Title: James G. Milward Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1900-1962

Creator:

• Milward, J. G. (James Garfield), 1881-1963

Call Number: Mss 721; Micro 1115; Audio 265A; PH 2685; PH 2704; M2006-077

Quantity: 0.6 cubic feet (2 archives boxes), 9 reels of microfilm (35 mm), and 1 tape recording; plus additions of 1.0 cubic foot of photographs, transparencies, and negatives and 0.2 cubic feet of ephemera and posters

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of James G. Milward, a member of the University of Wisconsin Department of Horticulture and potato extension specialist who led the development of the potato industry in Wisconsin for over 50 years. Included are correspondence, reports, notes, speeches and writings, an oral history, subject files, educational material, and financial records concerning his wide-ranging activities. The documentation covers seed certification, field trial demonstrations, research, marketing, and improved production. Particularly extensive are the files on the Wisconsin Potato Growers Association, of which he was secretary for many years, and the annual reports and work plans for the Smith-Lever Act, which he directed in Wisconsin. All files except the student notes and teaching materials are available only on microfilm.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00721

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

James G. Milward, University of Wisconsin potato extension specialist, was a leader in the developments which transformed potato production in Wisconsin from a small, local crop into an efficient, productive, and competitive industry.

Milward was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 4, 1881. Although he grew up in the city, he worked on outlying farms even before graduating from high school in 1900. He then went to work for the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture, where he was to be employed for his entire career. Milward graduated from the short course in 1902 and received a B.S.A. in 1907 and an M.S. in 1909. In 1906 he received a permanent faculty appointment, also serving as potato extension specialist until his retirement in 1951.

Milward's early work in orchard and potato spraying led to his activities in the development of the potato extension program, one of the earliest such programs in the country. This program included experimental field trials; branch stations; county agents, tours, and exhibits for outreach and education; and production, certification, and distribution of seed potatoes. Many of these extension activities preceded the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, the federal program which encouraged agricultural extension efforts. After the implementation of this program, Milward directed the Smith-Lever program in Wisconsin.

He also led and coordinated efforts to develop, maintain, and distribute improved potato varieties in order to insure a high quality product. The Wisconsin seed certification program which was started by the Department of Horticulture in 1913 was the first in the nation.

It was also under Milward's guidance that the Wisconsin Potato Growers Association was founded in 1912 in Waupaca. This was the first such organization in the nation to be state-funded. As part of Milward's duties as potato extension specialist, he also served as WPGA secretary from its inception until 1952. During this period he directed and coordinated all of its activities, bringing together those involved in all phases of the industry in Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the University, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Marketing, and officials and growers in other states.

Milward was also a member of the Potato Association of America, serving as its president in 1922. In 1956 he was elected an honorary lifetime member. He was also a member of Epsilon Sigma Phi, the national honorary extension fraternity.

James Milward died on July 10, 1963.

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.

James G. Milward papers at University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives (Series 9/18/10 26A5)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Vernon Carstensen, Madison, Wisconsin, 1962-1963. Accession Number: M62-39, M62-182, M63-134 and 134-1, M2006-077

Processing Information

Processed by Myrna Williamson (archives intern) and prepared for microfilming by Loralei Bloom, 1987.

Micro 1115	Series: Biographical and Introductory Material
Reel   1 Frame   1	Typescript material, 1923-1947
265A/1	Oral history interview, 1962
Micro 1115	Series: General Correspondence	⇧
Reel   1 Frame   27	1914-1915
Reel   1 Frame   36	1921-1924
Reel   1 Frame   94	1925-1928
Reel   1 Frame   152	1929-1930
Reel   1 Frame   303	1931-1933
Reel   1 Frame   426	1934-1936
Reel   1 Frame   552	1937
Reel   1 Frame   661	1938
Reel   2 Frame   1	1939
Reel   2 Frame   328	1940
Reel   2 Frame   590	1941
Reel   2 Frame   729	1942-1943
Reel   2 Frame   738	1944
Reel   3 Frame   1	1945
Reel   3 Frame   312	1946
Reel   3 Frame   669	1947
	1948
Reel   3 Frame   933	January-June
Reel   4 Frame   1	July-December
Reel   4 Frame   222	1949
Reel   4 Frame   637	1950-1962
	Series: Speeches and Writings	⇧
	Articles and reports
Reel   4 Frame   740	Manuscript and typescript materials, 1915-1939
Reel   4 Frame   953	Published articles, 1906-1942
Reel   5 Frame   1	Historical outline notes for oral history, post 1950
Reel   5 Frame   227	Radio scripts, 1930-1948
Reel   5 Frame   325	Service records of John F. Jardine, circa 1925, and Richard E. Vaughn, , 1952
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
	Certification
Reel   5 Frame   352	Conferences, 1922-1939
Reel   5 Frame   494	Fee schedule (Wisconsin), 1926
Reel   5 Frame   501	Seed stock inquiries, 1917-1937
Reel   5 Frame   522	Cuba seed stock inquiry, 1931
Reel   5 Frame   540	Inspection certificate samples, 1914, 1920, 1937-1939
Reel   5 Frame   612	Miscellaneous, undated
Reel   5 Frame   621	Oneida County Investment Co. vs. Oneida Triumph Farms, 1929-1930
Reel   5 Frame   642	Potato Certification Service of Wisconsin, 1939
Reel   5 Frame   655	Standards (U.S.), 1937
	Field trial demonstrations and other research
Reel   5 Frame   661	Fertilizers, 1913-1938
Reel   5 Frame   716	Greenhouse tests, 1935-1936
Reel   5 Frame   719	Katahdin variety - Growers' reports, 1932-1937
Reel   5 Frame   802	Minnesota and Iowa, 1927
	Other locations (including orchards)
Reel   5 Frame   810	1905-1916
Reel   6 Frame   1	1933-1948
Reel   6 Frame   329	Rice Lake, Wisconsin, 1932-1933
	Southern trials
Reel   6 Frame   361	Alabama cooperative plots, 1932-1939
Reel   6 Frame   405	Correspondence, 1922-1923
Reel   6 Frame   466	Melvin Luther trip, 1923-1924
Reel   6 Frame   491	Reports, 1919-1924
Reel   6 Frame   512	Test plots and conditions, 1928-1931
	Spooner Branch Station, UW Agricultural Extension
Reel   6 Frame   548	Operation costs, 1929-1938
Reel   6 Frame   563	Potato cellar specifications, 1913
Reel   6 Frame   571	Seed sales, 1932-1939
Reel   6 Frame   645	Station Days/Potato Days, 1927-1928
Reel   6 Frame   649	Trial plots, 1911-circa 1942
Reel   6 Frame   814	Yellow dwarf disease, 1933-1935
	Miscellaneous
Reel   6 Frame   863	Judging contests, 1936-1942
Reel   6 Frame   923	Personal miscellaneous, circa 1937-1957
	Retirement
Reel   6 Frame   933	Federal pension correspondence, 1946-1947
Reel   6 Frame   947	Other correspondence and clippings, 1950-1951
	Organizations and committees
Reel   6 Frame   972	American Pomological Society, 1909
Reel   6 Frame   979	Epsilon Sigma Phi, 1930, 1945
Reel   6 Frame   985	Interstate Early Potato Committee, 1930
Reel   7 Frame   1	National Potato Institutes, 1929, 1938
Reel   7 Frame   50	Potato Association of America, 1922-1956
Reel   7 Frame   68	University of Wisconsin Interdepartmental Research Committee, 1937-1941
Reel   7 Frame   145	University of Wisconsin Plant Science Group, 1932-1936
Reel   7 Frame   176	Wisconsin Certified Seed Potato Cooperative Association, circa 1924
Reel   7 Frame   210	Wisconsin Markets (Products) Exposition Association, 1921-1922
	Wisconsin Potato Growers Association
Reel   7 Frame   256	Administrative records, 1912-1956
	Outreach materials, 1912-1952
Reel   7 Frame   581	1912-1921
Reel   8 Frame   1	1921-1923
Reel   8 Frame   123	1925-1952
Reel   9 Frame   1	Fiscal reports, 1916-1952
Reel   9 Frame   142	Wisconsin Development Authority funding, 1938
Reel   9 Frame   151	Wisconsin Potato Shippers Association, undated
Reel   9 Frame   158	Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, 1909
	Production and marketing
Reel   9 Frame   163	By-products, 1935, 1942
Reel   9 Frame   208	Packaging, 1932-1934
Reel   9 Frame   247	Planter, Bateman Co., 1930
Reel   9 Frame   283	Production costs, 1932
Reel   9 Frame   340	Production statistics, 1910-1951
Reel   9 Frame   430	Washing, 1934
	Smith-Lever Act
Reel   9 Frame   439	Agreement, 1914
Reel   9 Frame   445	Annual reports, 1918-1952 Note: Original photographs are in unprocessed additions.
Reel   9 Frame   1137	Plans of work, 1924-1949
Reel   9 Frame   1365	Miscellaneous, 1924-1949
Reel   9 Frame   1378	Warren Potato Act, 1935-1936
Mss 721	Series: Educational Materials	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Teaching and lecture notes, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Student notebooks, undated
Box   2 Folder   1-5	Student notes, undated
	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
PH 2685	Transparencies for lecture series on potato farming
PH 2704 Box   1 Folder   1	Potato exhibits, State Potato Show, photographs
Box   1 Folder   2	Potato field tours photographs
Box   1 Folder   3	Growers meetings photographs
Box   1 Folder   3 (continued)	Individuals and small groups in fields photographs
Box   1 Folder   4	Plowing, planting, irrigation, spraying, harvesting, and transportation of potatoes photographs
Box   1 Folder   5	Potato fields, diseases, varieties and experiments photographs
Box   2 Folder   6	Individual portraits (excluding Milward)
Box   2 Folder   7	J. G. Milward portraits; group portraits
Box   2 Folder   8	Potato shows: commercial exhibits, potato machinery displays photographs
Box   2 Folder   9	Potato Day programs, miscellaneous photographs
Box   2 Folder   10	Other crops photographs
Box   2 Folder   11	Negatives
Box   3	Annual Convention Wisconsin Potato Growers Association, Grand Rapids, Michigan, photograph of members, 1914 November
Box   3	Potato fields photographs
Box   3	Exhibits photographs
Box   3	Ephemera
Oversize Folder   1-2	Posters and ephemera
M2006-077 PH Box   8	Photographs of potato fields, exhibits, UW Agricultural department, 1900-1938