Descriptive Summary
Knapp, Seaman Asahel
Seaman Asahel Knapp
Papers,
1856-1931 and undated
Records of Seaman
Knapp, a nationally known agriculturalist who was the first president of the
Rice Growers' Association.
S 549.1
Southwest Collection/Special Collections
Library, Texas Tech University
3 boxes (3.0 linear
feet)
English.
Biographical Sketch
Seaman Knapp was born December 16, 1833, in Essex County, New York,
and attended Poultney Academy and Union College, from which he graduated in
1856. He taught at Fort Edward Institute and later founded the Ripley Female
College in Poultney, Vermont (1863). In 1866, he moved to Iowa to farm. In
1879, Knapp was appointed Professor of Practical and Experimental Agriculture
at Iowa State Agricultural College and held that post until 1885, when he moved
to Louisiana. There he became active in rice farming and served as the first
president of the Rice Growers' Association. In 1897 he began working for the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, taking charge of the demonstration farms in the
South, and was active in the formation of the Agricultural Extension Service.
Knapp married Maria Hotchkiss in 1856, and they had three sons and two
daughters. One son, Bradford Knapp, served as president of Texas Technological
College from 1932 to 1938. Seaman Knapp died on April 1, 1911.
The Handbook of Texas has published a more in-depth online biography
of Seaman A. Knapp at
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkn2.html
Scope and Contents
The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal materials,
charts, maps and graphs, printed material, news clippings, literary productions
and scrapbooks pertaining to Seaman A. Knapp. It bulks (1892-1912) with
correspondence, including letters from William Howard Taft and Booker T.
Washington, as well as printed material and literary productions concerning
early 20th century agriculture. 21 prints and 6 negatives were transferred to
photographs.
Index Terms
The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally
developed.
Subjects (Persons)
Knapp, Bradford, 1870-1938
Knapp, Seaman Asahel, 1833-1911
Knapp, Seaman Asahel, 1833-1911--Archives
Knapp, Seaman Asahel, 1833-1911--Correspondence
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915
Subjects (Organizations)
Knapp School (Tenn.)
United States. Federal Extension Service
Subjects
Agricultural education
Agricultural extension work--Southern States--History
Agriculturists--United States--History
Agriculture--Southern States--Experimentation
Agriculture--Study and teaching
Agriculture teachers
Boll weevil
Rice
Rice trade
Gifts, 1970
Access Restrictions
Open for research
Processed by
B. Lynn Whitfield, June 2000
Preferred Citation
Seaman Asahel Knapp Papers, 1856-1931 and undated, Southwest
Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
Texas
Additional Sources
Bailey, Joseph Cannon. Seaman A. Knapp: Schoolmaster of American Agriculture.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1945.
Life. La Porte,
Texas, 1957
Cline, Rodney. The Life
and Work of Seaman A. Knapp. Ph.D. dissertation, George Peabody College
for Teachers, 1936.
Southworth, Herbert R. A
Survey of the Life of Seaman A. Knapp. M.A. Thesis, Texas Technological
College, Lubbock, 1934.
Woodward, C. Vann. Origins of the New South, 1877-1913. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1951.
For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library, see the following collections:
- Bradford Knapp Papers, 1891-1940 and undated
Collection Inventory
American Museum of Natural History to Literary Production
Files
1
1
American Museum of Natural History,
1906
1
2
Anniversary: Seaman and Maria Knapp,
1856
1
3
Appointments: Department of Agriculture,
1989-1911
1
4
Appointments: State of Louisiana,
1908
1
5
Biographical Material,
1904-1912 and
undated
1
6
Business Cards,
undated
1
7
Commencement Materials,
1909 and
undated
1
8
Correspondence,
undated
1
9
Correspondence,
1892-1898
1
10
Correspondence,
1901-1902
1
11
Correspondence,
1903
1
12
Correspondence,
1904-1906
1
13
Correspondence,
1907
1
14
Correspondence,
1908
1
15
Correspondence,
1909
1
16
Correspondence,
1910
1
17
Correspondence,
1911
1
18
Correspondence,
1913-1927
1
19
Correspondence: Knapp's Death,
1911
1
20
Cotton Production Statistics,
1878-1931 and
undated
1
21
Farmers' Demonstration Work Agreements,
1906-1909 and
undated
1
22
Financial Materials,
1903-1907 and
undated
1
23
Legal Material,
1903-1907 and
undated
1
24
Literary Productions: Agricultural Education for the
Rural Districts,
undated
1
25
Literary Productions: Agricultural Education in the
Southern States,
undated
Literary Production to Printed Material Files
2
1
Literary Productions: Agriculture in the Southern
States,
1909-1911 and
undated
2
2
Literary Productions: Boll Weevil,
1909-1910 and
undated
2
3
Literary Productions: Boys' Corn Clubs,
undated
2
4
Literary Productions: Crops and Farming,
1903-1909 and
undated
2
5
Literary Productions: Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration
Work,
1907-1908 and
undated
2
6
Literary Productions: Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration
Work,
1909 and
undated
2
7
Literary Productions: A Method of Teaching Practical
Agriculture to Boys in the Rural Districts,
undated
2
8
Literary Productions: Nature of the Farmer,
1907-1910 and
undated
2
9
Literary Productions: Our Colleges of Agriculture,
undated
2
10
Literary Productions: Rural Conditions and Reform,
1907-1911
2
11
Literary Productions: Shall Agriculture Be Taught in the
Secondary Schools of the U. S.,
undated
2
12
Literary Productions: The Young Men of the Country Must
Apply Business Methods to the Farm,
undated
2
13
News Clippings,
1898-1911 and
undated
2
14
News Clippings: Boll Weevil and Agriculture,
1903-1917 and
undated
2
15
News Clippings: Knapp, Seaman Asahel,
1900-1929 and
undated
2
16
News Clippings: Knapp School in Tennessee,
1912-1915 and
undated
2
17
News Clippings: Rice Industry,
1902-1913
2
18
North Carolina Society of New York,
1908 and
undated
2
19
Oil Derivative Chart,
1927
2
20
Posters,
1908 and
undated
2
21
Printed Materials,
1897-1915 and
undated
Programs to Stationary Files
3
1
Programs,
1903-1910
3
2
Publications:
The Causes of
Southern Rural Conditions and the Small Farm as an Important Remedy,
1908
3
3
Publications:
Demonstration Work
in Cooperation with Southern Farmers, 1908
3
4
Publications:
Demonstration Work
on Southern Farms, 1910
3
5
Publications: Dr. S. A. Knapp's Address,
1907-1918
3
6
Publications:
Dr. S. A. Knapp's
Address on Rural Conditions, 1907
3
7
Publications:
Dr. Seaman Knapp
Memorials, 1912-1914
3
8
Publications:
Farmer's
Co-operative Demonstration Work, 1906-1909
3
9
Publications:
Farmers'
Co-operative Demonstration Work and Its Results, 1906
3
10
Publications:
Farmers'
Co-operative Demonstration Work in its Relation to Rural Improvement,
1908
3
11
Publications: T
he Irish Potato,
undated
3
12
Publications:
Recent Foreign
Explorations, 1903
3
13
Publications:
Rice Culture,
1910
3
14
Publications:
Rice Culture in the
United States, 1899
3
15
Publications:
Shall Agriculture
Be Taught in the Secondary Schools in the United States, undated
3
16
Publications:
The Work of the
Community Demonstration Farm at Terrell, Texas, 1904
3
17
Publications:
United States
Department of Agriculture, 1907-1908
3
18
Publications:
United States
Department of Agriculture, 1909
3
19
Publications:
United States
Department of Agriculture, 1910
3
20
Publications:
United States
Department of Agriculture, 1911
3
21
Scrapbook: News Clippings on S. A. Knapp,
1909-1917
3
22
Scrapbook: Obituaries on S. A. Knapp,
1911
3
23
Southwest trail, The: Farmers' Co-operative
Demonstration Work,
1912
3
24
Speeches (By Seaman Knapp),
1907-1908
3
25
Speeches (Not By Seaman Knapp),
1907-1908
3
26
Stationary,
undated