Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Guide to the Johnson Family Papers
circa 1906-1947
Cage 853
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
- Title
- Johnson Family Papers
- ID
- Cage 853
- Date [inclusive]
- circa 1906-1947
- Extent
- 0.25 Linear feet of shelf space, 1 Box
- Language
- Collection materials are in English.
- Abstract
- Correspondence and miscellaneous papers of Edward C. Johnson, Ruth Daniels Johnson, and Mildred Aldrich.
Preferred Citation
[Item Description]
Johnson Family Papers, circa 1906-1947 (Cage 853)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Biography/History
Edward Carl Johnson was born on a farm in southern Minnesota in 1880. He received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Minnesota in 1906 and 1907, respectively. In 1907 he became Assistant Pathologist in the Bureau of Plant Industry, USDA, in Washington, D.C., and from 1908-1912 he served as Pathologist in charge of disease work. Johnson accepted the position of Superintendent of Institutes and Demonstrations at Kansas State Agricultural College in 1912, and was the Dean of College Extension from 1915 to 1918. In 1919 he became Dean of the State College of Washington's (now Washington State University) College of Agriculture and Director of the Washington Agricultural Experiment Station. Johnson was Dean until 1945 and held the station directorship through 1948. He died in 1962.
Source: Edward Carl Johnson Papers, 1896-1959 (Cage 223) Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Washington State University Libraries; Pullman, WA.
Little biographical information is readily available for Ruth Daniels Johnson (1888-1970), Edward Johnson's wife.
Mildred Aldrich, a first cousin of Ruth Johnson's mother, Sadie Daniels, was a writer and editor for magazines and newspapers in Boston, then moved to Paris in 1898, where she lived on the Left Bank. She remained there for 16 years, working as a representative for American actors and producers, and counted Gertrude Stein among her friends. She retired to the village of Huiry, on the Marne River in the French countryside, in 1914. Instead of enjoying the quiet country life she had anticipated, she experienced life in the midst of a World War I war zone. She wrote several books based on her war experiences and observations, including A Hilltop on the Marne (1915), On the Edge of the War Zone (1917), The Peak of the Load (1918), and When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1919), as well as an unpublished autobiography.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous papers of Edward and Ruth Daniels Johnson and Mildred Aldrich, a cousin of Ruth Johnson's mother, Sadie Daniels.
The Johnson material includes correspondence and documents related to Edward Johnson's early career, passports, and documents related to a USDA-sponsored trip to Colombia in the 1940s.
The Aldrich material includes letters to her family during and after World War I, letters to her family from officials in France about her death and a memorial planned by Gertrude Stein and other friends, newspaper clippings about her, and photographs.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in a single series.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections © 2016
https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/
Terrell Library
P.O. Box 645610
Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA
509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open and available for research use.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Acquisition Information
This collection was transferred from the Murrow College of Communication in 2016 (MS.2016.29). Marie Bardwell, a Johnson family descendant, sent the collection to Dean Lawrence Pintak in 2013.
Processing Information
Cheryl Gunselman processed this collection in 2016.
Related Materials
Related Material
Edward C. Johnson Papers, 1896-1959 (Cage 223)
Edward C. Johnson Correspondence, 1907-1961 (Cage 950)
State College of Washington College of Agriculture Dean Records, 1893-1948 (Archives 15)
Separated Material
Documents related to the dedication ceremony for Johnson Hall were transferred to the Washington State University Archives.
Names and Subjects
Corporate Name(s)
Subject(s) :
- State College of Washington. College of Agriculture -- Officials and employees -- Archives
Personal Name(s)
Subject(s) :
- Johnson, Edward C. (Edward Carl), 1880-1962 -- Archives
- Johnson, Ruth Daniels, 1888-1970 -- Archives
- Aldrich, Mildred, 1853-1928 -- Archives
Subject(s)
- Agricultural extension work -- Washington (State)
- Agriculture -- Colombia
- World War, 1914-1918 -- History -- Sources
- Agriculture
- Home and Family
- Colleges and Universities
- Washington (State
Detailed Description of Collection
| box | folder | |||
|
Edward C. Johnson correspondence. 1906-1912 |
1 | 1 | ||
|
Edward C. Johnson Civil Service examination reports. 1906-1909 |
1 | 2 | ||
|
Passports: special passports for Edward C. and Ruth Johnson with documentation authorizing their travel to Colombia on official business for the United States Department of Agriculture (1947), and Edward Johnson passport (1937). 1937-1947 |
1 | 3 | ||
|
Correspondence by and about Mildred Aldrich. 1915-1930 |
1 | 4 | ||
|
Mildred Aldrich clippings. circa 1917-1930 |
1 | 5 | ||
|
Envelopes (empty) received with Aldrich items. 1930 and undated |
1 | 6 | ||
|
Photographs. circa 1910-1945 |
1 | 7 | ||
|
Collection documentation. undated |
1 | 8 | ||