A Guide to the Peter Henry Rolfs Collection
Finding aid prepared by Dept. Staff
University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
January 2006
Descriptive Summary |
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| Provenance: | Rolfs, P. H. (Peter Henry), 1865-1944 | |
| Title: | Peter Henry Rolfs Collection | |
| Dates: | 1891-1943 | |
| Abstract: | Writings, speeches, correspondence, subject files, reports and photographs of Peter Henry Rolfs, former Dean of the UF College of Agriculture (1915-1920), Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station (1906-1920), and Director of the Escola Superior de Agricultura e Veterinaria, in Viscosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. | |
| Extent: | 5.8 linear feet. (13 Boxes) | |
| Identification: | Manuscript Collection 63 | |
Biographical/Historical Note
Peter Henry Rolfs was born April 17, 1865 in Le Claire, Iowa. He received his B. S. from Iowa State College of Agriculture in 1889 and a M. S. from Iowa Agricultural College in 1891. He began his career at the Agricultural Experiment Station at the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City as a researcher and instructor in Botany and Horticulture. He remained at Lake City from 1892 to 1899. From 1899 to 1901, he served as a botanist and bacteriologist at the Clemson Agricultural College and Experiment Station. He returned to Florida in 1901 as head of the USDA's Plant Introduction Station and Subtropical Laboratory in Miami. In 1906, he was asked to serve as the Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station and remained there until 1921. He also held the title of Director of Agricultural Extension in Florida, 1915-1920, and Dean of the College of Agriculture, 1915-1920.
In 1920, Rolfs accepted an invitation to establish and direct an agricultural school in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Rolfs served as Director of the Escola Superior de Agricultura e Veterinaria do Estado de Minas Gerais, em Viscosa, until 1929, when he became a technical consultant (Consultor Technico) on agricultural affairs for the State of Minas Gerais. He retired in 1932. During his stay in Brazil, Rolfs was assisted by his daughter, Clarissa, who functioned as his personal secretary, translator, and advisor. After 1932, Professor Rolfs and Clarissa traveled throughout Brazil, South America, and the United States studying agricultural education. He died in 1944.
Scope and Content
The collection contains Rolfs' publications and unpublished papers, some written in collaboration with Clarissa Rolfs. Also included are photographs taken by the Rolfs, correspondence with Professor Rolfs and Clarissa Rolfs, and administrative reports written by Rolfs during his years in Brazil.
Access or Use Restrictions
Access
Collection is open for research.
Related Material
Rolfs' correspondence as a staff member at the Florida Agricultural College are located in Series 87 and 88 of the University of Florida Public Records Collection. His records as head of the University of Florida's agricultural programs will be found in Series 21, 30, and 89.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Peter Henry Rolfs Collection, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Contents List
A. Writings and Speeches 1891-1920 |
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| This series in the Peter Henry Rolfs Collection consists almost exclusively of publications, drafts of articles, notes, lists, and speeches written by Rolfs prior to his move to Brazil in 1921. Subject content includes agricultural extension and experimentation in Florida, as well as general topics related to Florida agriculture, and botanical and horticultural research. (Writings and speeches written after 1920 can be found in Series B of the Peter Henry Rolfs Collection.) Also included in the series are a handful of letters written during this time period and a few miscellaneous items. | |||||||||||||
| Of special note are the numbered lists of plants identified and collected by Rolfs during his tenure at the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City during the 1890s. In 1990, the numbers were matched to specimens in the University of Florida Herbarium by the Herbarium's curator. | |||||||||||||
| Rolfs' correspondence as a staff member at the Florida Agricultural College are located in Series 87 and 88 of the University of Florida Public Records Collection. His records as head of the University of Florida's agricultural programs will be found in Series 21, 30, and 89. | |||||||||||||
| Series: Arranged alphabetically by title or subject. | |||||||||||||
Articles, Speeches and Other Writings |
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Box 1 |
Agricultural Education. |
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| Agricultural Education in Florida, Athenaeum Club. Feb. 21, 1908 | |||||||||||||
| Agricultural Education Problem in Florida, Athenaeum Club. October 1, 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Agricultural Extension Problems in Florida, Athenaeum Club. October 19, 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Agricultural Investigation. 1911 | |||||||||||||
| Agricultural Possibilities of the cut over public lands. 1910 | |||||||||||||
| Agricultural Work in Florida, Budget Justification. May 18, 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Annual Report, Berkley Meeting. Aug. 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations; meeting. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Athenaeum Club. October 1, 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Better farming for Duval County. November 21, 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Board of Control Meeting. 1911 | |||||||||||||
| Boys of Today. December 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Celery Growing in the South. | |||||||||||||
| Chinaberry and Umbrella tree curse. | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Canker Bulletins 538, 539, 542. 1913 | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Canker, Athenaeum Club. Oct. 29, 1914 and Nov. 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Fertilizers and Culture. 1912-1914 | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Seminar. October 5, 1920 | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Substation. May 20, 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Investigation in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Citrus Red Spider. | |||||||||||||
| Cooperation by Agriculturalists. | |||||||||||||
| Conversation of the Forests. | |||||||||||||
| Control of scale insects and whitefly by parasitic fungi. | |||||||||||||
| Cooperative Agricultural Extension Work in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Council of Defense, Herb Society, Ft. Myers. April 25, 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Council of State Defense. | |||||||||||||
| Country Life Survey. | |||||||||||||
| County Agents and Home Demonstration Agents. 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Developing the back country. | |||||||||||||
| Development of Extension Work in Florida. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Diversified Farming, Chautauqua Lecture. | |||||||||||||
| Economic Grasses, Short Course lecture. 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Educational Advancement in Florida; Athenaeum Club. | |||||||||||||
| Educational Awakening in Florida, Women's Club, Deland. | |||||||||||||
| Educational Work and the Livestock Industry in Florida. 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station Efficiency Seminar. | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station for men and business. 1913 | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station and Citrus Sub Station Seminar. | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station. | |||||||||||||
Box 2 |
Experiment Station, Horticultural Society. 1920 |
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| Experiment Station, What is it doing for the farmer? 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station and Farmer's Institutes. | |||||||||||||
| Experiment Station, Student Annual. | |||||||||||||
| Extension Division, Florida Grower. 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Extension Work in Agriculture as a method of preventing poverty. 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Extension Work in U of F Short Course. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Everglades. | |||||||||||||
| Farming during the war. 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Fertilizer Company and Demonstrating Agents. | |||||||||||||
| Florida Horticulture. | |||||||||||||
| Florida Livestock. | |||||||||||||
| Florida Needs College Graduates. | |||||||||||||
| Florida State Fair, Agricultural College and Agricultural Extension Division. 1920 | |||||||||||||
| Food Conservation, 20th Century Club. 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Food Feed and Forage Drive. 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Forage Crops. | |||||||||||||
| Forage Crops in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Forage Production in Suwannee County. | |||||||||||||
| Forestry. | |||||||||||||
| Fruits of Florida. | |||||||||||||
| General Agriculture. | |||||||||||||
| Grove Sanitation. 1913-1918 | |||||||||||||
| Horticulture and Agricultural Education in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Horticulture in Jamaica and Cuba. | |||||||||||||
| Horticultural Society. May 20, 1910 | |||||||||||||
| Insecticides and Fungicides. | |||||||||||||
| Interstate Shipment of Cattle. | |||||||||||||
| Introduction for Bull on Freeze. | |||||||||||||
| Laboratory Camera Stand. | |||||||||||||
| Life for the Farmer. | |||||||||||||
| Livestock-the basis for permanent Agriculture. | |||||||||||||
| Livestock Roundup. 1920 | |||||||||||||
| Livestock work at the College of Agriculture. October, 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous. 1914-1920 | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous. 1920 | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous notes for lectures taken form old desk. | |||||||||||||
| Mission of the Extension Division of the University in the present War Crisis (WWI). | |||||||||||||
| The Negro and Agriculture. 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Negro Agents, Tallahassee. 1918 | |||||||||||||
| The Next Transition in our Agricultural Farms: Providing the Returning Soldier with a Farm, Athenaeum Club. 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Nitrate of Soda in the Grove. | |||||||||||||
| Number of State Lecturers and time on each program. | |||||||||||||
| Organizations aiding in development of Florida Agriculture and their interrelationships. | |||||||||||||
Box 3 |
One, Two, Three Day Farmer's Institutes Compared. |
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| Ornamental Planting. | |||||||||||||
| Painter and Florida Horticulture. | |||||||||||||
| Peppers, Canning Club Agents Meeting. 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Physiography of Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Pineapple Culture Lecture. | |||||||||||||
| Pineapple Growing. | |||||||||||||
| Plant Associations. | |||||||||||||
| Preparedness Address. 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Present need for Florida Horticulture. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Prevent mildew of Cloth. | |||||||||||||
| Progressive Agriculture. 1919 | |||||||||||||
| Relation of Agriculture College and other lines of Agricultural Work in Florida to Citrus Canker. | |||||||||||||
| Relation of Demonstration Agents of Scientific workers. | |||||||||||||
| Rhodes Grass. | |||||||||||||
| Rotation Crops in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Rural Cooperation. | |||||||||||||
| Rural Life Problems for Preachers. | |||||||||||||
| Scale insects and whitefly control by natural means. | |||||||||||||
| Science and Religion. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Scientific Agriculture and its practical applications. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Shading, effects of. | |||||||||||||
| Short Course. 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Short Course for fertilizer Salesmen. 1920 | |||||||||||||
| Soapberry Tree. | |||||||||||||
| Some newly discovered Plant Principles. | |||||||||||||
| Team work in the Agricultural Extension Station. | |||||||||||||
| Technical Education our greatest need. | |||||||||||||
| Training for service, Boys Corn Club. 1916 | |||||||||||||
| Truck Growing as a Quick money crop. | |||||||||||||
| Truck Growing in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| Truck Growing and Diversification. 1917 | |||||||||||||
| Unfinished Art for Florida Grower. | |||||||||||||
| The University and Extension. | |||||||||||||
| Valuation of Carbohydrates and Proteins in Commercial Foods. | |||||||||||||
Box 4 |
Vegetable Farming in Florida. |
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| Whitefly nuisance. | |||||||||||||
| Whitefly migratory habits. | |||||||||||||
| YMCA. April, 1918 | |||||||||||||
Miscellany |
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| List-Florida Fungi by F. S. Earle. | |||||||||||||
| List and Letter-Florida Fungi, E. A. Burt. | |||||||||||||
| List-Flowering Plants in Florida. | |||||||||||||
| List-Hymenomycetes, by L. M. Underwood. | |||||||||||||
| List-Uredineae from Florida. | |||||||||||||
| List-Uredineae of South Carolina. | |||||||||||||
| Plan of Work for Counties. | |||||||||||||
| Vote of Thanks from Short Course Men of 1916. | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous correspondence. 1891-1920 | |||||||||||||
| Phasebox: Original encapsulated lists of specimens collected by Rolfs in 1890s for Herbarium. (Do not use originals. Use photocopies in Box 4 under Miscellany.). | |||||||||||||
Addendum-Articles |
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| Forage Production for Suwanee County. | |||||||||||||
| Our Experiment Station's Work. | |||||||||||||
| University of Florida--Its Relation to the State. | |||||||||||||
| Sugar Cane: The Ideal Crop for Florida. 1920 | |||||||||||||
Selected Subjects and Access Points |
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| The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog: | ||
| Organizations: | ||
| Escola Superior de Agricultura e Veterinaria do Estado de Minas Gerais. | ||
| Florida Cooperative Extension Service. | ||
| University of Florida. Agricultural Experiment Station. | ||
| University of Florida. Herbarium. | ||
| Subject Terms: | ||
| Agricultural extension work -- Florida. | ||
| Agriculture -- Florida -- Experimentation. | ||
| Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Brazil -- Minas Gerais. | ||
| Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Florida. | ||
| Citrus fruit industry -- Brazil. | ||
| Leprosy -- Research -- Brazil. | ||
| Minas Gerais (Brazil) -- Rural conditions. | ||
For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.
