West Virginia University, Agricultural Experiment Station, Records
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 0055
Includes records of the West Virginia University Agricultural Experiment Station. Records include incoming and outgoing correspondence for and from Agricultural Experiment Station directors and staff, a minute book, Experiment Station Reports, photograph albums, papers, and glass plate negatives. The records document the Experiment Station's work researching injuries to crops, problems with poultry and livestock, soil and fertilizer, etc. Series include:
Series 1, Correspondence, 1885-1918;
[no series 2]
Series 3, Experiment Station Reports and Other Records, 1895-1918, 1988;
Series 4, Addendum of 1955, Glass Plate Negatives, 1895-1918;
Series 5, Addendum of 1968, Glass Plate Negatives, circa 1895-circa 1915;
Series 6, Addendum of 1969, Glass Plate Negatives and Sheet and Roll Film Negatives and Contact Sheets, 1904-1955.
No special access restriction applies.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
The Hatch Act of 1887 established federally mandated and funded agricultural experiment stations at land grant universities, such as West Virginia University. The mission of the WVU Agricultural Experiment Station was to be a research institution focusing on original research and experiments to develop and improve agriculture and rural life. Specifically, the Experiment Station was engaged in research for soil improvement through improved fertilizers and fertilizer testing. To this end, the West Virginia state legislature passed a fertilizer act in 1891 requiring that samples of fertilizer be sent to the Experiment Station for testing and a Certificate of Inspection tag to be issued specifying the manufacturer, brand name and ingredients. Additionally, there was research for improvements in plant growth and in livestock breeding. The results of the Station’s research were made public in the form of bulletins. These early bulletins were met with mixed feelings by farmers, in that they felt they were too technical and not very practical.
By the turn of twentieth century the Agriculture Experiment Station began taking on a larger statewide footprint. The 1901 West Virginia Crop Pest Law empowered the Experiment Station to take control of eradicating agricultural pests within the state, such as San Jose Scale, through inspection and destruction of infested orchards and crops and the inspection of trees and plants, and other agricultural products entering West Virginia.
Moreover, the role of WVU Agricultural Experiment Station had evolved over time from research to teaching and outreach as well. Consequently, the Station became the foundation for new cooperative extension work created by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914. Smith-Lever established cooperative extension work at land grant institutions through a partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture. The mission of Smith-Lever was teaching and practical presentations in agriculture and home economics to rural residents. This included home economics, such as nutrition and money management; community development through economic development; and rural development, through community outreach with extension agents located in each county. The Station’s new teaching role was important to farmers who could learn new practical cultivation techniques in a non-academic setting. Smith-Lever's outreach mission ultimately led to the 1913 creation of Farmer’s Short Courses, one-to-three-week courses on the best agricultural practices, which were held in Morgantown and around the state.
The WVU Agricultural Experiment Station was engaged in many other activities in the years leading up to World War I. The station sold brooding eggs to farmers to increase poultry production in the state. It promoted the Good Road Movement, a national effort to improve rural roads and improve rural life. The Station also played an important role in securing farm labor for the labor shortage caused by World War I and the millions of American men serving overseas.
John A. Myers served as the first WVU Agricultural Experiment Station director. Before he arrived at WVU, Myers, a chemist, had served at other universities and as the state chemist for Mississippi. He established the WVU Experiment Station in 1888 and oversaw the construction of the experiment station building, completed in 1893. He served as its director for nearly ten years. James H. Stewart replaced Myers in 1897, serving until 1911. Dwight E. Sanderson was the next director, serving from 1911 to 1915. John Lee Coulter was the last station director during this early period, serving from 1915 to 1921. The Agricultural Experiment Station, now the West Virginia University Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, is still in existence today in 2025.
Related names include T.C. Atkeson (1852-1935)-Dean of the College of Agriculture and State Grange master (see also A&M 1126); John Lee Coulter (1881-1959)-Station Director (see also A&M 0398); A.D. Hopkins (1851-1948)-Entomologist (see also A&M 0904); William E. Rumsey (1865-1938)-Entomologist (see also A&M 2935); E. Dwight Sanderson (1878-1944)-Station Director (see also A&M 0398;James Henry Stewart (1851-1935)-Station Director (see also A&M 0398).
Sources
81.71 Linear Feet (195 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 document case, 2.5 in.; 1 drop front box, 3 in.)
English
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Transfer from West Virginia University (WVU) Agriculture Experiment Station, 1937.
Transfer from WVU College of Agriculture, 1955 May 11.
Transfer from WVU Department of Psychology through Dr. Quin Curtis, 1968 June 24.
Gift from Bob Maxwell, WVU College of Agriculture and Forestry, 1988 August 17.
Transfer from WVU Office of Public Relations, 1969 July 19.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository