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

MS 21
Wayne Darrow (1894-1982)
Papers, 1930-1972, undated

Descriptive summary

creator:	Darrow, Wayne (1894-1982)
title:	Papers
dates:	1930-1972, undated
extent:	0.84 linear feet (2 document boxes)
collection number:	MS 21
repository:	Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

Administrative information

access:	Open for research
publication rights:	Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:	Wayne Darrow Papers, MS 21, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

Public official and journalist, Wayne Darrow was born on 12 April 1894 at Lakewood, New York; he was the son of James Eugene and Julia Irene (Bugbee) Darrow. He grew up in Lakewood and attended Cornell University from which he received his Bachelor of Science degree (1916).

He was a farm manager (1916-1918) in Hale County, Texas; county and district agent (1919-1926) for the Texas A & M College Extension Service; and extension editor (1926-1934). He served as Southwestern information representative (1934-1937) in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA); chief (1937-1938) of the AAA Regional Contact Section; and as Director (1939-1942) of the AAA Information Division. His last position in the USDA was Director (1943) of the Agricultural Labor Administration.

In the spring of 1943, Darrow resigned from the USDA and began the Washington (D.C) Farmletter and served as editor until 1969.

He married Linda Marshall in 1916. Wayne Darrow died in February 1982.

Collection description

This collection (1930-1972, undated) contains correspondence, articles, publications, and newspaper clippings, and it includes material documenting Darrow's work with the Agriculture Adjustment Administration and the USDA. Darrow was a close observer of politics, and therefore much of the information pertains to various election years and issues.

The collection also includes material related to Henry A. Wallace, U.S. Vice President (1941-1945) and Secretary of Commerce (1945-1946); this material includes correspondence between Wallace and Darrow, Darrow's recollections of Wallace, material related to Wallace's appointment as Secretary of Commerce, and news clippings. Other topics covered include American agriculture, two Robert Flaherty films, Harvest for Tomorrow and The Land; the publication of The Spade and Farmer's Guard; R. M. Evans' campaign for U.S. senator from Iowa. Correspondents include Henry A. Wallace and Claude Wickard.

Organization

The Wayne Darrow Papers collection is organized in a rough chronology. Each section contains newspaper clipping of that date pertaining to national agricultural news. Correspondence dealing with the events is also included along with miscellaneous items relating to that time period.

Container list

Box	Folder	Title	Dates
1	1	Papers by Darrow: Concerning agricultural economics	undated
1	2	1935: Includes outline for Amendments for Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); outline of "A New Cotton Program for the South"; newspaper clippings concerning the AAA and agricultural economics	1935
1	3	1936: Includes correspondence; AAA literature; newspaper clippings on agricultural situation; pamphlets and papers on the 1936 campaign	1936
1	4	1937: Includes correspondence; graphs and statistics of U.S. agricultural conditions; newspaper clippings; and propaganda pamphlet published by AAA	1937
1	5	1939-1941: Includes notes and memoranda from USDA; and reprint articles from various magazines and newspapers (not by Darrow)	1939-1941
1	6-7	World War II years (1941-1943): Includes correspondence; reprint articles from various newspapers and magazines and unpublished articles (not by Darrow); USDA and AAA programs	1941-1943
1	8	"Wartime Farm Labor Wrangle" recollections of short term as Director of Agricultural Labor Administration	1978
2	1	Concerning two films "Harvest for Tomorrow" and "The Land" by Robert Flaherty: Includes description of films; publication of films; correspondence; newspaper clippings; and four photographs	1941
2	2	Agricultural publications, 1944-1945: Including two issues of Spade and the layout plans for Farmers Guard	1944-1945
2	3	AAA political notes for campaign of 1946 or 1948 (date not certain)	1946 circa-1948
2	4	Committee for Agricultural Progress, 1952: Includes correspondence; statements; pamphlets; and one issue of Agricultural Progress Newsletter	1952
2	5	Campaign and Election of 1952: Eisenhower v. Stevenson. Newspaper clippings and pamphlets	1952
2	6	Campaign and Election of 1954: In Texas; all newspaper clippings	1954
2	7	Campaign of 1956: R. M. Evans for U.S. Senator for Iowa; correspondence and finance of Iowans for Evans Committee	1956
2	8	Correspondence between Claude Wickard of Fairacre Farms, Camden, Indiana, and Darrow (includes letters to and from others)	1956-1958
2	9	Miscellaneous: Includes excerpt from and address by Mayor Thompson of Chicago, 1930; news clippings of remembrance of President Kennedy's assassination; pamphlets of Loveland campaign of 1950; three posters; and recollections from Agricultural Labor Administration	1930-1950, undated
2	10	Concerning Henry A. Wallace: Correspondence between H. A. Wallace and Darrow (1944-1960); and recollections of Wallace by Darrow (1972)	1944-1972
2	11	Concerning Henry A. Wallace: Papers written by H. A. Wallace	undated
2	12	Concerning Henry A. Wallace: 1945 fight over Wallace's appointment as Secretary of Commerce (includes correspondence)	1945
2	13	Concerning Henry A. Wallace: Radio commentators corrections of a Wallace speech of 1944 (includes correspondence) and dinner honoring Wallace given by the Union for Democratic Action and the New Republic	1944
2	14	Concerning Henry A. Wallace: Newspaper clippings concerning H.A. Wallace	undated