The Milward Papers document well one man's prodigious, but often tediously detailed efforts to improve potato production in Wisconsin during the first half of the twentieth century. For this, the most important documentation in the collection are the annual reports and work plans which he prepared for the federal government as director of the Smith-Lever potato extension program in Wisconsin and his files on the Wisconsin Potato Growers Association which are the only known records of that organization during its important early years. The files are weakest for the first years of Milward's work, although this is in part overcome by the oral history interview which focuses primarily on that aspect of his career. Aside from a few scattered letters, some clippings, and miscellaneous, the collection entirely concerns Milward's professional life.
The papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, speeches and writings, an oral history, educational material, and subject files. The files are arranged as biographical material, general correspondence, subject files, and educational material. Because of their deteriorated condition, all of the papers except the educational materials and the photographs were microfilmed in 1987, and the originals destroyed.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL serves to introduce and clarify the variety and complexity of Milward's duties and the records which he produced. Included are a few calendars of activities, a service record summarizing his career, and explanations of his programmatic responsibilities. Also filed here is the oral history interview recorded in 1962.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence. The correspondence is quite fragmentary prior to 1921 and incomplete until the 1930's. It has also been weeded to remove duplicate and very routine letters. Nevertheless, the correspondence indicates the degree to which attention to detail lay at the heart of Milward's accomplishments. The correspondence relates to all aspects of potato growing both in Wisconsin and in the nation as a whole. Some letters include related brochures, articles, and reports.
SPEECHES AND WRITINGS include published and manuscript writings, outlines and notes preparatory to the taped interview, and scripts from radio talks, at least some of which were broadcast by WHA.
The SUBJECT FILES are probably the most important part of the collection. They are grouped into the categories Certification, Field Trial Demonstrations and other Research, Miscellaneous, Organizations and Committees, Smith-Lever Project, and Warren Potato Act and then further subdivided alphabetically into more precise subject categories.
Milward's certification activities are amply documented, as are field trial demonstrations and other research. Included here are materials on extensive testing of Wisconsin potatoes in the South and at the Spooner Branch Extension Station. The early field trials at other locations include information on Milward's work with orchard spraying. Miscellaneous includes tributes to Milward at the time of his retirement, some personal clippings, and statistics relating to a probably personal interest in rural electrification in Wisconsin.
By far the largest subject files in the organizations category is his file of Wisconsin Potato Growers records. This file consists of administrative records such as minutes, resolutions, reports, announcements, and information about relevant state legislation from 1912 to 1956. The outreach files document conventions, exhibits, shows, expositions, tours, field days, and other activities sponsored annually by the WPGA. These files are very extensive for the period from 1912 through the early 1930's. Also included are annual financial statements and a financial ledger covering the period for which such reports are missing. The National Potato Institute file includes information on the formation of the Wisconsin chapter in 1929, and the first National Potato Week in 1938. Other organizations and two University of Wisconsin staff committees are represented by much smaller files.
Production and marketing files include a comprehensive listing of production statistics for the years 1910 to 1951. The Smith Lever Project reports and work plans are quite complete, some even including photographs and ephemera which document public events. After microfilming, these photographs were transferred to the Visual and Sound Archives where they are housed with other original photographs, graphics, and ephemera as unprocessed additions to the Milward files. The Warren Potato Act files concern federal regulation of potato growing allotments.
The EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS are quite fragmentary and poorly identified. Included are notes and typed materials pertaining to various courses and lectures which Milward delivered and a large collection of notes and notebooks for various agricultural and biological courses taken as a student at the University of Wisconsin.
