by department faculty member Bruce Rettig and each lecture was open to the public.

    • Description: FV245:117: "After a Century of Research, We Know All We Need to Know About Declining Salmon Stocks - NOT!" lecture by Carl Schreck, Oregon Cooperative Fishery Research Unit and OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
      Dates: January 4, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:118: "Legal Framework for Economic Considerations under the Endangered Species Acts," lecture by Richard Hildreth, University of Oregon School of Law
      Dates: January 11, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:119: "Endangered Species, Economic Analysis and the Safe Minimum Standard," lecture by Emery Castle, OSU Graduate Faculty of Economics
      Dates: January 18, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:120: "Balancing Science, Politics, and the Public: Searching for Effective Natural Resource Management," lecture by Steven Daniels, OSU Department of Forest Resources
      Dates: January 25, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:121: "Organizational Systems and the Burden of Proof," lecture by David Bella, OSU Department of Civil Engineering
      Dates: February 1, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:122: "Ethical Arguments for Species Protection," lecture by Peter List, OSU Department of Philosophy
      Dates: February 8, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:123: "Measuring Existence Values," lecture by Robert Berrens, OSU Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
      Dates: February 15, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:124: "Valuing Biodiversity and Ecosystems," lecture by Stephen Polasky, OSU Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
      Dates: February 22, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: FV245:125: "The Historical Roots of Fishery Conservation," lecture by Dan Bottom, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
      Dates: March 1, 1994
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994
    • Description: "Economics and the Endangered Species Act" flyer
      Dates: 1994
      Container: Box/Folder 1.1
      Location: Series 2: Videotapes, 1994

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Agricultural processing--Oregon.
  • Endangered species--Northwest, Pacific.
  • Fruit processing plants--Oregon.
  • Fruit processing plants--Washington (State)
  • Fruit--Harvesting.
  • Harvesting machinery--Oregon.
  • Orchards--Washington (State)--Wenatchee River Valley.
  • Vegetable processing plants--Oregon.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon State University. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Geographical Names

  • Wenatchee River Valley (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Motion pictures (visual works)
  • Silent films.
  • Video recordings (Physical artifacts)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Langmo, R. Donald. (creator)

Finding Aid Authors: Chris Petersen.
2018

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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