Search

This collection contains files relating to the KSU College of Engineering, auxiliary organizations and projects, personal information, and memorabilia and physical media.

The College of Engineering files include agendas, minutes, memoranda, notes, slides, correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets, publications, reference material, depositions, speech scripts, proposals, evaluations, surveys, reports, budget and cost analysis, blueprints, photographs, maps, KSU magazines and newspapers (the K-State Engineer, the K-Stater, Kansas Technical Professions), and booklets. These materials pertain to meetings (department meetings, committee meetings, council meetings, club meetings, alumni meetings), events (open house events, commencement, talks, banquets, luncheons, career fairs, Engineering Day), programs and classes, scholarships (including donation records and recipient letters of gratitude). There are also records related to Kansas State University Foundation, the Mid-America State Universities Association (MASUA), and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC).

The auxiliary organizations and projects files include correspondence, newsletters, certificates, photos, blueprints, maps, speech scripts, proposals, reports, minutes, agendas, notes, publications, booklets, newspapers, slides, nomination forms, legislative materials, budget and cost analysis, and files related to fundraising and profits. The organizations and projects in question are the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), the National Society of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc (ABET), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), the Order of the Engineer, the Kansas Engineering Society (KES) Task Force, Great Achievement Task Force, National Youth Science Camp, Integrated Circuit Electronics Corporation Inc. (ICE), the Kansas Entrepreneurial Center Advisory Board, the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions, the National Institute for Land Management and Training, the Land Management Training Center (Fort Riley), KS Army National Guard, Institute for American Liberty, Freedom Oil and Gas Co., the Kansas Power and Light Company, the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, and the Manhattan Rotary Club, the Rotary Leadership Institute, Phi Kappa Phi, Kemper Military School, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Electrical Engineering, Allen County Community College, Clay Center High School, Baldwin High School, the Delphinium Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, the Jazz Advisory Committee, the Picture Lady Program, the Wrestling House Project, the Manhattan Community Foundation, Manhattan City Planning Board, Retire to the Flint Hills Committee, the Colbert Hills Golf Course, the Sunset Cemetery Paslay Singing Tower, and the First Presbyterian Church.

The personal records relate to the personal life of Don Rathbone and his family. The materials include correspondence, photos, certificates, newspapers, and slides pertaining to holidays, recreational organizations, retirement, and Rathbone family funerals (namely Lynne Rathbone, Gladys Rathbone, Fay Rathbone, Wally Rathbone, and Ken Rathbone).

The memorabilia and physical media relate to both Rathbone’s personal and professional life. The materials include books (including In My Words: The Oral History Project as told by Perdue History, alumni directory books, fact books, and other KSU and engineering-related publications), booklets, photos, photo albums, certificates, maps, blueprints, plaques, awards, high school and college yearbooks, calendars, planners, appointment books, log books, address books, business card files, a Rolodex with contact information, signed volleyballs, a deck of playing cards, a Transcriber Company diamond needle, a Pickering Stereo Fluxvalve Cartridge for automatic turntables, engineering-related tools (a Hemmi Slide Rule with Don E. Rathbone’s name engraved on it inside a leather case, a Type Ceramic Capacitor Rule, a Pocket Metric Converter, and a Motor Data Calculator), VHS tapes, DVDs, floppy discs, cassette tapes, magnetic audio tapes, polaroid slides, a flash drive, and an unlabeled film reel.

This collection documents the academic career of Don L. Good, noted livestock judge and head of the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University (1966–1987). A wide range of materials are include from lantern slides to publications to journals documenting trips abroad, and date from 1923 to 2008. The collection has been divided into series based on material types.
The Artifact series includes certificates, awards, banners, business cards, and plaques.
The Audio-Visual series consists primarily of photographs and negatives documenting department activities (1924-1988), as well as photo albums and scrapbooks. Some of the activities highlighted are livestock shows and judging teams, Weber Hall, the U. S. Beef Symposium, and the 1950 International Team. Glass negatives and lantern slides have been relocated to allow for better preservation of fragile materials.
The Block and Bridle series (1940-2006) documents the student organization's activities and events such as their annual banquet and involvement in Little American Royal. Block and Bridle yearbooks from other universities are also included.
The Conference series (1959-2003) records Dr. Good's involvement in various professional activities such as contests, shows, sales, expos, state and county fairs, conventions, and forums. Some of the events included are Beef Cattle Efficiency Forum, 1984; Angus Forum: Century of Angus in the U.S.A., 1973; Hereford Association meeting, 1959; Beef Empire Live & Carcass Show, 1973; International Cattlemen's Expo, 1969, and Nebraska State Fair, 1980 and 1982.
The correspondence series (1954-1991) consists of fourteen items including individual correspondence and letters concerning tenure, academic credentials, the 17th Stockman's Dinner, and departmental print orders.
The International Meat and Livestock Program (IMLP) (1989-2001) consists of papers contributed by various countries, from Africa to Ukraine. Animal health, veterinary practices, beef production, meat processing, feed processing, herd management, genetics, and molecular biology are some of the topics covered.
The International Trips series covers travel to Nigeria, 1968-1969, Turkey, 1971, and England & Scotland, 1971.
The Judging series (1932-2003) focuses primarily on the livestock (1948-2003) and dairy (1969-1987) judging teams. Other topics include the Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest, the wool team, American Royal, Kansas State Fair, and judging in general.
The Livestock and Meat Industry Council (LMIC) (1967-2001) contains organizational information including Articles of Incorporation, Board meetings, correspondence, minutes, agendas, memos, and financial records.
Printed material (1885-2006) contains university and departmental publications, as well as books and articles that reflect Dr. Good's professional interests. Included with this series are departmental policies and memos, faculty meeting minutes, and expansion plans. The two titles with the largest number of issues are the College of Agriculture Teaching Newsletter and Monday Morning Updates.
The Public Speaking series (1950-1998) contains speeches and public talks given at a variety of events from the Americal Royal to the Z-Bar Ranch, taking place across Kansas and various locations around the country.
The Saddle and Sirloin series (1970-2004) contains recommendations and biographies.
The Yearly Planners series (1968-1987) contains planners and/or calendars.
The Restricted series contains one box of Patton Farm records, undated.

The Donna C. Roper papers includes the research documents and publications of Dr. Donna C. Roper, prolific archaeologist who made major research contributions, particularly in the Central Plains region of North America. This collection is separated into six series. The first series, field of compliance project records, containing print and electronic copies of documents such as proposals, project correspondence, site survey forms, field notes, and maps of sites. The second series is research and interpretation records, containing preliminary and final reports, data records such as artifact catalogs and dating, photographs, unfinished or draft manuscripts, published works such as journal articles, and conference papers. Professional service records include graduate committee correspondence, published book reviews, nominations for National Historic Landmarks, recommendation letters, teaching records, etc. the fourth series is for personal records, containing vitae, awards, and other things such as personal correspondence and diplomas. The fifth series contains bound publications, such as bound archaeological journals and published reports. The sixth series are oversized maps that could not fit with the rest of the collection. An estimated 2,000 slides and 500 print negatives are included in the second series with research records. The collection covers a temporal range from 1929 to 2015.

This collection is comprised of material from the Dow Chemical Multicultural Resource Center at Kansas State University Libraries. Material within this collection covers multicurtural issues, personalities, and events at Kansas State University as well as the surrounding area. The bulk of the material in the collection is from the 1960s to the 1990s. There are photographs taken by Lawerence Wright, Jr., as well as posters from events sponsored by the Dow Chemical Multicultural Resource Center.

The Edna Worthley Underwood Papers (1889-1946) covers the period of her most active publishing. Underwood wrote original works of plays, poetry, prose, short stories, and news articles. She also translated various author's works into English.
The first series, Correspondence (1910-1944), is divided into Personal Correspondence, letters from friends and admirers; Business Correspondence, letters regarding the publishing of books and reviews; Postcards; Telegram; Robert Earl Underwood's Correspondence; and a Letterbook, letters, and poems used for background information for her book of translation of poets of Haiti. The poets include Madame D. Viard, M. Leon Laleau, Victor Mangones, and Maurice A. Casseus. She corresponded with many of the authors, often asking for a biographical sketch and a photograph. After 1938, not much is known of her life. She did not publish but traveled within the U.S. Photographs have been transferred to the photograph collection of the University Archives.
Literary Works (1927-1938) is divided into several sub-series. Original Works contains works by Underwood; criticism of other authors; news articles on points of interest; notes; poems; prose; play, A Petersburg Night; short stories, "The Shudder of Don Giovanni", "Madame Dorette and Nature", and three untitled. The sub-series: 1) Translations, includes translations of short stories put into the book Flemish Short Stories; 2) plays, The Yellow Tent and Improvisations in June poems; 3) short stories, "The Van Helmers", "The Beggar Minar", "Tramp and Peasant", "Vaudrevil", "If Life is White", "Exile", "A Game of Chess", "Martha Timar", "Father, A Portrait", "The Trick", "Christmas Eve", and "The Wedding". Also included are original works by Aberto Zum Felde, Fernand Knopf, Robert Earl Underwood, and works by unknown authors. The last sub series contains miscellaneous items.
The series Individuals (1918-1939) contains folders on individuals that Underwood corresponded with and whose works she translated. The folders contain correspondence and original works of poetry and prose. The individuals include Max Dickman, Fabio Fiallo, Germaine Lassara-Bouchecourt, Coelho Netto, Luis Felipe Rodriguez, Daniel Thaly, and Cesar Vallejo.
The series Scrapbooks (1905-1940) contains three scrapbooks. Scrapbook #1 covers 1905-1939. It contains newspaper clippings, letters, and various printed materials. Scrapbook #2 covers the literature of South America. It contains correspondence and original works of poetry. Individuals included are Julio Herrera, Xavier Abril, Carlos Wyld Ospina, Lartigau Lespada, Juan Borch, and Fernando Torregrosa. Scrapbook #3 contains correspondence and poetry from individual poets included in Underwood's translation of poets from Haiti. The poets include Emile Roumer, Clement Magloire, Maurice Casseus, Carl Brouard, Milo Riguad, Jacques Romain, Justinien Ricot, Jean F. Brierre, and Timothee Paret.
The series Notebooks (1889-1924) contains seven notebooks. They cover the time Underwood attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. These are handwritten notes from lectures. Notebook #5 contains prose written in 1924, thirty years after her graduation from the University. The last series, Printed Material, contains booklets, "El Pais Lilac", "Revista de Las Indias", "The Hobart Guild", "De Godsdienstige Keinst Van Rubens", "La Poesia Sorprendida", and "Requiem Por Los Muertos De Europa"; translations: newspaper clippings: and miscellaneous.
Twelve photographs were removed and filed in the University Archives photograph collection under the heading of Underwood. The photographs include Maurice Andre Casseus, Concepcion Monterrosa, Cesar Vallejo (2), Xavier Abril de Viver, Jorge Luis Borges, Germaine Lassara-Bouchecourt, Coelho Netto, Helery, Balleitein de Martin, and unknown.

These records document the Alpha Rho chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi, national extension honor society, at Kansas State University from 1930 to 2016. Types of material include programs, constitutions, newsletters, chapter history, minutes, financial information, membership listings, autobiographies, scrapbooks, and photographic materials. Some records from the 1990s are in digital format.

This collection documents the history of Farmland Industries, Inc. from Howard A. Cowden's idea to establish Cowden Oil Company in 1928, through the dissolution of the company in 2004.
The Union Equity series is comprised of 14 boxes. It includes Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, correspondence, export records, financial and audit records, meeting minutes, meeting agendas, speeches, publicity materials, printed material, audiovisual materials, and photographs.
Women's Cooperative Guild series is made up of five (5) boxes and one (1) box is shared with the Farmland Artifacts series. It includes annual reports, correspondence, financial records, member records, meeting minutes, newsletters, photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks, and artifacts.
Contained in 126 boxes, the Farmland series is the largest in the collection. It is made up of corporation records, correspondence, financial records, historical records, photographs, negatives, slides, printed material, and scrapbooks. The corporation records include Corporation By-Laws, annual reports, annual meetings, conferences, minute books, Dreyer Award winners, Ampride Incorporation merger with Farmland, Farmland Food Services, Farmland World Trade Company, and Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reports at various locations. Historical records follow the history of Farmland from Cowden Oil Company (1928) through name changes and the dissolution of the company (2004). They also include the history of the changes of the Farmland logo. There are photographs, negatives, and slides of board members, Dreyer Award winners, and employees and non-employees filed in alphabetical order. A possible photograph of interest is of Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. Other photographs, negatives, and slides include annual meetings (1944-2001), Coffeyville Petroleum Coke to Ammonia Project, Co-Op displays, Farmland food plants, Farmland Headquarters, Phillipsburg Refinery, Youth Camp, baseball players, football players, hockey players, barbed wire, barges, cattle, farm meetings, feed mills, feeding containers, fertilizer plants, food storage containers, glo-candles, grease plant, heaters, hogs, horses, landscapes, laundry detergent, livestock shows, paint plant, pipelines, print plant, propane plant, refineries, sheep, soy plants, storage tanks, trains, trucks, warehouses, and warehouse fires. There is also a photo book of Consumers Cooperative Association. Printed material consists of articles, brochures, catalogs, essays, magazines such as Leadership, training manuals, manuscripts, music, newsletters such as Farmland News and Inside Farmland, news releases, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, reports of fertilizer plants and pork processing plants, speeches and radio addresses by Howard A. Cowden, Homer Young, and others and educational and training materials. There are five (5) scrapbooks in this series. Photographs in the scrapbooks include an ammonium phosphate plant in Joplin, Missouri, Coffeyville Refinery, Farmland Headquarters, Lawrence Nitrogen Plant, Phillipsburg Refinery, annual meetings, Co-Op transportation vehicles, feed mills, and warehouses.
Cooperative Refinery Association (CRA) series is made up of one (1) box. It includes information pertaining to the Coffeyville and Phillipsburg, Kansas refineries, CRA meeting minute books (1939-1981), and CRA of Peru, Inc.
Consumers Cooperative Association (CCA) series is comprised of three (3) boxes and one (1) partial box that is shared with CFCA series, Union Oil Company series, and Agricultural Hall of Fame series. It includes the organization's Administrative Orders, Articles of Incorporation, correspondence, conferences, farm program and problems, history of the organization, lists of Board of Directors, minutes, policies, list of personnel, speeches by Howard A. Cowden, subsidiary reports, printed material, and information regarding the Howard A. Cowden Scholarship & Memorial Fund. The one (1) partial box consists of the history of the organization including photographs of laying of the cornerstone of the office building located at 3315 North Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, Missouri, the Neighbor Night Program, and audio cassette tapes. The tapes include the 21st Annual Meeting (1949), Neighbor Night meetings (1951 and 1953), the 24th Annual Meeting (1952), the dedication of the nitrate plant (1952), and short recordings of Howard A. Cowden.
Cooperative Farm Chemical Association (CFCA) series is stored in one (1) box and one (1) partial box shared with the CCA series, Union Oil Company series, and Agricultural Hall of Fame series. It includes Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws, annual stockholders meetings and minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, revolving fund certificates (1959-1985), and photographs and printed material of the dedication of the Lawrence Nitrogen Plant, Lawrence, Kansas (1951-1954).
Far-Mar-Co series is contained in two (2) boxes. Included are correspondence to the Board of Directors (1976-1985), news releases, newspaper clippings, and the organization meeting of the incorporators of Far-Mar-Co/Farmland Acquisition Corporation (1976-1980).
Union Oil Company series is housed in one (1) box with CCA series, CFCA series, and Agricultural Hall of Fame series. Included are the Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Agreement, Affidavit of Dissolution of Cowden Oil Company, correspondence, minutes, magazines and newspaper publicity and advertising, radio talks, and speeches, and three (3) scrapbooks with photographs.
The Agricultural Hall of Fame series is stored in one (1) box with CCA series, CFCA series, and Union Oil Company series. It contains the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws (1958-1961), newspaper clippings (1980-1990), visitors guides (1960-1981), photographs, printed materials with titles such as "What's the Agricultural Hall of Fame Development Program All About?" and "How Farmers Can Take Part in Building the Agricultural Hall of Fame Through Their Local Cooperatives."
Stored in five (5) boxes and two (2) shared boxes and five (5) oversize items, the Farmland Artifacts series contains awards, a keychain that reads "Farmland, Proud to be Farmer Owned," a coffee cup that reads "Co-Op Quality Paint," a deck of playing cards that reads "Co-Op Feed Mill Dedication, Farmland Industries, Inc.," golf tees, paperweights, wooden gavel, a red and white apron that reads "Use Co-Op Products," and a color plate of Co-Op Red and Co-Op Blue. The series also includes one (1) ceremonial shovel dated December 1, 1959, a Recognition Board that reads in part "In Recognition Members of the Original Consolidated Board of Directors of FAR-MAR-CO, Inc." with a list of board members dated June 1, 1968-March 1969, and a silver metal sign that reads "Consumers Cooperative Association" with a list of board of directors dated 1956. It also includes a Bell & Howell Model 1550B 16mm film projector. Note one shared box is with the Women's Cooperative Guild series and the other shared box is with the Farmland Industries series.
Farmland Oversize series are stored in nine (9) boxes and two (2) map cabinet drawers. Included are advertising posters, newspaper clippings, bound advertising pages, photographs, calendars, two (2) scrapbooks, Ken Burdette Sketches, a drawing of Farmland Foods Plant, banners, blueprints, and watercolor paintings. The advertising posters include wheat, farm fuel, and John Denver's TV Special, Farmland Mission Statement, and Farmland Service Pledge. The photographs include aerial photographs, photographs of Howard A. Cowden, barges, harvesting, CCA, National Ag Center, Phillipsburg Refinery, annual meetings (1937-1953), Farmland oil products, and crops. The two (2) scrapbooks contain Co-Op Store Campaign Advertisements and information on presenting Farmland Industries. There are three (3) Ken Burdette sketches. One of Arthur Capper, one of Andrew Volstead and the third of is the mural that was inside the Farmland Headquarters reception area. There are six (6) banners in this series. One banner is painted on oilcloth and reads "Kansas Grassroots Says Stop Floods and Drouth The Watershed Way." Another banner is painted on canvas and reads "Funds Flow Chart, Consumer Cooperative Association, 1947." The other four (4) banners are vinyl and they promote the Phillipsburg Refinery, Farmland, Co-Op, and AG 21. Included in the blueprints are those of Farmland Headquarters and complex and warehouse additions in Iowa and Colorado. There are two (2) watercolor paintings. One of Heartland Wheat Growers Wheat Starch and Gluten Production facility in Russell, Kansas, and the other of the Portland Head Lighthouse.
The Audio-Visual Materials series is stored in 36 boxes and there are loose items on five (5) shelves. Included are 16mm films, CDs, cassette tapes, filmstrips, LPs, and VHS tapes. The 16mm films include films on annual meetings, sales rallies and have titles such as "The is Far-Mar-Co," "Your Cooperative Federation," "Helping You Help Yourself," "You Are Not Alone," "Service From the Ground Up," "Farmland Trails," "Ham to Hot Dogs," and "Better Farming Better Food." There is also a 16mm film of Howard Cowden speaking at a CFCA cornerstone ceremony in Lawrence, Kansas, and of Jim Henson's "Muppets Meeting Films" (1979). The CDs contain a PowerPoint presentation of the Farmland Headquarters Visitor Center, photographs, annual meeting information, Bob Honse images, national beef images, annual reports, history of Farmland (1969-2000), and the Dreyer Awards. Cassette tapes include the Bunny Farm Rabbit Feeding program, annual meetings, shareholders meetings, monthly dairy meetings, and youth leadership conferences. The filmstrips include Neighborhood Councils, refinery news, and the cooperative centennial (1844-1944). There are LPs of 78 RPM and 33 1/3 RPM in this series. They include radio messages and addresses of Howard A. Cowden and Chuck Miller, Co-Op Neighbor Night Program, Battle Hymn of Cooperation Consumers Co-Operative Association Quartet, and annual meetings. The largest section of audiovisual materials is the VHS tapes. Tapes include special events, motivational tapes, annual meetings, employee meetings, Fieldmen's conferences, food safety, pesticides, Coffeyville Refinery tour, quarterly meetings, news broadcasts about Farmland, Coffeyville oil spill, training videos, sales rallies, speeches, and presentations of Harry D. Cleberg, Dreyer Awards, Farmland Industries Project Tomorrow, grain grading, shareholders meetings, Foods Media Shows, Heartland Wheat Growers, and restructuring Farmland. VHS tapes that may be of interest are those of Senators Nancy Kassebaum and Robert "Bob" Dole. Other VHS tapes include voice demos from individuals such as Sam Beck, Bob Benish, Jr., Carla Cooper, Kimball Cummings, Jack Elliott, T. Max Graham, Barbara Houston, Randy Kemp, Mark Mason, Don Miller, Jim Scott, and many others.
There are nineteen shelves of printed material that are bound volumes. The bound volumes are The Daily Scoop, Inside Farmland, Farmland Circles, Co-Op News Digest, Leadership, Bulletin, Teammates, The Cooperative Farmer, Co-Op Reporter, The Cooperative Consumer, Insider, Managers Newsletter, Advantage, The Plant Connection, Farmland Supervisor, and Home-Maker. Note The Cooperative Consumer name changed to Farmland in September 1966 and Farmland changed to Farmland News in 1971.

This collection primarily includes college documents and printed materials from Frances W. ImMasche, who graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College in 1929. Types of material include correspondence, programs, an agriculture handbook, invitations, cards, graduation programs, travel souvenirs, a scrapbook, and newspaper clippings. Correspondence from his time as a student primarily concerned the college and Lambda Gamma Delta, the honorary agricultural judging fraternity. Correspondence after college mainly includes letters from 1948 to 1954 from Carl (also spelled Karl) Hofer, a German abstract expressionist painter. ImMasche purchased four of his paintings and later donated them to Kansas State University, which is now in the collections of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.
Additional topics in the ImMasche papers include his military service in the United States Army and Air Force, as well as a scrapbook documenting his time as a college student (Scrapbook 34 in the archives' scrapbook collection). Correspondents included Leland Call, C. W. McCampbell, F. D. Farrell, Howard T. Hill, H. H. King, and J. H. Burt. Organizations represented include Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Livestock Judging Team, Alpha Zeta, Aggie Orpheum, YMCA, Student Council, and the 1929 Senior Class.
Finally, a photocopy of "German Expressionist Artist Karl Hofer" from Journal of Popular Culture (Volume 22, Issue 4, Spring 1989) by Jessica Reichman and E. R. Hagemann is included and describes Hofer, his paintings, and his exchanges with ImMasche.

The papers were assembled by Colonel Frank Caldwell Hershberger (1888-1965) over a long international career as a veterinary medicine specialist. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs and postcards gathered into three scrapbooks dating from 1908 to circa 1955. These albums cover various locations in Europe and Africa, as well as Diamond, Wyoming, and the Philippines. Additional loose photographs date from circa 1905 and document his time at the University of Missouri, Camp Marfa (Texas), Fort Monroe (Virginia), Fort Riley (Kansas), Fort Sill (Oklahoma), and Fort Mills (Corregidor, Philippines). Photographs include military officers, military polo teams, training cavalry horses, and the process of transporting horses via troopship. Augmenting the visual materials are articles, diplomatic papers, typescripts, some correspondence and a diary related to Hershberger's work for the Chinese government (1914-1918). One typescript details the history of the Port Veterinarian for the Port of Embarkation, New York, 1921-1945. The collection also includes the Legion of Merit medal, Legionnaire degree, which is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.

The Franklin A. Coffman papers contain letters, autobiographical materials, paternal and maternal family genealogies, legal documents, literary works, awards and honors, printed materials, photographs, scrapbooks and photograph albums, and artifacts.
Personal correspondence is mainly amongst family members though there is a letter from J. Edgar Hoover regarding a poem Coffman published. Business correspondence is sparse. Coffman received a bound volume of congratulatory letters upon his retirement. The letters provide the best account of Coffman's work with the United States Department of Agriculture within the collection. Many describe interactions with Coffman during field work and visits to experiment stations across the country. There is no official governmental correspondence in the collection documenting Coffman's work.
Coffman handwrote autobiographical accounts of his life during his later years. These accounts are mainly of his childhood, college days and work in the Philippines. The accounts covering the years Coffman spent in the Philippines are extensive. They provide many details and impressions about the native people. The accounts also cover his travels to other Asian countries while based in the Philippines.
Coffman spent years gathering genealogical information from relatives and researching his ancestors. He traced his father's Coffman ancestors back to 1737 and his mother's Bayle ancestors back to 1796. There are notes, different versions of family trees, and extensive narrative written by Coffman describing the lives of his ancestors.
Legal documents are sparse.
Coffman was a prolific poet. There are clippings of poetry published in the Washington Post. Some poems were published without his name. Others have his initials, F.A.C., including two series of poems compiled in notebooks. There are also unpublished poems.
There are certificates for scholarly and service awards and honors, and the registration certificate for the Marion Oat. There are not certificates for all the awards and honors listed on Coffman's resume.
There are just a few United States Department of Agriculture's bulletins and farmer's Bulletins that Coffman authored or co-authored. The vast majority of Coffman's published research is not part of the collection.
One of Coffman's hobbies was photography. There are hundreds of photographs documenting his personal and professional lives. Subjects are wide-ranging. Coffman signed some of his photographs, mainly what he referred to as the "salon prints." There are photographs taken by others including professional portraits and candid photographs of Coffman at various ages. Many photographs are undated and unidentified.
There are seven scrapbooks containing photographs and memorabilia. 1) Photographs and memorabilia document a 10 day automobile trip to eastern cities and New England that Coffman took with his wife and daughter in 1936. Expenses totaled $110.96.
2) "The Farm" album contains photographs of family members, neighbors, friends, crops, farmhouse interiors and exteriors, Rocky Ford School, and Rocky Ford dam and mill. The album is dated 1913 and some photographs are identified. There are also approximately 56 photographs of Manhattan and Kansas State Agricultural College. The subjects are the campus, buildings, classmates, lake recreation, train depot, street car, and a railroad bridge. Some photos are identified and dated 1914.
3) This photo album with narrative is titled "The Many Faces of F.A.C." and is written by "A Couple of Norths and Shanghai Louis Kao." It was compiled in 1962 and contains photographs of Coffman in various locations.
4) The album has photographs of Coffman's family and ancestors (earliest date 1884), Sunday school class, the First Baptist Church in 1902, Kansas State Agricultural College, and Manhattan. There is extensive Kansas State Agricultural College memorabilia including a cadet corps certificate, 1908 fall term schedule, invitations, commencement programs, band programs, banquet programs, clippings and a baseball ticket. The album also has correspondence and drawings. The album has memorabilia from Coffman's transit back to the United States on the Shino Maru including menus and passenger list. There are photographs of the transit and memorabilia from a Hong Kong visit en route. There are photographs of Kansas State Agricultural College, Oklahoma A&M and Akron, Colorado. 1916.
5) The Philippines album contains photographs of Coffman's trip across the western United States to board the S.S. Manchuria for transit to the Philippines. Coffman photographed the Golden Gate Park, the Panama Pacific International Exhibition grounds, onboard ship recreation, Honolulu, Tokyo, Nagasaki, the Philippines' countryside, Filipinos' daily activities, Philippine experiment stations, cultural activities, villages, Coffman's office and co-workers, YMCA sports, Viscayia (German naval ship), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, Yamaa, Yokahoma, the voyage back to the United States on the Shino Maru (not to be confused with the Shinyo Maru), Honolulu experiment station, Universal Film City, and the San Diego Exposition. 1914-1916.
6) The photographs and memorabilia in this album are compiled in honor of Coffman's brother, Will, who died in 1920. It contains drawings, report cards, class schedule and photographs of Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, University of Kansas, and Will's travels. Loose commencement programs from Kansas State Agricultural College, 1913-1915, are with the album.
7) The album contains photographs from Coffman's days in Akron and his travels to Amarillo, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Arlington, New York, Philadelphia and Mount Vernon from 1919-1922. There is memorabilia from Washington, D.C., New York including a Metropolitan Opera House program and a Hippodrome souvenir book, Coffman's wedding and showers, and a program from the American Society of Agronomy 1922 meeting. Morrill, Kansas, Twin Oaks, Estes Park, county fairs, and Manhattan are also subjects of photographs. Alta Johnson's School Girl Days: A Memory Book from Washington County High School, 1914, is boxed with the scrapbooks.
The most notable artifacts are four cameras, presumably used by Coffman: Univex Model A, 1933; No. 1-A Kodak Junior Model A, 1914; No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie, circa 1915-1916; Kodak Six-16 camera and leather case, circa 1932-1936.