Title: Reaper Centennial Celebration Records
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1936

Call Number: McCormick Mss 1Q-5Q; PH 6702 (7); M2002-049

Quantity: 26.5 c.f. (34 archives boxes, 30 volumes, and 1 oversize folder); plus additions of 4.2 c.f.

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:

Records of the International Harvester Company's 1931 centennial celebration of McCormick's invention of the reaper, consisting of correspondence, committee reports, clippings, and photographs. Correspondence is chiefly that of members of the McCormick family, officials of International Harvester, Herbert A. Kellar of the McCormick Historical Association, planning committees, and representatives responsible for managing and reporting on the event in the United States and abroad. Hundreds of clippings, mounted and unmounted, deal with advance publicity, scholarship awards, and coverage of celebration activities in practically every state and many foreign countries. Five volumes of photographs picture the development of McCormick harvesting machines and events commemorating the centennial, including special observances at Washington and Lee University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mcc0001q

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (McCormick Mss 1Q-5Q, PH 6702 (7)): Original Collection, 1926-1933
• Part 2 (M2002-049): Additions, 1923-1936

Acquisition Information

Accession Number: M90-048, M2002-049

	Part 1 (McCormick Mss 1Q-5Q, PH 6702 (7)): Original Collection, 1926-1933 Physical Description: 26.5 c.f. (34 archives boxes, 30 volumes, and 1 oversize folder);
McCormick Mss 1Q	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-28	1926 August-1931 February
Box   2 Folder   1-4	1930 March-1931 April
Box   3 Folder   1-5	1931 May-July
Box   4 Folder   1-5	1931 August-November
Box   5 Folder   1-9	1931 December-1932 August
Box   5 Folder   10-11	1932 October-November
Box   5 Folder   12-15	1933 February-May
Box   5 Folder   16	undated
McCormick Mss 2Q	Centennial Committee Files
Box   1 Folder   1	Bulletin: IHC
Box   1 Folder   2-4	The Century of the Reaper
Box   1 Folder   5	Circular (sample)
Box   1 Folder   6	Clippings sought
Box   1 Folder   7-8	Expense accounts
Box   1 Folder   9	Family Centennial Committee report
Box   2 Folder   1	Guest lists
Box   2 Folder   2	McCormick Reaper (diagram)
Box   2 Folder   3	Miscellaneous checks, bills, etc.
Box   2 Folder   4-5	Miscellaneous notes
Box   2 Folder   6	Miscellaneous reports-celebrations
Box   2 Folder   7	Miscellaneous speeches
Box   3 Folder   1	Miscellaneous printed material
Box   3 Folder   2-3	Publicity
Box   3 Folder   4	Source materials
Box   3 Folder   5	Statue unveiling
	Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI)
Box   3 Folder   5a	Addresses
Box   3 Folder   6	Committees for McCormick Day
Box   3 Folder   7	Movie
Box   3 Folder   8	Pageant
Box   3 Folder   9	Story
Box   3 Folder   10	Stories not used
Box   3 Folder   11	University periodicals
Box   4 Folder   1	Plans, schedules, etc.
Box   4 Folder   2	Programs
Box   4 Folder   3	Walnut Grove Farms (map)
	Washington and Lee
Box   4 Folder   4	Addresses
Box   4 Folder   5	Bulletins
Box   4 Folder   6	Bulletin (proofs)
Box   4 Folder   7	College publications
Box   4 Folder   8	Committees
Box   4 Folder   9	Invitation (sample)
Box   4 Folder   10	Movie
Box   4 Folder   11	Programs
Box   5 Folder   1	Medallions and small Illustrated IHC Bulletin, 1931
Box   5 Folder   2	Instructions for unpacking and setting up 1831 McCormick Reaper replica (pamphlet)
Box   5 Folder   3	Saturday Evening Post ads (colored), 1931
Box   5 Folder   4	Advertising poster showing assembling of Reaper (Romance of the Reaper?), 1931
Box   5 Folder   5	Colored lithographs from Forbes Manufacturing Company, Boston
Box   5 Folder   6	Large poster of IHC motor truck, 1931
Box   5 Folder   7	IHC Motion Picture Film Service
Box   5 Folder   8	Advertisement, IHC-Country Gentleman, 1931 January 31
Box   5 Folder   9	IHC advertisement, pamphlet-tractor plowing, 1931
Box   5 Folder   10	World's first reaper, cards used with reaper models, 1831
Box   5 Folder   11	The Harvester Foreman, Thanksgiving, 1931
Box   5 Folder   12	IHC crop production costs (third edition, 1931 crops)
Box   5 Folder   13	Large display advertisement folders Physical Description: 9 x 6 inches, folded; 10 titles
Box   5 Folder   14	Harvester threshers mimeographed bulletin, 1929 April
Box   5 Folder   15	Miscellaneous letterheads, etc., with centennial imprint
Box   5 Folder   16	IHC pennant for motor trucks (orange and blue)
Box   5 Folder   17	Tractor farming Note: Also Canadian tractor farming.
Box   5 Folder   18	McCormick works and twine mills-tractor works-centennial bulletin
Box   5 Folder   19	The International Trail, pamphlet, 1931
	Advertising pamphlets, 1931
Box   6 Folder   1	Unlabeled
Box   6 Folder   2	Farm trucks
Box   6 Folder   3	Unlabeled
Box   6 Folder   4	Plows-drilled, moldboard and disk
Box   6 Folder   5	Threshers
Box   6 Folder   6	Corn shellers-grain grinders
Box   6 Folder   7	Ensilage cutters
Box   6 Folder   8	Cultivators
Box   6 Folder   9	Unlabeled
Box   6 Folder   10	Triple power tractors
Box   6 Folder   11	Farmall farming
Box   6 Folder   12	Farmall equipment
Box   6 Folder   13	Potato planting and digging
Box   6 Folder   14	Farm gears
Box   6 Folder   15	Springtime-tools
Box   6 Folder   16	Tillage tools
Box   6 Folder   17	Corn planters and drills
Box   6 Folder   18	Cotton and corn planters
Box   6 Folder   19	Grain binders
Box   6 Folder   20	Corn binders
Box   6 Folder   21	Fluted and double-run feed grain drills
Box   6 Folder   22	Corn pickers
Box   6 Folder   23	Spring needs
Box   6 Folder   24	Cream separators
Box   6 Folder   25	Saving the world from starvation (revised edition, 1931)
Box   6 Folder   26	Harvester-threshers
Box   6 Folder   27	Haying machines and hay presses
Box   6 Folder   28	Display file of current advertising Note: 76 different ads.
Box   6 Folder   29	Foreign advertising Note: 2 circulars, 7 pamphlets, 2 postcards.
McCormick Mss 3Q	Clippings
	General clippings
Box   1	Alabama, Arizona-Illinois
Box   2	Illinois
Box   3	Illinois-Iowa
Box   4	Iowa-Kansas
Box   5	Kentucky-Minnesota
Box   6	Mississippi-Missouri
Box   7	Montana-New York
Box   8	New York-North Dakota
Box   9	Ohio-Oregon
Box   10	Pennsylvania-Texas
Box   11	Texas-Virginia
Box   12	Virginia-Wyoming, miscellaneous
Box   13	Miscellaneous articles to Foreign: Morocco
Box   14-18	4-H Scholarships
	Centennial publicity accumulated by branches
Volume   1	Aberdeen-Buffalo
Volume   2	Cedar Falls-Des Moines
Volume   3	Dodge City-Fort Wayne
Volume   4	Grand Forks-Knoxville
Volume   5	Lincoln-Mason City
Volume   6	Memphis-Minneapolis
Volume   7	Nashville-Portland
Volume   8	Quincy-South Bend
Volume   9	Spokane-Winona
Volume   10-11	Miscellaneous
	Foreign
Volume   12	Argentina
Volume   13	Australia
Volume   14	Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Poland, Romania
Volume   15	Brussels
Volume   16	Canada
Volume   17	Denmark
Volume   18	Finland
Volume   19	France
Volume   20	Germany
Volume   21	Latvia
Volume   22	New Zealand
Volume   23	Norway
Volume   24	Philippines
Volume   25	Sweden
McCormick Mss 4Q	Centennial Celebration Reports
Volume   1	Alabama-Iowa
Volume   2	Kansas-New York
Volume   3	North Dakota-Wyoming
Volume   4	Special, USA reports to Canada, Saskatchewan
McCormick Mss 5Q	Photographs
Volume   1	McCormick Harvesting Machines, 1831-1901
Volume   2	McCormick Day-Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia, 1931 July 29
Volume   3	McCormick Day-Cyrus Hall McCormick statue (photographs by E.F. McGovern, IH)
Volume   4	McCormick Celebration, Washington and Lee University, 1931 September 25
Volume   5	A photographic story of the events commemorating International Harvester's “100 Years in Chicago”
Box   1	Cyrus McCormick-Clay statue and castings to miscellaneous
PH 6702 (7) Oversize Folder	Blueprints for replica of McCormick reaper produced for the Reaper Centennial Celebration, 1929
M2002-049	Part 2 (M2002-049): Additions, 1923-1936 Physical Description: 4.2 c.f. (11 archives boxes)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1923-1936, consisting of files from IHC's executive offices regarding the Reaper Centennial celebration of 1931 and documenting 4-H club scholarships, the development of the feature film Romance of the Reaper, commemorative coins, reaper replicas, toys, a dedication at Walnut Grove, and events at the company's dealerships and branch houses around the country.	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Reaper Centennial, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Reaper Centennial, 1923-1929
Box   1 Folder   3	Address by Cyrus McCormick Jr. at the Stevens Hotel, 1931 January 15
Box   1 Folder   4	Agricultural motion picture-tentative plan for treatment, circa 1929
Box   1 Folder   5	Agricultural scholarships, 1931-1932
Box   1 Folder   6	American Farm Bureau Federation-radio broadcast on invention of reaper
Box   1 Folder   7	Arcade Toy Company toy replica
Box   11 Folder   4	Boys and Girls Club conference, 1931
Box   1 Folder   8	Canada Company pension plan, 1929-1936
	Centennial dinners
Box   1 Folder   9	Branch houses
Box   1 Folder   10-11	Chicago
Box   1 Folder   12	Invitations and acceptances: officers, members of the board, McCormick family
Box   1 Folder   13	Knoxville, Tennesee-Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Box   1 Folder   14	Minneapolis, Minnesota-Parkersburg, West Virginia
Box   1 Folder   15	Centennial film letters-foreign
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Centennial letter sent to branch managers
Box   2 Folder   3	Centennial picture, 1931
Box   2 Folder   4	Centennial source material, 1930-1931
Box   10 Folder   1-2	“Century of the Reaper,” by Cyrus McCormick III (manuscripts), 1930-1931
Box   2 Folder   5	Chicago Jubilee Week celebration, 1931
	Commemorative coins
Box   5 Folder   11	General, 1931-1932
Box   5 Folder   12	Distribution to McCormick family, officers and directors, 1931
Box   5 Folder   13	Furnished to outstanding business man, 1931
Box   2 Folder   6-8	Medallic Art Company
Box   2 Folder   9	Copies of invoices
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Shipment of medals and plaques
Box   11 Folder   5	Photographs
	Correspondence
Box   3 Folder   3	1931 March-May
Box   3 Folder   4	Aberdeen, South Dakota-Birmingham, Alabama
Box   3 Folder   5	Bismarck, North Dakota-Columbia, South Carolina
Box   3 Folder   6	Columbus, Ohio-Evansville, Indiana
Box   3 Folder   7	Fargo, North Dakota-Kansas City, Missouri
Box   4 Folder   1	Parsons, Kansas-St. Joseph, Missouri
Box   4 Folder   2	St. Louis, Missouri-Toledo, Ohio
Box   4 Folder   3	Topeka, Kansas-Winona, Minnesota
Box   4 Folder   4	Regarding State Colleges, 4-H Club
Box   4 Folder   5	Decorah, Iowa article by M.T. Grattan, 1931
Box   4 Folder   6	Djamgaroff, George
Box   4 Folder   7	The Fair of the Iron Horse-centennary exhibition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1926-1931
Box   4 Folder   8	Film
Box   4 Folder   9	Financial matters
Box   4 Folder   10	Foreign advertising, 1931
Box   4 Folder   11	Foreign letters
Box   11 Folder   8	Grand Rapids, Michigan-feature article
Box   4 Folder   12	Harvester World, 1931
Box   4 Folder   13	Hutchinson's book, Cyrus McCormick, acknowledgements, 1931
Box   5 Folder   1	Iowa State College; American Society of Agricultural Engineers
Box   5 Folder   2	Kellar, Herbert, correspondence, 1931
Box   5 Folder   3	Letter of announcement, 1930
Box   5 Folder   4	Letterheads and stickers, 1930-1931
Box   11 Folder   1	Local celebrations, 1931
Box   5 Folder   5	McCormick-W.F. McDermott's articles, 1931
Box   11 Folder   2	McCormick celebration (Washington and Lee University), 1931
	McCormick, Stanley
Box   5 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1931
Box   5 Folder   7	Suggestions for anniversary of father's death, 1931
	Medallic Art Company
Box   5 Folder   8	Broken plaques
Box   5 Folder   9	Plaques
Box   5 Folder   10	Medallion base
Box   5 Folder   14	Messmore-Damon, New York, 1931
Box   5 Folder   15	Metropolitan Sound Studios, 1930 May-December
Box   6 Folder   1	Metropolitan Sound Studios, 1931 January-November
Box   6 Folder   2	Mimeograph letters, 1931-1932
	Motion picture
Box   6 Folder   3	Chandlee Treatment, 1931 February 4
Box   6 Folder   4	Tentative plan for treatment, 1930
Box   11 Folder   7	Newspapers by state
Box   6 Folder   5	Oregon State Agricultural College celebration
Box   6 Folder   6	Photographs of Walnut Grove, circa 1931
Box   6 Folder   7	Pickett, John E., speech
Box   6 Folder   8	Postage stamp
Box   6 Folder   9	Radio advertising plan, Famous Artists of the Air Inc.
Box   6 Folder   10	Reaper replica correspondence with Professor Gore regarding reaper at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville, 1931
Box   6 Folder   11	Replica letters, foreign
Box   6 Folder   12	Results of newspaper publicity
Box   6 Folder   13	Romance of the reaper scenario, circa 1929
	Scholarships: 4-H Club
Box   6 Folder   14	Original scholarship list selected by Judges Arthur Hyde, E.J. Bodman, Carl Gray, Murphy F. Traylor
Box   6 Folder   15	1930
Box   7 Folder   1-4	1931-1935
	Correspondence
Box   10 Folder   3	1930-1931
Box   7 Folder   5	1931
Box   7 Folder   6	Alabama, 1932-1935
Box   7 Folder   7	Arkansas, 1932-1936
Box   7 Folder   8	California, 1932-1933
Box   7 Folder   9	Colorado, 1932-1936
Box   7 Folder   10	Florida, 1932-1934
Box   8 Folder   1	Georgia, 1932-1933
Box   8 Folder   2	Idaho, 1932-1933
Box   8 Folder   3	Illinois, 1932-1935
Box   8 Folder   4	Indiana, 1932-1934
Box   8 Folder   5	Iowa, 1932-1935
Box   8 Folder   6	Kansas
Box   8 Folder   7	Kentucky
Box   8 Folder   8	Louisiana
Box   8 Folder   9	Massachusetts
Box   8 Folder   10	Michigan
Box   8 Folder   11	Minnesota, 1932-1935
Box   8 Folder   12	Mississippi, 1932-1934
Box   8 Folder   13	Missouri
Box   8 Folder   14	Montana
Box   8 Folder   15	Nebraska
Box   8 Folder   16	New Mexico
Box   8 Folder   17	New York
Box   8 Folder   18	North Carolina
Box   8 Folder   19	Ohio
Box   9 Folder   1	Oklahoma
Box   9 Folder   2	Oregon, 1932-1934
Box   9 Folder   3	Rhode Island
Box   9 Folder   4	South Dakota
Box   9 Folder   5	Tennessee
Box   9 Folder   6	Virginia
Box   9 Folder   7	Washington
Box   9 Folder   8	West Virginia
Box   9 Folder   9	Wisconsin
Box   9 Folder   10	Wyoming
Box   9 Folder   11	Letters from winners, 1932
Box   9 Folder   12	List of contest participants
Box   9 Folder   13	Newspaper clippings
Box   9 Folder   14	Prize letter contest winners
Box   9 Folder   15	School
Box   9 Folder   16	A plan for the International Harvester Company regarding the seventy-fifth anniversary of the McCormick Reaper Works, 1923
Box   11 Folder   3	Shenandoah Valley Fair Association, 1931
Box   9 Folder   17	Speech file, 1930-1931
Box   11 Folder   6	Virginia State Fair, 1931
Box   10 Folder   4	Works (factories) celebrations, 1931
Box   10 Folder   5	Yorktown Sesquicentennial Celebration