Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

RS 9/9/55
Frank F. Riecken (1908-1983)
Papers, 1934-1983, undated


Descriptive summary

creator:

Riecken, Frank F. (1908-1983)
title:

Papers
dates:

1934-1983, undated
extent:

3.57 linear feet (8 document boxes and 1 half-document box)
collection number:

RS 9/9/55
repository:

University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research
publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:

Frank F. Riecken Papers, RS 9/9/55, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Frank Frederick Riecken was born on October 4, 1908, in Girvin, Saskatchewan. He received a B.S (1930) and a M.S. (1934) from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He earned his Ph.D. (1941) in agronomy from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Dr. Riecken was a soil chemist (1930-1933) with the University of Saskatchewan; a research assistant (1934-1936) at the University of Illinois; a soils specialist (1936-1938) at the Dominion Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada; and a research associate (1938-1942) in soil survey at the University of Illinois. In 1942, he joined the Agronomy Department at Iowa State College (University). He served as an Assistant Professor (1942-1943), as an Associate Professor (1944-1946), and as a Professor (1947-1979). After his retirement on April 30, 1979, he was named Professor Emeritus and served in that capacity until his death.

Riecken's chief research interests were in soil survey, soil genesis, and classification. He was an advisor (1953-1954) to a soil survey program in India under U.S. Government sponsorship; he was an advisor (1957-1958) to the government of Uruguay and its soil survey program under auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; he examined lateric soils of northern Ghana under a Rockefeller grant (1968); and in that same year he taught and did soil survey research at the University of California, Riverside. He was a consultant to Iowa counties on the use of soil surveys in tax assessment programs and he assisted in conducting training programs for county assessors. He was the author of numerous publications in his field, and is co-author of the book Understanding Iowa Soils (call no. S599.I8 Si57u).

Riecken received several awards in honor of his efforts as a soil scientist. He was honored by the Iowa Academy of Science with its Award of Merit (1976) and the American Society of Agronomy established the Frank Riecken Soil Science Award (1975) in his honor. The award provides support for a student majoring in soil science at Iowa State University. He was also a member of Sigma Xi, the Soil Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Indian Soil Science Society, and the Iowa Academy of Science.

Frank Riecken married Freda Heeney of Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1939. They had two children, Fern Marie and Craig. Riecken died on September 11, 1983, in Ames, Iowa, after a battle with cancer.

 

Collection description

This collection (1934-1983, undated) contains biographical information, correspondence, college work, research data, publications, and reports of Frank Riecken. The biographical information includes news clippings, faculty information forms, and some personal notes from family members. The collection also contains several files related to Riecken's college work including statistics notes, notebooks, and a copy of his thesis.

Correspondence files include letters to and from others mostly regarding research and travel plans. Some organizations Riecken corresponded with include the Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture; Soil Science Society of America; and the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy. Most of the correspondence with these groups discusses policies, agreements, and research projects.

The portion of the collection devoted to documenting Riecken's research consists of published and unpublished works by Riecken, soil survey analyses, and reports. The collection includes several lists of published works by Riecken and reprint copies of many of them. Several unpublished reports are also in the collection. Most of these works are on the subjects of soil classification, soil genesis, and soil surveys. A number of files contain research data related to these publications and reports as well as soil survey data for a number of Iowa counties.

Riecken also served as an international advisor and researcher for several countries helping organize and implement soil surveys of their own. The collection contains several files of correspondence and data related to his soil survey work in Uruguay and India.

 

Organization

The collection is organized alphabetically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Biographical information

1942-1983

1

2

Biographical materials: Awards and honors

1958-1976

1

3

Biographical materials: Correspondence and notes from family

undated

1

4

Biographical materials: News clippings about Riecken in South America

1958

1

5

Biographical materials: Photograph, unidentified (1- 8x10" color photograph)

undated

1

6

Biographical materials: Published short stories and poems by Craig Riecken

1966

1

7

College notebook: Agronomy 118 and Chemistry 190 notes

1935-1939

1

8

College notes: Statistics 401

1939

1

9

Correspondence: Ableiter, J. Kenneth and F. J. Carlisle (Soil Conservation Service)

1956-1959

1

10

Correspondence: Cession 262 in Iowa

1962-1963

1

11

Correspondence: Cession 262 in Iowa

1962-1963

1

12

Correspondence: Cessions 175, 266, and 244 in Iowa and related materials

1942-1962

1

13

Correspondence: Cumulic data and related materials

1946-1976

1

14

Correspondence: Engibous, J. C.

1983

2

1-2

Correspondence: Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (E.S.C.O.P.)

1944-1952

2

3

Correspondence: Hamdan, Mohammad (University of Jordan)

1983

2

4

Correspondence: Interoffice communications regarding research of classification of soil and related topics

1974-1977

2

5

Correspondence: Land seminar

1971-1973

2

6-7

Correspondence: National Soil Survey Workgroup and related materials

1948-1952

2

8

Correspondence: Soil Conservation Service memoranda

1952-1957

3

1

Correspondence: Soil Conservation Service, recommendations

1952-1953

3

2

Correspondence: Soil Science Society of America

1948-1951

3

3

Correspondence: Statistical soil survey and related materials

1944-1947

3

4

Correspondence: Turner, Robert I.

1972

3

5

Forestry Seminar: Includes presentation transparencies

1967
9 4 Graduate student listing undated

3

6

Northeastern Iowa Field Trip: Maps itinerary, and report

1968-1975

3

7

Paper by Riecken: "Soil Development Processes"

1969

3

8

Proceedings of 5th Midwest Prairie Conference: Paper by Riecken

1976

3

9

Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene, "The Iowan Problem"

1965

3

10

Publications (unpublished): "Micromorphology of Some Iowa Soils" (18- 3x5" b/w photographs)

1959

3

11

Publications by Riecken (1 of 4)

1941-1949

4

1

Publications by Riecken (2 of 4)

1949-1960

4

2

Publications by Riecken (3 of 4)

1960-1965

4

3

Publications by Riecken (4 of 4)

1965-1977

4

4

Publications lists for Frank Riecken

1952-1974, undated

4

5

Publications lists on soil survey projects and soil genesis

1952-1966

4

6

College thesis: Base Exchange Studies of Some Saskatchewan Soils

1934

4

7

Reference materials: A Guide to Understanding Saskatchewan Soils, University of Saskatchewan Extension Publication

1965

4

8

Reference materials: Appendix E, book unknown

1965

4

9

Reference materials: Committee on Classification of Alfisols and Ultisols with Low Activity Clays (ICOMLAC), Circular Letter No. 9

1978

4

10

Reference materials: History of Illinois Soil Survey

1980

4

11

Reference materials: Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station annual reports

1919-1944

4

12

Reference materials: Publications by others

1942-1951

5

1

Reference materials: Publications by others

1955-1982

5

2

Report by Riecken: "Soils and Related Features of Cession 262 in Iowa," includes drafts and correspondence

1965

5

3

Report by Riecken: "Soils and Related Physical Features of Cessions 175, 266, and 244 in Iowa"

1962

5

4

Report by Riecken: "Solis and Related Features of Cession 262 in Iowa"

1965

5

5

Report on soil profile projects, 1939-1979

1979

5

6

Report on soil profile projects, 1939-1979, Appendix A, B

1979

5

7

Research: CEC data

1974

5

8

Research: Cession 262 in Iowa

1963-1964

6

1

Research: Data on clay in soils, 1µ-2µ ratio

1975

6

2

Research: Graphs and charts for unidentified publication

undated

6

3

Research: Graphs and charts used in Poetsch thesis

undated

6

4

Research: Iowa county and soil association maps

1943

6

5

Research: Iowa maps, Soil Survey Association maps and reports

1945-1977

6

6

Research: Iowa soil survey needs and reports

1945-1949

6

7

Research: Iowa soil survey work and planning conference

1949-1958

6

8

Research: Loess soils, depths of soils studies

1942-1953

6

9-10

Research: National Science Foundation Report, "Evaluation of Climatic, Vegetational, and Time Factors Upon Genesis of Soils and Soil Landscapes in the Cary and Iowan Drift Areas in Iowa"

1965-1967

6

11

Research: Notebook containing soil sample data on total phosphorus

1967-1968

7

1

Research: Soil study data

1963-1967

7

2

Research: Soil study data, cumuli research, Marshall County, Iowa

1977

7

3

Research: Soil survey data on available phosphorus, Ida County, Iowa

1974-1978

7

4

Research: Soil survey data on K, Mg, TP

1967

7

5

Research: Soil survey data, Adair County, Iowa

1944-1976

7

6

Research: Soil survey data, Adams County, Iowa

1944-1965

7

7

Research: Soil survey data, graphs for various counties

1975

7

8

Research: Soil survey data, Marion County, Iowa

1940-1975

7

9

Research: Soil survey materials, Allamakee County, Iowa

1950-1976

7

10

Research: Soil survey of Iowa, status reports and correspondence

1936-1946

7

11

Soil Conservation Service: Agreement with Iowa State

1945

7

12

Soil Conservation Service: Area reports

1967

7

13

Soil Conservation Service: Memorandum of Understanding with Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University; Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University; State Soil Conservation Commission of Iowa

undated

7

14

Story County Zoning Ordinance

1977

7

15

Symposium on Soil Classifications: Itinerary

1970

7

16

Teaching: Outline for Agronomy 675, Advanced Soil Genesis and Classification

1973-1975

8

1

Travel: Ghana trip, correspondence and map

1964-1969

8

2

Travel: Ghana, itinerary

1968

8

3

Travel: India correspondence

1954

8

4

Travel: India, regarding All-India Soil Survey; includes correspondence with Frank W. Parker

1953-1957

8

5

Travel: Uruguay, field notebook

1957

8

6-8

Travel: Uruguay, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations correspondence and reports

1957-1961

8

9

Travel: Uruguay, soil profiles for San Diego, Otago, Sayago, and Rivera samples (1- 4x6" b/w photograph)

1958-1959

8

10

Travel: Uruguay, soil samples submitted by Dr. Pierre for analysis

1950

9

1

Travel: Uruguay, soil survey reports, preliminary

1958-1959

9

2

Travel: Uruguay, soil survey reports, preliminary

1958-1959

9

3

Travel: Uruguay, soil survey reports, preliminary (maps)

1958-1959