2017-10-14 Preliminary Inventory of the Ralph Porterfield Papers, 1858-1990 SPEC.RARE.0173 Finding aid prepared by Mackenzie Sommers Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections

1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210

2017 October This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2017-10-14T12:53-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Ralph Porterfield Papers SPEC.RARE.0173 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 3.6 Cubic feet 1858, circa 1920s-1960s Ralph Porterfield was an American professor of Dairy Science and dairy farmer. Porterfield was active and made large contributions to the 4-H community and the Ohio and Maryland dairy communities. The Ralph Porterfield Papers contain photographs and slides, farming and homemaking publications, pamphlets, newspapers, and college application materials. The collection also contains a large amount of correspondence, some of which is from Porterfield’s time in the Army during WWII, and some of which is from a research trip to study dairy farms in Europe. (3) cartons English Porterfield, Ralph Arrangement of Materials

This collection is unprocessed. Materials are arranged in the order recieved.

Acquisitions Information

Donated by Ivan S. Gilbert, 2011 Spring

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Ralph Porterfield Papers, SPEC.RARE.0173, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only. Audio/visual materials and computer media may need a use copy produced before access is allowed.

Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

Processing Information

This collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Mackenzie Sommers, 2017 October

Biographical Note

Ralph Porterfield (1919-1990) was an American professor of Dairy Science and dairy farmer. Ralph Porterfield was raised on a dairy farm in Belmont, Ohio. He fought in the Army of the South Pacific during WWII, and upon his return from the war he attended school at the Ohio State University. Porterfield went on to become a professor of Dairy Science at the University of Maryland and eventually moved back to Ohio. He was active in the 4-H club community and developed the 4-H dairy projects books. Porterfield also served as a cattle judge. As well as being a prominent leader in the dairy community, Porterfield also published 11 books of poetry.

Scope and Contents

The Ralph Porterfield Papers contains photographs and slides, farming and homemaking publications, pamphlets, newspapers, and college application materials. The collection also contains a large amount of correspondence, some of which is from Porterfield’s time in the Army during WWII and some of which is from a research trip to study dairy farms in Europe.

Porterfield, Ralph 4-H clubs--United States--20th Century Agriculture--Social aspects--United States--20th century Dairy scientists--United States--20th century World War, 1939-1945--Correspondence Bag of photographs 1 1926, undated "At Your Lesiure" poems by Olive Lucille Johnson 1 1990 Newspapers 1 1858, 1966 Tractor Plant Pamphlet 1 1948 Correspondence 1 circa 1920s, circa 1940s-1960s Farming Publications 2 1936, 1948, undated Homemaking Publications 2 1946, 1956, 1980, undated Entertainment Publications 2 undated Correspondence (letters from World War II) 2 circa 1920s-1960s Correspondence (some letters from WWII, some letters from Farming Research trip abroad) 3 circa 1940s Photographs 3 undated Report of trip to England 3 1948, 1952, undated Worthington basketball programs 3 1963, 1965 College application materials 3 1968 Maryland Jersey Cattle Club third place ribbon 3 1949 Trip abroad materials 3 1948 Slides 3 circa 1940s Farming Publications 3 1946-1948 Journal of Dairy Science 3 1947, 1949, 1955, 1960