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

MS 128
Mid-Continent Research and Development Council
Records, 1954-1977, n.d.


Descriptive summary

creator:

Mid-Continent Research and Development Council

title:

Records
dates:

1954-1977, n.d.
extent:

2.73 linear ft. (6 document boxes and 1 half-document box)
collection number:

MS 128
repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research
publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:

Mid-Continent Research and Development Council Records, MS 128, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Historical note

In October 1954, a small group of people from research and development organizations met in Lincoln, Nebraska for discussion of their mutual interests and problems. The Missouri Basin Research and Development Council formed as a result of this meeting. The organization was made up of persons from the ten states that have all or part of their areas within the Missouri River drainage basin (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming). In 1964 the name was changed to Mid-Continent Research and Development Council (MCRDC), and Oklahoma was added.

As defined in the organization's by-laws, "the purpose of the Council is to provide a medium for encouraging the orderly, rational, and complete development of the human and material resources of the Mid-Continent Region and in so doing to serve as a deliberative rather than an action or policy-making body." The Council sponsors an annual conference to discuss conditions relevant to the economic and social advancement of the region which includes:

  1. discussion of the various conditions and forces bearing upon the economic and social advancement of the region;
  2. interchange of ideas and information on methods, techniques, and practices of interest to persons and organizations concerned with the conduct and administration of research and development activities; and
  3. encouragement of cooperative and coordinated programs, on a voluntary basis, among research and development organizations in the region

In addition, the Council distributes information on methods, techniques, and practices of interest to persons and organizations concerned with research and development activities. It encourages cooperative and coordinated programs, on a voluntary basis, among research and development organizations in the region. Membership in the Council is open to any person or organization inside or outside the region desiring to be associated with its purpose and activities.

Membership includes people from research departments of public utilities, financial institutions, and other private businesses; administration, faculty, and research agencies of educational institutions in the fields of agriculture, engineering, business, and economics; state and local industrial development agencies; and other governmental and quasi-public organizations. A few prominent members included Lewis E. Wagner (Bureau of Business and Economic Research), Perry F. Roys (Northern Natural Gas Company), Harry W. Reynolds, Jr. (Urban Studies Center, University of Omaha), D. R. Boylan (Iowa State University), and Robert D. Burns (Corps of Engineers).

The Council is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of at least one from each state and currently (2010) numbering thirty-two persons representing these four areas of interest. The four officers of the Board make up the Executive Committee of the Council. While the Council does not have a central headquarters, they operate out of several offices across the Midwest in states including Minnesota and Wyoming.

 

Collection description

This collection (1954-1977, n.d.) contains correspondence, brochures, minutes, registration materials, news releases, membership lists, and council materials. The collection documents the first twenty-three years of the Council's existence, and the bulk of the collection contains materials related to the Annual Conferences held by the Mid-Continent Research and Development Council. Annual Conference materials include correspondence, news releases, minutes, financial records, schedules, and reports.

Council materials include correspondence (both general and membership related), minutes and agendas from council meetings, and other meeting related documents such as memoranda and brochures. The council materials also include the 1972 Treasurer's Report, conference speaker biographical sketches, a summary of responses to a committee questionnaire, and Board member termination letters. The one photograph in this collection, a black and white picture of former Kansas Governor Robert Docking, is found in the council materials. Also included are Treasurer Floyd K. Harmston's correspondence, notes, and reports. In addition, this collection contains general correspondence of the Council, correspondence between members of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, memoranda to and from the Board of Directors, membership lists, proposals, and papers presented at several of the Annual Conferences.

 

Organization

Files are listed chronologically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

1st Annual Conference: includes schedule, correspondence, Missouri Basin Report: Section 7, registration list, minutes, and brochure

1954

1

2

2nd Annual Conference: includes correspondence, meeting minutes, reports on teamwork and security, drafts, history of council correspondence, news releases, conference registration, brochure, and notes

1955

1

3

3rd Annual Conference: includes Executive Committee and annual business meeting minutes, Teamwork in Economic Development report, drafts, and conference registrations, conference brochure, and excerpts from the by-laws

1956-1957

1

4

4th Annual Conference: includes conference news release, county income report, conference brochure, and meeting minutes

1957, n.d.

1

5

5th Annual Conference: conference news release, correspondence, and Executive Committee meeting minutes

1957-1958

1

6

6th Annual Conference: correspondence and financial records, including bank deposits

1959

1

7

7th Annual Conference: correspondence, bank deposits, minutes, and council meeting attendance list

1960

1

8

7th and 8th Annual Conferences and Proceedings: correspondence, bank deposits, memoranda, brochure, and minutes

1961

1

9

9th Annual Conference: bank deposits, correspondence, brochure, and minutes

1962

1

10-11

10th Annual Conference: includes questionnaire, organization background and historical paper, correspondence, and minutes

1963

1

12-13

11th Annual Conference: includes correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, and bank deposits

1964

5

2-3

Individual & Organizational memberships

1964-1966

2

1

Floyd K. Harmston (Secretary-Treasurer) material: directory of members, Treasurer's report, bank deposits, correspondence, meeting minutes, and news clippings

1965-1966

2

2

Floyd K. Harmston (Secretary-Treasurer) material: includes correspondence, minute, and Treasurer's reports

1966

2

3

Floyd K. Harmston (Secretary-Treasurer) material: includes correspondence, agendas and minutes, and conference brochures

1966

2

6

Council material: includes correspondence, minutes, and by-laws

1966-1967

2

4

Council material: includes general correspondence, Input-Output seminar correspondence, and bank deposits

1966-1968

2

5

Council material: includes membership and general correspondence

1967

5

4

Individual memberships, dues, bill, and receipts

1967

5

5

Organizational membership dues and Institutional memberships

1967

5

1

Journal of receipts

1967-1972

7

2

Annual Meetings: minutes

1967-1977

2

7

Council material: includes correspondence, program information exchange proposal, list of members, minutes, expense account worksheet

1968

2

8

Council material: includes correspondence, list of members, memoranda, conference brochure, minutes, and list of board members

1968-1970

5

6-8

Memberships invoices: includes bills, receipts, and statements

1968-1970

3

1

Council material: includes board members' correspondence, annual meeting budget and schedules, and a list of state governors with science advisors and federal-state coordinators for 1969

1969

3

3

Council material: includes memoranda, correspondence, budget estimates and statements, list of executive committee and board members, and annual meeting plans

1969

3

2

Council material: includes membership list, memoranda, correspondence, strategic papers and biographical sketches, Board of Directors meeting minutes, and regional communities feedback surveys

1969-1970

7

1

17th Annual Conference: papers given

1970

3

5

Council material: includes annual conference correspondence, Francis W. Schruben biographical material, news clippings, Policy Consideration for Urban-Rural Balance, and photograph of Kansas Gov. Robert Docking (1-8x10, b/w)

1970

3

6

Council material: includes annual conference correspondence, memoranda, conference speaker biographical sketches, membership list, dues paid for 1970, list of Executive Committee members, conference programs, and minutes

1970

3

4

Council material: includes Board of Directors press release, list of board members, project proposals, minutes, news clippings, and correspondence

1970

3

7

Council material: includes annual conference correspondence, list of Executive Committee members, retirement announcement, memoranda, and tentative conference programs

1971

4

1

Council material: includes Board member termination letters, list of Executive Committee and Board of Directors members, summary of responses to long-range planning committee questionnaire, and corrected mailing list

1971-1972

6

1-6

Membership invoices: includes bank statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks

1971-1976

4

2

Council material: includes annual conference memoranda, correspondence, Treasurer's Report (1972), mailing list corrections, expense report, and minutes

1972

4

4

Council material: includes correspondence, agendas and minutes, National Forum on Growth with Environmental Equality? brochure and flyers, regional map, and memoranda

1973

4

3

Council material: includes correspondence, memoranda, annual conference registration brochure, and membership lists

1973

4

6

Council material: includes correspondence, memoranda, annual meeting program and registration form, minutes, and notes

1974

4

5

Council material: includes memoranda on membership dues, correspondence, and annual conference program

1974

4

7

Council material: includes correspondence, memoranda, cash receipts vouchers, announcements, minutes, and conference attendance and expenditures

1975

4

8

Conference material: includes minutes, correspondence, distribution maps, memoranda, and Ron Hardy photograph (1-3x4 b/w)

1975-1977