Identifier

MA 49

Dates

1884-2000

Extent

1.89 linear feet (4 document cases, 1 small document case) photographs

Abstract

Richards was an admirer of Dr. Hansen and often stopped to visit him in his office. After Dr. Hansen's death in 1950, David asked for and received, permission to keep a few souvenirs and then dug through the trash filling several boxes with papers of historical value.

This collection is composed South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station bulletins, circulars and reports, manuscripts, correspondence, catalog descriptions, transplanting cards, research projects, and material related to the South Dakota Horticultural Society, collected Russian publications, seed catalogs, clippings and photographs.

Historical Note

David Richards

David Richards grew up on a ranch on the Belle Fourche River about 20 east of Sturgis, South Dakota in the 1930's. He attended a one room rural school. In 1946, Richards enrolled at South Dakota State College and graduated in 1950.

During his career as a student at South Dakota State College, Richards worked on a research project with Ames, Iowa and the University of Minnesota to discover the best chemical to dwarf lawn grass. And during his senior years, he completed a research project on budding and grafting evergreens. He was on the Rifle Team, president on the Presbyterian Student group, and ROTC.

A rancher in Meade County, South Dakota, Richards has been active in the Meade County Farm Bureau for over 60 years, president of the Meade County Stockgrowers, and helped form Ag Unity. In 1958, Richards was presented with the Outstanding Young Farmer awards by the Sturgis Jaycees.

N.E. Hansen

Niels Ebbesen Hansen (1866-1950), a Danish-American horticulturist and botanist was a pioneer in plant breeding who came to South Dakota and became the first head of the Horticultural Department of South Dakota State College in 1895. He made it his life’s work to find and develop plants and fruits suited for growing on the Great Plains in hopes that they would help ease the hard life of those who chose to live in an area that was as arid as it was frigid. Hansen made eight trips overseas: one at the behest of his professor while he was still in college, three as an explorer for the federal government, two that were financed by the South Dakota Legislature, one to attend the International Congress of Horticulture and one at the invitation of the Soviet government.

Content Notes

Richards was an admirer of Dr. Hansen and often stopped to visit him in his office. After Dr. Hansen's death in 1950, David asked for and received, permission to keep a few souvenirs and then dug through the trash filling several boxes with papers of historical value.

This collection is composed writings for the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in the form of bulletins and circulars, manuscripts for articles and publications that include Hansen's notations and corrections, correspondence with friends, colleagues, and customers interested in ordering seeds or rootstocks. Also included are catalog descriptions of plants to be included in seed catalogs, transplanting cards on which researchers will find records of planting and transplanting of plant hybrids, and research projects and reports to the Agricultural Experiment Station and material related to the South Dakota Horticultural Society.

Some items of note are collected Russian publications, seed catalogs and Seeds and Plants Imported published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture which list the plants and seeds imported by Hansen. Researchers will also find some material related to Hansen's travels.

The publications and manuscripts by Hansen related to many different horticultural topics: apples, crabapples, apricots, cherries, currants, grapes, pears, plums, plums, roses, roses, alfalfa, trees, plant genetics and breeding.

Researchers will also find clippings related to Hansen and photographs.

SDSU Archives and Special Collections

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Language

English

Publisher

South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections, Hilton M. Briggs Library, Brookings, South Dakota.

Rights

Copyright restrictions apply in different ways to different materials. Many of the documents and other historical materials in the Archives are in the public domain and may be reproduced and used in any way. There are other materials in the Archive carrying a copyright interest and must be used according to the provisions of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Archive issues a warning concerning copyright restrictions to every researcher who requests copies of documents. Although the copyright law is under constant redefinition in the courts, it is ultimately the responsibility of the researcher to properly use copyrighted material.

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