Alderman Farms Films (P 214)
ca. 1943-1996
.9 cubic feet; 13 reels (4050 feet of film), nine
videotapes and one ff. of manuscript material
Scope and Content Note
The Kodachrome color films document the farming operations of the Alderman Farms, located near Dayton, Oregon, in the 1940s and 1950s. The films were made by Urie S. Alderman. Aspects of the farming operation filmed include planting, harvesting, and pro cessing of corn, beans, strawberries, peaches, and potatoes; irrigation; barbecues and other social activities; logging and sawmill operations; political campaigning; and general farm views. VHS videotape copies exist for selected reels and are indicated in the inventory.
The manuscript materials include copies of newspaper clippings pertaining to farming operations, Urie S. Alderman, and L. S. Alderman, 1952-1965; a film list; and a copy of Last Harvest: The Story of Alderman Farms, published by Carlton Plants in 1 996.
Forms
Thirteen 16mm, silent, Kodachrome color films; and nine VHS videotapes.
Historical Note
Alderman Farms had its beginning in 1847, when Albert Alderman settled, cleared and began farming a tract of land in Yamhill County. In 1893 one of Albert's sons, Ennis (1870-1939), began farming a small piece of land given to him by his father. In the 1920s, Ennis and his son, Urie (1898-1964), began expanding the farming operation. Urie, who attended Oregon Agricultural College from 1919-1921, experimented with new crops, constructed an on-farm frozen food plant and sawmill, and maintained his own ai rborne spraying operation. Alderman Farms peaked in the late 1950s, with at least 3100 acres under cultivation, as one of the largest row crop farms in Oregon. In addition to the primary farm in Yamhill County, Alderman Farms cultivated land in Benton, L inn, Marion, and Klamath Counties. After Urie's death in 1964, much of the Yamhill County farm was sold to the Carlton Nursery Company in 1971.
Provenance
The films, made by Urie S. Alderman, were maintained by the family until 1996, when they were donated to the OSU Archives by Peggy Childs, Jack Shelburne, and Mary Ann Wiser (nieces and nephew of U. S. Alderman).
Related Materials
Other films and videotapes pertaining to agriculture are located in the Agricultural Experiment Station (P 29); Bioresource Engineering Department (P 106); Experiment Station Communications (P 132); Extension and Experiment Station Communications (P120); 4-H and Youth Program (P 146); E. R. Jackman (P 89); and News and Communications Services (P 57) film and video groups.
The memoirs of Lewis R. Alderman, a long-time 4-H program extension agent and brother of Ennis Alderman, are located in the Extension Service Records (RG 111), Subgroup 4.
Shelf Location
SR 6/9/6/40
Inventory
- Reel 1 (200 ft.) -- Potato harvest (videotape)
- Reel 2 (175 ft.) -- Cattle, travel, barbecue, 1943
- Reel 3 (450 ft.) -- Water tower, garden, cattle train, 1943
- Reel 4 (350 ft.) -- Barbecue, Mexican migrant workers show, Dean Johnson, 1944 (videotape)
- Reel 5 (300 ft.) -- Corn, beans, barbecue, pump, bus travel (videotape)
- Reel 6 (375 ft.) -- Corn, helicopter, politics, employee cafeteria
- Reel 7 (375 ft.) -- Aerial views, farm, sawmill, peaches, silo (videotape)
- Reel 8 (350 ft.) -- Sawmill, pump, cake, logging
- Reel 9 (425 ft.) -- Stearman plane, bean planting, corn, 1950 (videotape)
- Reel 10 (250 ft.) -- Strawberries, planting, harvesting, packaging (processing plant), 1950 (videotape)
- Reel 11 (250 ft.) -- Strawberries, water, hoeing, processing plant (videotape)
- Reel 12 (100 ft.) -- Beans, freezing (processing plant), garden (videotape)
- Reel 13 (450 ft.) -- Stearman plane, bean planting, corn, 1950
- Newspaper clippings pertaining to Alderman Farms, U.S. Alderman, and L.S. Alderman, 1952-1965; film list; and a copy of Last Harvest: The Story of Alderman Farms, written by John Schmitz and published by Carlton Plants, 1996.
