Special Collections & University Archives
403 Parks Library

701 Morrill Road
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2102

RS 9/4/3
Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment
Records, 1938-2010, undated

Descriptive summary

creator:	Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment
title:	Records
dates:	1938-2010, undated
extent:	13.21 linear feet (6 records center cartons, 3 oversized boxes, 1 artifact box)
collection number:	RS 9/4/3
repository:	University Archives, Special Collections and University Archives Department, Iowa State University.
language:	English

Administrative information

access:	Open for research
publication rights:	Consult Head, Special Collections and University Archives Department
preferred citation:	Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment Records, RS 9/4/3, Special Collections and University Archives Department, Iowa State University Library.

Abstract

The Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment was founded in 1937 as the Iowa State College Agricultural Foundation. Muscatine, Iowa, banker Clifton R. Musser donated nine farms and $100,000 to the foundation in 1938. He hoped to find a way to help farmers and their families during the Great Depression. Musser's vision was to provide educational programs in order to improve agriculture in Iowa. The foundation worked for this goal by the acquisition, management, and stewardship of farmland throughout Iowa. The collection contains meeting minutes, reports, histories, a clippings scrapbook, an artifact, Board of Trustees records, and histories, deeds, and financial records of farms owned by the Agricultural Endowment (formerly Foundation).

Historical note

The Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment was founded in 1937 as the Iowa State College Agricultural Foundation as the idea of Muscatine, Iowa, banker Clifton R. Musser. His vision was to provide educational programs in order to improve agriculture in Iowa, and he hoped to find a way to help farmers and their families through difficult times. He donated nine farms and $100,000 to the foundation in 1938. These farms were located in the following counties: Cerro Gordo, Keokuk, Louisa, Monroe, O’Brien, Pottawattamie, Taylor, Van Buren, and Warren. The foundation worked to fulfill Musser's goals through the acquisition, management, and stewardship of farmland throughout Iowa. It then owned, leased, and sold land for the use and benefit of young farm families in the state.

The foundation’s Articles of Incorporation were recorded in 1937. The following year, its first meeting was held and the first trustees were appointed. These trustees included Charles E. Friley (President of Iowa State College [University]), H. H. Kildee (Agricultural Division), R. K. Bliss (Agricultural Extension Service), and Clifton R. Musser. Committees were set up for each farm owned by the foundation. Scholarships were first established for freshmen studying agriculture at Iowa State College (University) in 1946, providing 5 scholarships for $200 that year. Following Iowa State College’s name change to Iowa State University in 1959, the Agricultural Foundation changed its name to the Iowa State University Agricultural Foundation in 1961. That decade, the foundation began to manage farms for the Committee for Agricultural Development (CAD), ISU, and the ISU Alumni Foundation (1963).

The 1980s brought significant change to the organization. The Board of Trustees determined that the foundation needed to adopt a broader approach to support Iowa agriculture. After being urged in 1982 to sell farms due to poor income and high land prices, the foundation started selling off its land holdings and used the assets to create an endowment for scholarships, grants, and other support for agricultural programs. The mission statement was officially changed in 1993 and the foundation voted to liquidate all of its farms that year. The late 1990s saw an increase in the amount of scholarship money awarded to students in the ISU College of Agriculture. In 2000, the foundation awarded its first Student Organization Grant. Its name changed to the Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment in 2003 to clarify its distinction from the Iowa State University Foundation.

Collection description

The collection (1938-2010, undated) contains meeting minutes, reports, histories, a clippings scrapbook, an artifact, Board of Trustees records, and histories, deeds, and financial records of farms owned by the Agricultural Endowment (formerly Foundation). The records document the history and activities of the Iowa State University Agricultural Endowment, including the acquisition, leasing, and eventual sale of its farms.

Related materials

Related collections in the Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library include:

Committee for Agricultural Development (CAD) (RS 9/3)

Organization

This collection is organized into two series:

Series 1, Administrative Files, 1938-2010, undated (chronological)
Series 2, Farm Accounts, 1938-1999, undated (alphabetical)

Description of series

Series 1	Administrative Files	1938-2010, undated
extent:	7.92 linear feet
description:	This series contains meeting minutes, Board of Trustees records, reports, histories, a clippings scrapbook, and an artifact. Files are arranged in chronological order.

Container list

Box	Folder	Title	Dates
1	1	Meeting minutes	1938-1941
4	3	Audit reports	1938-1944
10	1	Clippings	1938-1973, undated
10	2	History	1938-1975, undated
4	1	Foundation status history	1939-1975
1	2	Meeting minutes	1942-1944
10	3	Reports	1942-1955
9	OVR	Scrapbook	1943-1953
1	3	Meeting minutes	1944
1	4	Meeting minutes	1945-1946
1	5	Meeting minutes	1946-1948
10	4	Publications	1948-1963
2	12	History and administration (1 transparency)	1948-1974, undated
1	6	Meeting minutes	1949-1950
1	7	Meeting minutes	1950-1951
1	8	Meeting minutes	1952-1953
1	9	Meeting minutes	1954
2	26	Objectives (13 transparencies)	1954-1975, undated
10	5	Board of Trustees: meetings	1955
10	6	Report of the Program and Objectives Committee	1955
1	10	Meeting minutes	1955-1956
10	7	Board of Trustees: correspondence	1955-1956
1	11	Meeting minutes	1956-1958
2	25	Board of Trustees	1957-1982, undated
1	12	Meeting minutes	1958-1960
1	13	Meeting minutes	1960-1961
1	14	Meeting minutes	1961-1962
1	15	Meeting minutes	1962-1963
10	8	Clippings: Alexander, Jack M.	1963-1964
2	21	Long-range objectives	1963-1981
1	16	Meeting minutes	1964-1965
2	20	Board of Trustees, role of	1965-1973
1	17	Meeting minutes	1966
1	18	Meeting minutes	1967-1968
1	19	Meeting minutes	1969-1970
2	27	Board of Trustees: photographs (3 b/w)	1970
2	1	Meeting minutes	1971-1972
10	9	Long-range objectives and twenty-five year program	1973
2	2	Meeting minutes	1973-1974
4	4	Examination reports	1973-1979
4	14	Manager's reports	1973-1979
2	24	Long-Range Planning Committee	1973-1987
2	3	Meeting minutes	1974
10	10	Clippings: Ayres, George	1974
10	11	Clippings: Wallace, James J.	1974
3	2	Reports and meeting minutes	1974-1975, undated
2	28	Board of Trustees	1974-1976
3	1	Publicity (3 transparencies)	1974-1986
2	13	History	1975, undated
2	4	Meeting minutes	1975-1976
2	18	Livestock brands	1975-1984
2	22	Articles of incorporation and by-laws	1975-1988
2	31	Clipping: "Four Farms Test New Agricultural Practices"	1976
2	17	Reports	1976-1981, undated
4	7	Board of Regents reports	1976-1999
2	5	Meeting minutes	1977
4	8	Annual reports	1977-1979
2	29	Board of Trustees (1 b/w contact sheet, 2 b/w strip negatives [#123976-123977])	1977-1995
10	12	Annual report	1978
2	6	Meeting minutes	1978-1979
2	7	Meeting minutes	1979-1980
4	9	Annual reports	1980-1981
10	13	Board of Regents report memorandums	1980-1981
4	5	Examination reports	1980-1989
2	8	Meeting minutes	1981-1980
4	15	Manager's reports	1981-1992
2	14	Correspondence	1982
4	10	Annual reports	1982-1983
2	9	Meeting minutes	1982-1987
2	15	Correspondence	1984
4	11	Annual reports	1984-1985
2	23	ISU Achievement Foundation farms management and the College of Agriculture	1986-1989
4	12	Annual reports	1987-1989
2	10	Meeting minutes	1988-1989
2	19	Correspondence: Huncke, Leslie W.	1988-1989
4	2	Certificates of change of registered agent or office	1988-1993
5	1	Board of Trustees	1989
3	7	Reports and meeting minutes	1990-1991
5	2	Board of Trustees	1990-1991
4	13	Annual reports	1990-1996
2	11	Meeting minutes	1990-1998
4	6	Annual financial statements	1990-1999
5	3	Board of Trustees	1991-1997
2	30	Board of Trustees	1991-1999, undated
2	16	Correspondence	1993
5	4	Board of Trustees	1995-1996
4	30	Scholarship Program	1995-2003
5	14	Beginning Farmer Pig Challenge	1996
5	15	Gateways Conference	1996
5	5	Board of Trustees	1996-1997
5	16	Ag Transition Alliance Conference	1996-1997
3	9	Funding	1996-1999
3	12	Correspondence and minutes (4 color slides)	1996-1999
5	10-11	Annual meeting and banquet (27 color slides in folder 10; 13 color photographs in folder 11)	1997
10	23	“Iowa State University Agricultural Foundation Historical Summary 1937 to 1997”	1997
3	13	Correspondence and minutes	1997-1999
3	6	Year-end financial statements	1997-2005
5	12	Annual meeting and banquet (24 b/w photographs)	1998
3	14	Correspondence and minutes	1998-2000
4	17	Meeting programs and minutes	1998-2007
5	13	Annual meeting and banquet (25 color photographs)	1999
3	15	Correspondence and minutes	1999-2000
3	4-5	Board of Trustees meeting minutes and reports	1999-2004
5	6	Board of Trustees	1999-2007
3	3	Annual meeting and banquet	2000
3	16-18	Correspondence and minutes	2000-2001
3	19	Correspondence and minutes	2000-2004
4	31	Board of Trustees	2000-2004
4	26	Scholarships	2000-2007
3	8	Loan agreement: Northwest Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station	2001
3	10	Annual meeting and banquet	2001
3	20	Correspondence and minutes	2001-2002
4	29	Correspondence	2001-2002
4	27	Board of Trustees, past and present	2001-2003
3	21	Correspondence and minutes	2001-2004
3	22	Correspondence and minutes	2001-2005
3	11	Annual meeting and banquet	2002
4	25	Fall meeting	2002
4	28	Board meeting	2002
4	23	Fall meeting	2003
4	24	Board meeting	2003
4	16	"Iowa's Principles and Practices for Charitable Nonprofit Excellence" brochures	2004
4	21	Fall meeting	2004
4	22	Board meeting	2004
4	18	Fall meeting	2005
4	19	Master Farmer Scholarship	2005
4	20	Board meeting	2005
10	14	Clippings: Gannon, Mark	2005
5	7	Board of Trustees	2005-2006
5	8	Board of Trustees	2005-2010
5	9	Board of Trustees	2007-2009
Artifact Collection		Embossing seal (artifact 2013-247)	undated

Description of series

Series 2	Farm Accounts	1938-1999, undated
extent:	5.29 linear feet
description:	This series contains histories, deeds, and financial records of farms owned by the Agricultural Endowment (Foundation). The materials document the acquisition, leasing, and sale of the foundation's farms and highlight the change in mission over the years. Files are arranged in alphabetical order.

Container list

Box	Folder	Title	Dates
6	6	Black Hawk and Tama Counties: Van Dyke farm	1976-1977
6	14	Boone County rental properties	1987-1994
6	21	Boone County: Swine research farm proposal - Uthe farm	1991
6	24	Boone County: Uthe farm - well, scale, security system	1991-1992
6	22	Boone County: Uthe farm (15 color photographs)	1991
6	36	Boone County: Uthe farm mortgage to Committee for Agricultural Development (CAD)	1995-1999
6	23	Boone County: Uthe farm negotiations and appraisal	1991
5	23	Clayton County farm	1959
5	24-25	Clayton County farm (19 b/w photographs in folder 24)	1959-1975
10	22	Correspondence and reports	1987-1988
6	28	Crawford County appraisal report	1994
6	4	Crawford County farm	1973-1987
6	20	Crawford County farm	1991
6	31	Crawford County farm	1994-1995
6	17	Crawford County farm (9 color photographs)	1988, undated
6	25	Crawford County farm sale	1991-1994
5	27	Crawford County: Christensen farm	1968
5	21	Deeds	1954-1991
6	7	Deeds	1976-1986
5	17	Deeds (Cerro Gordo County, Johnson County)	1938-1941
5	22	Deeds and contracts	1955-1970
6	26	Financial reports	1992
6	27	Financial reports	1993-1994
6	32	Financial reports	1994-1995
6	9	Grundy County: Ocheltree farm	1980
6	15	Hancock and Wright Counties: Barry property	1988
6	12	Hancock County 80 acres sale	1981-1982
10	16	Hancock County farm	1945-1946
10	17	Hancock County farm	1946-1947
10	18	Hancock County farm	1947-1949
6	11	Hancock County farm	1981
6	29	Hancock County farm	1994
10	15	Hancock County farm: ledger	1944-1948
10	19	Hancock County farm: transactions	1948-1949
5	18-19	Histories	1938-1945
6	37-38	Histories	undated
6	5	Kossuth County: Kiilsholm farm	1975
5	20	Land maps and yields	1946-1947
7	OVR	Ledger	1959-1978
8	OVR	Ledgers	1964-1970
6	10	Marshall County: Rhodes farm	1981
6	39	Original farms history	undated
6	18-19	Poweshiek County farm sale	1989-1991
6	8	Poweshiek County: Boatman estate	1979-1980
6	2	Poweshiek County: Ferguson farm acquisition	1969-1983
6	1	Poweshiek County: Tinkle farm acquisition	1969-1975
6	16	Southeast Iowa properties	1988-1993
10	20	Stenberg farm	1955
6	33-34	Taylor County farm	1995
6	30	Taylor County farm appraisal	1994
6	35	Taylor County farm closing	1995-1996
5	26	Warren County farm history (43 b/w photographs)	1960
6	13	Webster County: Kiley Powers farm	1984
10	21	Western Iowa Test-Demonstration Farm	1955-1956
6	3	Woodbury County farm sale	1971-1987