Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
Liberty Hyde Bailey Papers
UA.10.3.1
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
- Creator
- Bailey, L. H., (Liberty Hyde), 1858-1954
- Title
- Liberty Hyde Bailey papers
- ID
- UA.10.3.1
- Date [inclusive]
- 1852-1958
- Extent
- 1.5 Cubic feet
- Language
- English
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: "Item title, Collection title, Collection Identifier, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan."
Historical Note
Liberty Hyde Bailey was born March 15, 1858 in South Haven, Michigan. Although he never earned a high school diploma, he entered Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) in the fall of 1877 and graduated in 1882 . While at M.A.C., he was the president of the Natural History Society, editor-in-chief of The College Speculum and worked as a collecting assistant for professors Beal and Cook. Duing this time, he also met his future wife, Annette Smith, a fellow student.
After graduation, he worked in the Harvard Herbarium under Asa Grey as an assistant in the botanical gardens. He returned to M.A.C. as a horticulture professor in 1885 and earned his MS in 1886. Bailey was an innovative teacher. He introduced lab work in his horticulture classes and planned the first horticultural lab building in the nation. This building still exists and is now Eustace Hall. Bailey left M.A.C. for a professorship at Cornell in 1888. While at Cornell, he continued to introduce new ideas in the teaching of horticulture such as establishing a plant pathology program. He became Dean and Director of Cornell’s College of Agriculture in 1903 and remained so until his retirement in 1913. During his time as Dean, he also headed President Theodore Roosevelt’s Commission on Country Life.
After his retirement from Cornell and into his nineties, Bailey remained an active plant collector and traveled to China, South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and New Zealand on scientific expeditions. He became the world’s leading expert on palm plants. Bailey died at the age of 96 on Christmas Eve, 1954. Bailey Hall, a residence hall in the Brody Complex, was built a year after his death, in 1955.
Scope and Contents note
The papers of Liberty Hyde Bailey span the years 1855-1958. The majority of the materials were received from the Liberty Hyde Birthsite Bailey Museum in South Haven, Michigan. The collection contains correspondence, writings by Bailey, newspaper and magazine clippings and photographs. The collection also includes reproductions of botanical drawings.
The correspondence includes three Christmas cards from Bailey to his wife; a collection of business letters; a letter from China in 1924; a letter from his niece; and two letters to his father, which were published in the South Haven Sentinel about his trip to Kentucky in 1882. There is also some correspondence regarding the Liberty Hyde Bailey School in East Lansing, Michigan.
The writings are arranged alphabetically and include the story “How I went to Chicago,” written by Bailey when he was 13 years old. Bailey wrote the speech, “Let us look backward in order that we may look ahead,” on the occasion of New York Governor Odell’s signing of the bill establishing the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University in 1904. Included are a number of agriculture books written by Bailey. Also in this collection are several poems written by Bailey and an 1888 record of the ornamental plants on Michigan Agricultural College’s (now Michigan State University) campus that he compiled while he was a professor here.
The various newspaper and magazine clippings include information about Bailey’s later life, including his 90th and 93rd birthdays and death.
The photographs include pictures of agriculture and lumbering taken around the state of Michigan in 1888. These pictures come from various counties as well as the M.A.C. campus. There is also a photograph of the Liberty Hyde Bailey School in East Lansing.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections
Conrad Hall888 Wilson Road, Room 101
East Lansing , MI, 48824
517-355-2330
archives@msu.edu
Revision Description
2009
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Legal Status note
Copyright: Michigan State University. Property Rights: Michigan State University.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Michigan Agricultural College.
- Michigan State University. Class of 1882.
Genre(s)
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Letters (correspondence)
- Photographs
- Poetry
Personal Name(s)
- Bailey, L. H., (Liberty Hyde), 1858-1954 -- Form subdivision--Archives.;
- Superintendent of Schools (East Lansing)
Subject(s)
- Agriculture -- Michigan
- Botany
- Elementary schools -- Michigan -- East Lansing
- Lumbering -- Michigan
General Note
See Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum in South Haven, Michigan. http://www.libertyhydebailey.org/
Collection Inventory
Papers |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
Bookplates |
2386 | 1 | ||
|
Correspondence |
||||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Business 1855-1911 |
2386 | 2 | ||
|
Christmas 1908, Undated |
2386 | 3 | ||
|
Cornell University Experiment Station Circa 1888 |
2386 | 4 | ||
|
Family 1852, Undated |
2386 | 5 | ||
|
Letter from China 1924 |
2386 | 6 | ||
|
Letters to father published in South Haven Sentinel 1882 |
2386 | 7 | ||
|
Regarding the Liberty Hyde Bailey School 1938-1958 |
2386 | 8 | ||
|
Writings |
||||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
"Absolute Uniformity" |
2386 | 9 | ||
|
"Botanizing in the South" (from the MAC Record) November 1931 |
2386 | 10 | ||
|
"A Catalogue of North American Carices" April 1884 |
2386 | 11 | ||
|
The Champion 1874 |
2386 | 12 | ||
|
"Fig. 10" |
2386 | 13 | ||
|
"The Forcing Book" 1897 |
2386 | 14 | ||
|
"The Genus and the Species" 1920 |
2386 | 15 | ||
|
"The Horticulturist's Rule-Book" 1896 |
2386 | 16 | ||
|
"How I went to Chicago" 1871 |
2386 | 17 | ||
|
"Let us look backward in order that we may look ahead" May 9, 1904 |
2386 | 18 | ||
|
"A List of Ornamental Plants Which are Hardy in Michigan" July 1887 |
2386 | 19 | ||
|
Notebook |
2386 | 20 | ||
|
"Plant-Breeding" 1895 |
2386 | 21 | ||
|
Poems Undated |
2386 | 22 | ||
|
Record of Ornamental Plants at M.A.C. 1888 |
2386 | 23 | ||
|
"The State and the Farmer" May 1907 |
2386 | 24 | ||
|
"York State Rural Problems I" 1913 |
2386 | 25 | ||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Newspaper and Magazine Clippings |
2386 | 26-27 | ||
|
|
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Photographs |
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|
Photographs by Liberty Hyde Bailey |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
Alcona County 1888 |
2386 | 28 | ||
|
Crawford County June 15 - 16, 1888 |
2386 | 29 | ||
|
Grayling and Vicinity June 16 - 18, 1888 |
2386 | 30 | ||
|
M.A.C. Campus July 6, 1888 |
2386 | 31 | ||
|
Mio and Vicinity June 15, 1888 |
2386 | 32 | ||
|
Oscoda County June 15, 1888 |
2386 | 33 | ||
|
Portage Lake and Vicinity June 18, 1888 |
2386 | 34 | ||
|
Trees undated |
2386 | 35 | ||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Photograph of Liberty Hyde Bailey School Undated |
2386 | 36 | ||
|
|
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Negatives (Copies) |
||||
| Box | Folder | |||
|
Alcona County Undated |
2386 | 37 | ||
|
Crawford County Undated |
2386 | 38 | ||
|
Grayling and Vicinity Undated |
2386 | 39 | ||
|
M.A.C. Campus Undated |
2386 | 40 | ||
|
Mio and Vicinity Undated |
2386 | 41 | ||
|
Oscoda County Undated |
2386 | 42 | ||
|
Portage Lake and Vicinity Undated |
2386 | 43 | ||
|
Trees Undated |
2386 | 44 | ||
|
|
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| Box | ||||
|
Reproductions of Botanical Drawings Undated |
1986H | |||