Gerald Artis "Jerry" Lineweaver was born to Henry W. and Maude Lineweaver in South English, Iowa, on March 9, 1904. He received his B.S. (1929) in animal husbandry and journalism and his M.S. (1949) in education from Iowa State College (University). Before joining the staff at Iowa State, Lineweaver was a farmer and a high school principal. For the remainder of his career, he would be associated with extension work.

Lineweaver was named the Black Hawk County Club Agent (1936-1938) and then the County Extension Director (1938-1943) in Monroe County. He soon joined the Cooperative Extension Service staff in Ames and was named Assistant State Boys' 4-H Club Leader (1943-1946) and was soon promoted to State Boys' 4-H Club Leader (1946-1959). He was named Assistant Extension 4-H Leader (1959-1969).

As the desire for a state 4-H camp grew, Lineweaver took a lead role in making it a reality. He was instrumental in the creation of the Iowa 4-H Foundation, serving as the first Executive Secretary (1949-1975) for the Foundation. In this capacity, he took a lead role in the fundraising efforts for the camp.

Lineweaver was also very active in the National 4-H program, serving the national organization through committee work and advising. He served as Chairman (1954) of the National 4-H Extension Committee and Chariman (1954-1955) of the National 4-H Dairy Development Committee. Interestingly, he took a leave of absence from his work in Iowa to serve as Agricultural Extension Advisor to Rural Youth (1957-1958) in the Philippines where he helped with the development of the 4-H program and also assisted in other extension work there.

He married Hazel Koontz on August 26, 1934, and together they had one son, Jon. Lineweaver died on April 20, 1985.

The collection (1935-1997, n.d.) includes biographical information, correspondence, new clippings, photographs, and publications. Biographical information includes news clippings, press releases, brief biographies, and memorials. The correspondence is mostly general correspondence related to the Iowa 4-H Foundation. The collection also contains the contents of two notebooks compiled by Lineweaver. The first one contains inspirational materials regarding 4-H, citizenship, leadership, and parenting. The second notebook is a compilation of professional awards, correspondence, news clippings, and photographs. Finally, the collection contains a final report and general information regarding 4-H work in the Philippines, for which Lineweaver was an advisor.

The collection is organized alphabetically.