Biographical / Historical
Ernest J. Nesius was born near Remington, Indiana on January 3, 1912, and was active in 4-H in his youth. He earned his B.S. at Purdue University and his M.S. at the University of Kentucky. After serving in the Navy from 1944-1946, he earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State College in 1950. Following that, he was the Associate Director for the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Kentucky from 1954-1960. Nesius then began working at West Virginia University (WVU). From 1960 through his retirement in 1977, he was the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics; the Director of the Cooperative Extension Service; the Vice President of the West Virginia Center for Appalachian Studies and Development; Vice President of Off-Campus Education; and Director of International Programs. He died on November 19, 2004 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Nesius also traveled extensively for his work. In 1951, he worked as a Food and Agriculture Officer in Austria and Yugoslavia for what is now known as the Agency for International Development. In 1961, he was invited to lead in developing a plan for a College of Agriculture in Tanzania in 1961. From 1971-1972, he served as the Assistant Director for the Agricultural Economics and Support Divisions, Office of Food and Agriculture, USAID/Vietnam.
Other notable honors include his appointment by President Johnson to the National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber in 1966, his induction into WVU's Order of Vandalia in 1997, and being selected as a member of the first class of the West Virginia 4-H Hall of Fame in 2003.
Scope and Contents
Papers of Ernest J. Nesius, former faculty and administrator of West Virginia University (WVU), documenting his professional activities involving agriculture and economics, his membership on a variety of committees, and his interest in 4-H and extension services.
Series 1. Events; 1926-1986; boxes 1, 10, 13, and 15. This series contains clippings, correspondence, and ephemera related to special events, which include: the Morgantown Bicentennial, 1985; Zackquill Morgan Day, 1985; the American Bicentennial, 1976; the Morgantown Sesquicentennial, 1926; the dedication of a monument to Zackquill Morgan, 1927; and Heritage Week 1982. Also includes Morgantown Bicentennial Commission and Monongalia County Bicentennial Commission materials. All materials are in box 1 except for three folders of Bicentennial committee materials in box 10; keys to the Monongalia County Heritage Mural and the Bicentennial files numbering system in box 13; and two guest books for Heritage Week events in box 15.
Series 2. Agricultural Hall of Fame; 1976-1988; box 1. Includes nominations, committee materials, etc. of the Agricultural Hall of Fame, also referred to as the Agricultural and Forestry Hall of Fame.
Series 3. Research Materials; 1959-1988; boxes 2 and 11. Includes research materials for Nesius' book The First 100 Years: A History of the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, as well as additional materials regarding Vietnam, A. H. VanLandingham, the Easton Roller Mill Feasibility Study, etc. The bulk of this series is in box 2; three folders, including materials on Africa, are in box 11. Collections with related material include A&M 398 and 5147.
Series 4. Speeches and Writings; 1955-1988; boxes 2, 3, and 4. Includes draft chapters of The First 100 Years: A History of the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, writings about Vietnam, transcripts of speeches, notecards, etc.
Series 5. Cranberry Wilderness Files; 1975-1983; boxes 5 and 10. This series includes correspondence, clippings, newsletters, notes, etc. related to the Cranberry Wilderness and the various legal actions and public awareness campaigns undertaken by The Wilderness Society, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, National Audubon Society, and others. Nesius participated in these efforts to increase the wilderness area and stop mining, which involved West Virginia H.B. 950, U.S. H.R. 5161, and the court case West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Inc., et al. v. Powellton Coal Company. The bulk of the collection is in box 5. Box 10 includes a petition, contacts, and court case materials. Additional Cranberry Wilderness materials can be found in the Clippings series.
Series 6. 4-H and Extension Service Materials; 1913-1963; boxes 6, 7, 8, and 13. This series contains correspondence, pamphlets, forms, and publications related to 4-H and the Extension Service. Topics include the work of C. H. Hartley (additional correspondence can be found in A&M No. 2189) and W.H. Kendrick, WWII food rationing material, Extension Service and 4-H reports, 4-H camp records, Jackson's Mill, and youth services. The bulk of the series is in boxes 6-8; one folder is in box 13. Additional 4-H materials can be found in the Clippings series.
Series 7. Correspondence; 1957-1971; boxes 8 and 9. Includes letters, pamphlets, forms, etc. regarding Nesius' biographical information, job applications, benefits, and personal life. Letters from Nesius' work in Vietnam are in box 9.
Series 8. Publications; 1952-1965; box 9. Includes reports, brochures, and a magazine. Topics include resource development, extension services, and rural poverty.
Series 9. Appalachian Center Materials; 1963-1968; box 11. Includes a case study, pamphlets, notes, and notecards related to the West Virginia Center for Appalachian Studies and Development.
Series 10. Photographs and Slides; 1890-1986, bulk 1965-1986; boxes 12, 13, and 15. Subjects include Morgantown, WV; Morgantown Bicentennial Parade; Zackquill Morgan memorial; Zackquill Morgan Award plates; Cranberry Wilderness legislation; Vietnamese agriculture; Nesius' Kitchen Cabinet (likely the National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber); 4-H Reporters; and an air show. All items are in box 12 except for two large photographs in box 13, and one album of photographs and postcards in box 15.
Series 11. Cassette Tape; undated; box 12. West Virginia Radio Corporation recording of a radio show discussing Morgantown history.
Series 12. Clippings; 1936-1985; box 13. Includes newspaper clippings, many related to Morgantown's Bicentennial on October 17, 1985. Also includes the Sunday Gazette-Mail "Threshold" issue celebrating the centennial of WVU in 1967, West Virginia Farm News (1959), West Virginia 4-H Suggestions (1936-1945), and Cranberry Wilderness-related issues of The Highlands Voice (1976-1977).
Series 13. Notebooks and Day Planners; 1960-1972; box 14. Includes four of Nesius' day planners from 1965 and 1967-1969. Also includes 38 stenographic notebooks from April 1960 to August 1972. 37 belonged to Nesius, and contain notes on his work at WVU and his trips to Africa and Vietnam. One notebook belonged to Florence Deane, and contains shorthand.
Series 14. Artifacts; 1960s-1985; box 15. Includes two "Cranberry? Wilderness!" pins, Nesius' Bicentennial Parade nametag, his nameplate from the Appalachian Center, and a Morgantown Bicentennial banner.
Separated Materials
The following books have been separated to WVU's general collections or Rare Book Room:
Bush, Henry C.
Small Landlords' Dependence on Rent Income in Vietnam. [S.l.]: Control Data Corp, 1970.Bombelles, Joseph T.
Economic Development of Communist Yugoslavia, 1947-1964. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, 1968.Clifford, Clark M.
A Viet Nam Reappraisal: The Personal History of One Man's View and How It Evolved. [New York: Council of Foreign Relations], 1969.Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars.
The Indochina Story: A Fully Documented Account. New York: Bantam Books, 1970.Dan, Lee Dung, et al.
Course Outline for Training International Trade Specialists. [Saigon]: Export Development Center, 1974.Development and Resources Corporation.
Mekong Delta Development Program: Working Paper MD-7, Agricultural Production. New York: Development and Resources Corp, 1968.Dinsmore, John Walker.
The Scotch-Irish in America; Their History, Traits Institutions and Influences. Chicago, Ill: Winona Pub. Co, 1906.Dragnich, Alex N.
Tito's Promised Land, Yugoslavia. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1954.Feaster, Eston Kermit.
A Survey of the Educational Programs of the West Virginia Public Schools: A Summary of the Survey Report. Charleston, W. Va.: Jones Printing Co., 1957.Fitzgerald, Edward T., and Henry C. Bush.
Village Use of Communal Rice Land in Quang Tri, Thua Thien, Quang Nam, Quang Tin and Quang Ngai Provinces, Vietnam. [Saigon: s.n.], 1970.Foote, Richard Jay.
Supply and Utilization Tables for Rice and Implications for Policy and Research: Final Report. Saigon: U.S. Agency for International Development, 1972.Graber, Georg.
Festschrift zum vierzigjahrigen Bestande der Karntner Landsmannschaft und zur dreissigsten Wiederkehr der Karntner Volksabstimmung. [Klagenfurt]: Karntner Landsmannschaft, [1950.]Hendry, James Bausch.
The Study of a Vietnamese Rural Community: Economic Activity. Michigan State University Viet-Nam Advisory Group, 1959.Hickey, Gerald Cannon.
The Highland People of South Vietnam: Social and Economic Development. Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corp, 1967.Hite, B. H.
The Effect of Pressure in the Preservation of Milk: A Preliminary Report. Morgantown, W. Va.: West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, 1899.Hite, B. H.
A Method for Carrying out Chemical Reactions under High Pressures. Morgantown, W. Va.: Agricultural Experiment Station, [1899]. Reprinted from The American Chemical Journal 22, no. 1 (1899).Joint United States Public Affairs Office.
Viet-Nam Documents and Research Notes. Vol. 92, 100 pt. 1, 101 pt. 3, 102 pt. 3. Saigon: Joint United States Public Affairs Office, 1967.McLellan, M. J.
Study of Rural Families. Monrovia, Liberia: College of Agriculture and Forestry, 1975.Meyer, Milton Walter.
Southeast Asia: A Brief History. Totowa, N.J.: Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1971.Morgantown Post (Morgantown, W. Va.), Oct. 22, 1926.O'Kane, T. C.
Jasper and Gold: A Choice Collection of Song-Gems for Sunday Schools, Social Meetings, and Times of Refreshing. Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden, 1877.Order of Cincinnatus (Cincinnati, OH), Sept. 6, 1883.Palmer, H. R.
The Song King: Collection of New and Original Music for Singing Classes, Day Schools, Conventions, &C. Cincinnati: John Church & Co, 1872.Southeast Asia Development Advisory Group.
Agricultural Revolution in Southeast Asia. New York: Asia Society, 1970. (Volumes 1 and 2)Tolson, Melvin B., and Allen Tate.
Libretto for the Republic of Liberia. London: Collier-Macmillan, 1970.United States.
Agriculture in Republic of Vietnam: Staff Paper. Saigon: U.S. Agency for International Development, 1972.United States.
Hearings, Report, and Debate: Smith-Lever Act of 1914. Blacksburg, Va.: Reproduced by the Virginia Agricultural Extension Service, 1959.United States.
A Proposal, Cranberry Wilderness, Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1978.United States.
U.S. Foreign Aid in Vietnam: Proposed Fiscal Year 1971 Program. [Washington: Agency for International Development, 1970.]United States.
Vietnam's 5-Year Rural Economic Development Plan: Appraisals and Recommendations: a Special Report. Washington: [s.n.], 1971.United States.
Viet-Nam Information Notes. No. 1-5, 7-12. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1967-1970.United States.
Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1910. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office, 1911.United States.
Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1914. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office, 1915.United States, and Franklin Benjamin Hough.
Report Upon Forestry. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office, 1878.USAID/Vietnam.
Report to the Ambassador from the Director of the United States Agency for International Development, Vietnam. [Saigon: U.S. AID Mission to Vietnam, 1972.]Vietnam. Phuc trinh ve cuoc kiem-tra canh-nong tai Viet-Nam = Report on the Agriculture Census of Viet-Nam: 1960-1961. Saigon: So Thong ke va Kinh-te Nong-nghiep, 1962.
Vietnam (Republic). Nien-giam thong-ke nong-nghiep, 1970. [Saigon]: So Thong ke va Kinh-te Nong-nghiep, 1971.
West Virginia.
Annual report of the West Virginia Department of Welfare. [Charleston]: The Dept, 1965.West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
The Cranberry Backcountry--53,000 Acres in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia: A Proposal for a 36,300 Acre Wilderness Area. 5th ed. Webster Springs, W. Va.: The Conservancy, 1976.West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
The Cranberry Backcountry--53,000 Acres in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia: A Proposal for a 35,500-Acre Wilderness Area. 6th ed. Webster Springs, W. Va: The Conservancy, 1979.West Virginia University.
Appalachian Review. Vols. 1-2, nos. 1-4. Morgantown, W. Va.: West Virginia University, 1966-1968.West Virginia, and Rex M. Smith.
Fifty-First Report of the State Superintendent of Free Schools. Beckley [W. Va.]: Biggs-Johnston-Withrow, [1964.]West Virginia, and Rex M. Smith.
Fifty-Second Report of the State Superintendent of Free Schools. Vol. 1. Beckley [W. Va.]: Biggs-Johnston-Withrow, [1965.]West Virginia, and George D. Strayer.
A Digest of a Report of a Survey of Public Education in the State of West Virginia. [Charleston]: Legislative Interim Committee, 1945.West Virginia, and George D. Strayer.
A Report of a Survey of Public Education in the State of West Virginia. [Charleston]: Legislative Interim Committee, 1945.Williams, John Alfred.
Africa: Her History, Lands and People, Told with Pictures. New York, N.Y.: Cooper Square Publishers, 1962.