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

MS 136
George M. Allee (1877-1958)
Papers, 1901-1989, n.d.

Descriptive summary

creator:	Allee, George M. (1877-1958)
title:	Papers
dates:	1901-1989, n.d.
extent:	2.1 linear ft. (5 document boxes)
collection number:	MS 136
repository:	Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

Administrative information

access:	Open for research
publication rights:	Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:	George M. Allee Papers, MS 136, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

George M. Allee was born in 1877 to Jesse and Mary Allee on a farm southwest of Newell, Iowa. After graduating from the local high school, he received degrees from Cornell College (1901) in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and Harvard University (1904).

Following the completion of his formal education, Allee returned home to help manage the family farm. Allee soon became an advocate for improvements in corn production and was actively involved in organizations that promoted improved crop production. He served as the first president of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Association which was organized in Ames and he also served as president of the Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association during its early years. In 1909, he helped inaugurate the Newell Corn Show and two years later organized the Newell Farmers Institute, serving as its president for over three decades.

Allee was very interested in crop experimentation and corn breeding. He was an early adopter of hybrid corn and soon developed his own, the Allee Hybrid. He was a familiar face at Iowa Corn Shows; he submitted dozens of entries to the show over the years and often served as a judge. He helped inaugurate the Iowa Corn Yield Test in 1920.

George Allee died in 1958. Never having married, he left the 160-acre family farm to Iowa State University. The farm is currently managed by Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and serves as the Allee Research and Demonstration Farm.

Collection description

This collection (1901-1989, n.d.) contains awards, corn show records, correspondence, news articles, photographs, planting records, and record books. Much of the material is directly related to the Iowa state corn shows and yield contests, though other records document Allee's own corn planting and experimentation.

In much of his correspondence, Allee discusses planting practices, the latest corn show results, and the proper handling of seed corn with other farmers, seed growers, and specialists from Iowa State College (University). Photographs in the collection show Allee's submissions of corn to the state corn shows, scenes of Allee in the field examining his harvest, and images of his seed corn house. News clippings in the collection are primarily related to Allee's accomplishments as a corn grower or corn growing in general. Some of the articles were authored by Allee and published in statewide and national farm magazines.

The collection contains a large amount of materials related to the Iowa corn shows, most of which were held in Ames, and the state yield tests. The materials related to the corn shows include correspondence, news clippings, photographs, programs, and premium lists. Allee also kept a record of how well his submissions fared at the corn shows and retained most of his ribbons. He also served as a judge at the corn shows and his judge's ribbons can be found in the artifact collection. The collection also contains files on the Iowa corn yield tests which were first held in 1920. These files can include correspondence, notes on corn plots tested, and published results of the state yield test.

Some of Allee's planting records can also be found in the collection. He was very interested in experimenting with different types of seed and this led him to adopt and grow his own line of hybrid seed. Though the notes are not complete, these records do provide a good account of the types of seed experimentation he was doing on his farm. These notes are included in journals, record books, and other loose paper.

Related materials can be found in the Iowa Crop Improvement Association Records (RS 9/9/3), which is the organization that resulted from the merger of the Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association and the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Association.

Organization

The collection is loosely arranged in chronological order. A separate appendix lists the items that have been transferred to the artifact collection.

Container list

Box	Folder	Title	Dates
1	1	Record book	1905-1908
1	2	The Newell Mirror (newspaper)	1949
1	3	Newspaper clippings (photocopies)	1901-1989, n.d.
1	4	Planting Records – Notes	1905
1	5	Planting Records – Notes	1906
1	6	Planting and Corn Show Records (1- 8x10 b/w photograph)	1907
1	7	Iowa Agriculturalist – Retrospect of the 1908 Corn Show	1908
1	8	National Corn Exposition, Omaha, NE – Program and Ribbons	1908
1	9	Iowa Corn Growers Association – Program and Ribbons	1909
1	10	Planting Records – Notes	1909
1	11	Corn Show Programs, Ribbons, Notes (2- 4x7 b/w photographs)	1909
1	12	Correspondence	1909
1	13	Corn Show Programs, Ribbons (1- 3.5x5 b/w photograph)	1910
1	14	Correspondence	1910
1	15	Planting Records – Notes and Articles	1910
1	16	Planting Records – Notes and Articles	1911
1	17	Corn Show Records (2- 8x10 b/w photographs)	1911
1	18	Correspondence	1911
1	19	Planting Records – Articles	1912
1	20	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (3- 3.5 x 5 b/w photographs)	1913
1	21	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (4- 8x10 b/w photographs)	1914
1	22	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (5- 2x3 b/w, 1- 3x5 b/w photographs)	1915
1	23	Correspondence	1915
2	1	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1916
2	2	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1917-1918
2	3	Correspondence	1917-1918
2	4	Planting Records – Articles	1919
2	5	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1920
2	6	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1920
2	7	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (1- 8x10 b/w, 2- 4x6 b/w, 2- 2x3 b/w photographs)	1921
2	8	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1921
2	9	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1922
2	10	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (1- 12x5 b/w, 1- 3x5 b/w photographs)	1922
2	11	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1923
2	12	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (1- 9x4 b/w photograph)	1923
2	13	Correspondence	1923
2	14	Correspondence	1924
2	15	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (2- 3x4 b/w photographs)	1924
2	16	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1924
2	17	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1925
2	18	Planting Records – Articles	1925
2	19	Correspondence	1925
2	20	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1926
3	1	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (1- 4x6 b/w photograph)	1926
3	2	Correspondence	1926
3	3-4	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1927
3	5	Correspondence	1927
3	6	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1927
3	7-8	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1928
3	9	Correspondence	1928
3	10	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1928
3	11	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1929
3	12	Correspondence	1929
3	13	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1929
3	14	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1930
4	1	Correspondence	1930
4	2	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1930
4	3	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1931
4	4	Correspondence	1931
4	5	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1931
4	6	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1932
4	7	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1932
4	8	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1933
4	9	Correspondence	1933
4	10	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1934
4	11	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1935
4	12	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1936
4	13	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records, Correspondence	1937
4	14	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1938
4	15	Planting Records – Articles, Correspondence	1938
4	16	Planting Records – Notes, Correspondence	1939
4	17	Planting Records – Notes, Correspondence	1940
4	18	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1941
4	19	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1942
4	20	Correspondence	1942
4	21	Planting Records – Notes, Articles	1943
4	22	Iowa State Corn Yield Test Records	1944
4	23	Planting Records – G.M.A.'s Own Home Yield Test Notes	1945
4	24	Correspondence	1945
4	25	Planting Records – Allee's Home Yield Test Notes	1946
4	26	Planting Records – Corn Experiment Studies, Correspondence	1947
5	1	Planting Records – Notes	1948
5	2	Planting Records – Corn Experiment Studies	1949
5	3	Planting Records – Corn Experiment Studies	1950
5	4	Planting Records – Corn Studies Notes	1951
5	5	Planting Records – Allee Home Farm Corn Experiment Studies	1952
5	6	Planting Records – Allee Home Farm Corn Experiment Studies	1953
5	7	Planting Records – Allee Home Farm Corn Experiment Studies, Correspondence	1954
5	8	Planting Records – Allee Home Farm Corn Experiment Studies, Correspondence	1955
5	9	Planting Records – Notes, Articles (3- 5x7 b/w photographs)	1956
5	10	Planting Records – Notes	1957
5	11	Planting Records – Miscellaneous Notes, Articles (5- 3x5 b/w, 4- 2x3 b/w photographs)	1901-1930, n.d.

Appendix - Artifacts

Artifact No.	Description	Date
2010-123.001	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1924
2010-123.002	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1926
2010-123.003	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1927
2010-123.004	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1929
2010-123.005	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1930
2010-123.006	Medal: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, state yield test	1931
2010-123.007	Ribbon and Membership Card: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, president	1907 ca.
2010-123.008	Ribbon: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, annual corn show judge	n.d.
2010-123.009	Ribbon: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, annual corn show judge	n.d.
2010-123.010	Ribbon: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, annual corn show judge	n.d.
2010-123.011	Ribbon: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, annual corn show judge	n.d.
2010-123.012	Ribbon: Iowa Corn and Small Grain Growers Association, president	1914 ca.
2010-123.013	Ribbon: Iowa Corn Growers Association Convention and Exposition, judge
2010-123.014	Ribbon: Iowa Corn Growers Association, judge	n.d.
2010-123.015	Ribbon: Iowa Corn Growers Association, vice president	1910
2010-123.016	Ribbon: Iowa State Fair, Agricultural Department judge	1915
2010-123.017	Ribbon: National Corn Exposition, assistant judge	1908