Calvin Hoffman Waller Papers

Prepared by: Sheena Wilson & D'Asia Johnson (March 2022)

Edited & Curated by: Dr. T. DeWayne Moore (November 6, 2022)

Collection Overview

Title of Collection: UA0023 – Calvin Hoffman Waller Papers

Dates: 1914-1945

Extent: 3.5 Linear feet (7 boxes)

Abstract:

Related Collections:

Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research

Use Restrictions: Written permission must be obtained from the Special Collections/ Archives Department and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Language: English

Biographical Note: Calvin Hoffman Waller was born on May 5, 1880, in Macon, Georgia. He received agricultural training at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama as well as the Mt. Hermon Academy in Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts. He also attended college in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where he served as a student instructor. In the spring of 1905, Waller became the first African American to earn a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Pennsylvania State College. He went on to teach at Lucy Laney’s Haines Normal & Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia, where he met his future wife, Annie M. Walton. The couple married in 1909 and had one son, Calvin Walton Waller, in 1910.

In fall of 1907, Waller began teaching at Prairie View State College as a vegetable gardening instructor. In 1910, he was appointed as the head of the Agricultural Department at Prairie View. While serving in this position, he became well known as a teacher and a leader in the field of agriculture in the southwest region.

In 1920, Waller became the director of the Agricultural Extension Service for African Americans in Texas. He guided the growth of the service from a staff of sixteen people, which included eight men and eight women, to a staff of eighty–forty-five men and thirty-five women. He also managed five supervisors who oversaw the work in fifty-one counties throughout East Texas. All but one district were under his direct supervision. In 1920, he also accepted the position of chairman of the Texas Interscholastic League, a role in which he served until his death in 1941. In 1935, Waller began working for the U.S. Government in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). In 1937, he was appointed chairman of the Federal Farm Security Administration Committee for African Americans in Texas.

Waller was largely responsible for the settlement of fourteen farm families and prospective homeowners just south of PVAMU. Aside from his contributions to the extension service, he was also well known for the promotion of athletics at Prairie View State College and in the Southwest region. On April 15, 1941, he suffered from acute indigestion in Nacogdoches, Texas and passed away. He was buried in Oak Park Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

Biography by Lindsay Boknight & Dr. DeWayne Moore

Scope & Contents:  The Calvin Hoffman Waller Papers consist of correspondence, official publications, reports, and other media related to the Agricultural Extension Service in Texas. The publications document the programs and functions of agricultural research, education, and outreach. His correspondence is mostly related to the extension service, including communications with W.R. Banks, T.M. Campbell, Jack Shelton, and H.H. Williamson. It also contains materials about the Texas Centennial Exposition.

Arrangement: We arranged this collection chronologically by date into three series–Correspondence, Cooperative Extension Service Records, and Subject Files.

Series 1              Correspondence & Memos, 1922-1942

Series 2              Cooperative Extension Records

Series 2.1           Cooperative Extension Administrative files

Series 2.2          Cooperative Extension Reports and Statistics

Series 2.3          Home Demonstration Agents

Series 2.4          Addresses & Radio Talks

Series 2.5          Agricultural and Farm Organizations

Series 2.6          Printed Materials, 1914   – contains U.S. agricultural publication, press releases and                                        miscellaneous flyers and programs

Series 3              Subject Files

Series 3.1           4-H Clubs, 1934-1941

Series 3.2          Centennial Exposition

Series 3.3          Texas State Normal and Industrial College

Series 3.4          Community Council of Agriculture, 1938–1939

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Preferred Citation: Calvin H. Waller Papers. UA0023. Special Collections/Archives Department, John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View A&M University

Subject Terms:

Agriculture

Agricultural extension work—Texas

Prairie View A & M University

Texas Centennial Exposition

Texas Council of Negro Farmers

County Agriculture & Home Demonstration Agents

4-H Club

Waller, Calvin Hoffman (1880-1941)

County Community Council of Agriculture

Inventory

Series 1             Correspondence & Memos, 1922-1947

This series contains letters, telegrams, post cards, and memorandums on extension services activities and agriculture in Texas during the 1920s through the early 1940s.

Box       Folder

1         1            Correspondence,

2            Correspondence, February- March 22-31,1923

3            Correspondence, April-May 1923

4            Correspondence, January 13, 1924

5            Correspondence, February 21, 1925

6            Correspondence, March – December 1932

7            Correspondence, January- June 4-30, 1933

8            Correspondence, July 3-29, 1933

9            Correspondence, August 2-31,1933

10          Correspondence, September-December 1933

11          Correspondence, January 1934

12          Correspondence, February 1934

13          Correspondence, March 1934

14          Correspondence, April 1934

15         Correspondence, May 1934

16          Correspondence, May 1-30, 1934

17         Correspondence, June 1934

18         Correspondence, July 1934

19         Correspondence, August 2-30, 1934

20          Correspondence, September 1-28, 1934

21          Correspondence, October 1-31, 1934

22          Correspondence, November 2-28, 1934

23          Correspondence, December 3-31, 1934

24          Correspondence, January 1-10, 1935

25          Correspondence, January 11-15, 1935

26          Correspondence, January 16-24, 1935

27         Correspondence, January 25-31, 1935

28          Correspondence, February 1-5, 1935

29          Correspondence, February 11-28, 1935

30          Correspondence, March 1-11, 1935

31          Correspondence, March 12-31, 1935

32          Correspondence, April 1-10, 1935

Box       Folder

2        1            Correspondence, April 11-18, 1935

2            Correspondence, April 20 –24, 1935

3            Correspondence, April 25-30, 1935

4            Correspondence, May 1-7, 1935

5            Correspondence, May 8-10, 1935

6            Correspondence, May 11-13, 1935

7            Correspondence, May 14-18, 1935

8            Correspondence, May 20-31, 1935

9            Correspondence, June 1-5, 1935

10          Correspondence, June 1-6, 1935

11          Correspondence, June 8-10, 1935

12         Correspondence, June 11 –16, 1935

13          Correspondence, June 17-22, 1935

14          Correspondence, June 25-26, 1935

15         Correspondence, June 27-29, 1935

16          Correspondence, July 1-9, 1935

17         Correspondence, July 10-14, 1935

19          Correspondence, July 15-19, 1935

20          Correspondence, July 20-30, 1935

21          Correspondence, July 24-31, 1935

22          Correspondence, August 1-15, 1935

23          Correspondence, August 12-14, 1935

24          Correspondence, August 20-27, 1935

25          Correspondence, August 28-31, 1935

26          Correspondence, September 2-6, 1935

27          Correspondence, September 7-9, 1935

28          Correspondence, September 10-11, 1935

29          Correspondence, September 12-13, 1935

30          Correspondence, September 14-17, 1935

31          Correspondence, September 18-19, 1935

33          Correspondence, September 20-26, 1935

34          Correspondence, September 27-79, 1935

35          Correspondence, September 30, 1935

36          Correspondence, October 1-6, 1935

37          Correspondence, October 7-10, 1935

38          Correspondence, October 12, 1935

39          Correspondence, October 15-16, 1935

40          Correspondence, October 17-18, 1935

41          Correspondence, October 19-23, 1935

42          Correspondence, October 24-28, 1935

43          Correspondence, October 29-31, 1935

44          Correspondence, November 1-7, 1935

45          Correspondence, November 11-22, 1935

46          Correspondence, November 23-39, 1935

47         Correspondence, December 10-27, 1935

48         Correspondence, with Rutherford Willette Banks; 1935

Box       Folder

3        1            Correspondence with Thomas Monroe Campbell, 1935

2            Correspondence with Jack Shelton, 1935- 1937

3            Correspondence with H.H. Williamson, 1935-1937

4            Correspondence, January 5-10, 1936

5            Correspondence, January 11-15, 1936

6            Correspondence, January 22- 30, 1936

7            Correspondence, February 4-7, 1936

8            Correspondence, February 10-27, 1936

9            Correspondence, July 1-19, 1936

10          Correspondence, July 1-19, 1936

11          Correspondence, July 20-31, 1936

12          Correspondence, July 1936

13          Correspondence, July 20-31, 1936

14          Correspondence, August 4-6, 1936

15          Correspondence, January 1937

16          Correspondence, February 1937

17          Correspondence, April 1937

18          Correspondence, May 1937

19          Correspondence, June 1937

20          Correspondence, July 1937

21          Correspondence, August 1937

22          Correspondence, September 1937

23          Correspondence, October 1937

24          Correspondence, November 1937

25          Correspondence, December 1937

26          Correspondence, January – December 1938

27          Correspondence, January- July 1939

28          Correspondence, August – October 1939

29          Correspondence, 1941- 1942

30          Correspondence, Memorandum [4-H Club], August 27, 1934

31          Letter, American Stock Yard Association Uniform Regulation, May 15, 1934

32          Letter, from R.H. Bush, July 10, 1934

Box       Folder

4            1            Letter from J. Moore, October 10, 1934

2            Letter from P.W. Rowe, December 2, 1934

3            Letter from H.H. Williamson, September 14, 1937

4            Letter from U.S. Farm Security Administration, October 5, 1937

5            Letter from U.S. Farm Security Administration, October 6, 1937

6            Letter from Hamilton West, December 21, 1942

7            Post Cards and Telegrams, 1933-1937

          8            Incoming and Outgoing Correspondence with Calvin Waller, Undated

9            Correspondence, Undated

10          Recollection of Extension History, 1938

11          A system of Field and Office Records for County Extension Workers, October 1920

12          Extension Service Circular, July 1930

13         Staff Conference, 1933-1934

14          Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College Schedule of Extra Projects,      1934-1935

15          Negro Extension Work for Texas, 1937

16          Circular Letter, Tuskegee Institute, 1935

17          Tenant Situation Immediately preceding the Plow-Up program, January 11, 1935

18          County Agents letter, April 12, 1935

19          Letter to State Extension Directors, October 29, 1935

20          Bulletin of the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas, The Agricultural                            Extension Service, 1936

21          Memo from U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Security Administration,                         October 5, 1937

22          Circular, Preparation and Training of Extension Workers, 1938

23         Order appropriating funds for Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and                         Home Economics, December 12, 1938

24          The Whole Farm Demonstration, undated

25          Circular, Better farm living and food for victory, February 1943

26          Leaflet, Victory Demonstrator and Help win the war, 1942

27         Leaflet, be a victory demonstrator and help win the war

28          Information on growth of Negro Extension work, 1915-1940

29          Narrative Repot of Co-operative Extension Work, Houston County, Texas, 1923

30          Statistical Report, July 4, 1923

31          Combined Annual Report of County-Extension Workers, January-December 1940

          32          A survey of the Manner of Procedure followed in developing county programs of                                            Negro extension work in agriculture and home economics, 1933

33          Extension Service Reports of County Agents, 1933

34          Texas Negro Business and Laboring Association Report, January 25^th, 1934

35          Negro Home Demonstration Agents Survey, 1934

36          Experimental Agreement Progress Report, 1937

37          Jasper County Southern Districts Narrative Reports, 1938

38          Texas Salvage Committee, The National Scrapbook Campaign, 1943

39          Texas Salvage Committee Fall 1943 FATS Salvage Program, 1945

40         Agricultural Extension Work and its relation to the improvement of Health

Series 2.3          Home Demonstration Agents

Box       Folder

5         1            Texas County Home and Farm Demonstration Agents Annual Meeting, 1934

2            Women’ County Home Demonstration Council, 1930

3            Memo concerning the Whole Farm Demonstration and Whole Ranch Demonstration,                        February 18, 1937

4            Memorandum of instructions for the farmer, 1937

5            An organization manual for Home Demonstration Councils, 1936

Series 2.4          Addresses and Radio talks

Box       Folder

5            6            The Way of Citizen Training, July 14, 1937

7            Home Demonstration Radio Hour Program, May 1, 1931

8            The Good South Address, Edwin, Rogers, Embree, 1937

9            The value of the farm and home unit demonstration to the family life, December                7, 1938

10          The South and Food for freedom, Claude Wickard, September 29, 1941

11          More about roasting turkey, December 8, 1938

12         How we use farm accounts, December 7, 1938

Series 2.5 Agricultural and Farm Organizations

Box       Folder

5            13          Rural Leadership Conference, November 14, 1944

14          Annual Farmers Congress, 1935

15          Negro Farmers Agricultural Council, 1938

16          Bankhead-Jones Tenant Act, 1937

17         Outline of the Bankhead- Jones Farm Tenant Act

18          Farmers Short Course Financial statement, 1937

19          Texas Negro Farmers Council of Agriculture and by-laws

Series 2.6 Printed Materials

Box       Folder

5            20          Memorandum of Understanding between the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas and the United States Department of Agriculture regarding extension work, 1914

21          Vocational Education in Agriculture, 1929

22          U.S. Agricultural list of informative materials, 1935

23          U.S. Farm Credit Administration Rules and regulations, 1934

24          U.S. Treasury Department Bureau of Internal Revenue Regulations on cotton Ginning, 1934

25          U.S. Farm Credit Administration, Farm Mortgage Loans, 1934

26         U.S. Farm Credit Administration, Emergency Farm Loans, 1934

27          U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Record of Bale Tags, 1934

28          U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Instructions and Regulations                               pertaining to the Cotton Act of April 21, 1934

29          U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Application for allotment and Tax-exemption certificate, 1934

30         U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Preliminary questions and Answers covering the Bankhead Act, 1934

31         U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, one year of the AAA, the record reviewed, June 3, 1934

32          U.S. Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Regulations under the Cotton Act of April 21, 1934, related to the tagging of cotton harvested and ginned prior to June 1, 1934

33          Brochure, Appraising farms for mortgage loans, U.S. Agricultural Adjustment                              Administration, 1935

34          Brochure, Federal Land Bank loans and land bank commissioners’ loans U.S. Agricultural                             Adjustment Administration, 1935

              35          Brochure, Agriculture financing through the farm Credit administration. U.S.                                                  Agricultural Adjustment Administration, 1935

36         Circular, National Caning Contest, Hazel-Atlas Glass Company; 1935

37          Extension Service Farm Newsletter, February 1937

38         San Jacinto Encampment program, 1935

39         Texas Democratic Party State Convention, 1934

40         Farmers Congress News, 1935

41          The Tenth Youth, U.S. National Youth Administration, 1938

Box       Folder

5            42          U.S. National Youth Administration History, 1939

43          Circular, Agriculture and National Defense, U.S. Office of Information and Extension                                     Service, 1941

44          U.S. Department of Agriculture AAA Informational Calendar, 1941

45          Press Release, Farm Tenancy Lowest in over half a century, U.S. Department of                                              Agriculture, 1945

46          Press Release, Patsy, Graves appointed Home Economists in FHA, 1947

47         Circular, To the colored voters of Texas, Henderson, N.Q.; undated

48          Pamphlet, What the negro has done for the United State and Texas, W.E.B. Dubois

49         Farm tenancy in the United States 1880 to 1935

Series 3             Subject Files

This series contains various materials related to organizations Calvin Waller participated in, areas of Cooperative Extension work, Texas Centennial and the Texas State Normal and Industrial College

Box       Folder

6            1            Texas Centennial Celebration, 1929-1936

2            Alpha Zeta Corporation Balance Sheet, 1933

3            Houston Public Schools Directory of Colored Teachers, 1933-1934

4            Texas State Normal and Industrial College. Agricultural Extension Program, 1925-1970

5            Minister’s Institute, Bishop Herald, April 1943

6            Texas Homemakers Council Constitution Laws Revision, 1935

7            Texas Interscholastic League Recommendations, April 19, 1935

              8            Texas Commission on Interracial Cooperation, 1920-1936

9            Texas Girl’s Achievement Contest Forms, 1935

Subseries 3.1                  4-H Clubs, 1934-1941

Box       Folder

6        10          4-H Participation in Volunteer Civilian Defense, 1941

11          4-H Club Work, Radio talk, May 5, 1934

12          What 4-H Club has taught me, Radio talk, May 2, 1935

13          4-H Club Radiocast Program; May 4, 1935 (contains two headshots of Alvin Wilkins)

14          4-H Agricultural Club Work of Texas, Records of Crop Demonstration’s, 1936

              4-H Club Achievement contest

Subseries 3.2 Texas Centennial Exposition

Box       Folder

6        15          Calendar of Centennial Celebrations, 1936

16          Texas Centennial Exposition, circular letter, 1936

           17          Texas independence map clipping map, 1936

18          Texas Centennial Exposition Livestock Exhibits & Vocational Teacher, 1936

19          Texas Centennial Exposition Exhibits Curriculum Classification, 1936

20          Guide to the Texas Centennial Exposition, 1936

21         Texas Centennial Exposition Brochures, 1936

22          Texas Centennial Exposition Historical Leaflets, 1936

23         Texas Centennial Exposition circular letter, October 13, 1936

24          Texas Centennial Exposition Dallas, Newspaper Articles, 1936

25          Progress of the Negro in Texas, 1936

26         Centennial Exposition Texas, Pictorial Parade of Texas, 1936

27          Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas; 1936

Series 3.3 Texas State Normal and Industrial College

Box       Folder

6        28          Collectors Contributions to defray the expenses of the Prairie View State Normal and                                     Industrial College Band, 1934

29          Texas State Normal and Industrial College, Prairie View Pastor’s School, 1938

30          Outstanding Negro Visitors to Prairie View State College, 1937

31          Burial Policy Benefits for Calvin Waller, 1935

32          Class C-X Policy for Calvin Waller and wife, 1935

Series 3.4 Community Council of Agriculture, 1938–1939

Box       Folder

7         1            Community Clubs in Texas, A – D, 1938

2            Community Clubs in Texas, E – I, 1938

3            Community Clubs in Texas, J – L, 1938

4            Community Clubs in Texas, M- R, 1938

5            Community Clubs in Texas, S & W, 1938