U.S. Department of Agriculture

The USDA has an extensive history. There are two ways to learn more about the department's past: resources about the USDA itself and USDA publications as primary sources. Check out some featured resources below.

One way to learn more about the USDA is its past activities. Below are some selected resources.

• Century of service: The First 100 years of the United States Department of Agriculture
  • Read an outline of the USDA's organizational development, including a chronology of major events and biographies of officials.
• History of Research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Service
  • See the chronology from before the establishment of USDA to the present (1833 to the 2020s).
• Secretaries of Agriculture: 30 Leaders, 150 Years
  • Watch the 16-minute video from 2012, including interviews with past secretaries.
• USDA Celebrates 150 Years
  • Check out resources when the USDA celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2012.
• Women in the Forest Service - Highlights
  • Learn about the history of women working in the Forest Service since 1910.

Since its establishment, the USDA has documented information on a variety of topics. The following are four examples from the National Agricultural Library's digital collection of USDA primary sources.

• Historical Dietary Guidance
  • Review past dietary advice and nutrition education.
• Historical Gypsy Moth Publications
  • Read about the infestation from publications between 1891 and 1923.
• PubAg (National Agricultural Library)
  • Search the collections of USDA-funded research
• Smokey Bear Digital Collection
  • View cartoons, films, photographs, and posters.
• USDA Pomological Watercolors
  • Discover artists' illustrations of fruits from 1886 to 1942.
• Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture
  • Explore digitized copies of this periodical from 1895 to 1992.

(Images from left to right: Can All You Can: It's a Real War Job!, Citrus sinensis: Nonpareil, and Thebrown-tail moth.)