Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers, 1895-1959

Title: Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers, 1895-1959

Predominant Dates: 1912-1959

ID: MSS Hoerner

Primary Creator: Hoerner, G. R.

Extent: 4.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers are arranged into three series: Series 1: Oregon Agricultural College, 1912-1940; Series 2: Hops & Brewing, 1895-1956; and Series 3: Kasetsart University, Thailand, 1904-1959.

Date Acquired: 00/00/0000

Languages of Materials: English [eng], Thai [tha]

Godfrey R. Hoerner earned his degree from Oregon Agricultural College in 1916 and was a faculty member at Oregon State College from 1931 to 1959. The Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers consists of photographs, news clippings, and publications from Hoerner's student years at Oregon Agricultural College and the University of Minnesota, as Oregon State College's Extension Specialist for Hop Production, and during his four-year tenure working at the Kasetsart University in Thailand.

Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

The Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers includes materials from Hoerner's years as a student at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC), as a hops specialist with the OSC Extension Service, and as Chief of the Oregon State College Technical Assistance Team at Kasetsart University in Thailand. Included are photographs of OAC in the mid-teens; of USDA displays and brewers’ conventions in the 1930s through 1950s; and photographs, memorabilia, publications, and correspondence documenting the work of Godfrey and Ruby Hoerner in Thailand. Of special note are the scrapbooks from Hoerner’s time at OAC and his trip to Thailand; panoramic and group pictures from the American Brewers Association and Master Brewers Association of America; and publications such as the Brewers Digest: 20 Years of Brewing Progress issue commemorating the 20th anniversary of repeal, 1953, Siam Weekly Review, 1955-1959, and numerous tourism and travel books for Asian countries.

Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Godfrey R. Hoerner earned his degree from Oregon Agricultural College in 1916 and was a faculty member at Oregon State College from 1931 to 1959.

Godfrey Richard Hoerner was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1893. He later lived in the Northeast and Seattle, moving to Corvallis to attend Oregon Agricultural College in 1912. While at OAC Hoerner was extraordinarily involved with the campus, during his senior year he served as President of the student body, a Chancellor of Gamma Sigma Delta, on the Student Body Budget Committee, and the Director in Cooperative Association. In other years he was on Student Council, in Intercollegiate Debate and the Osolito Club (all four years), on the Barometer staff, Editor in Chief of the 1916 Orange yearbook, in the Cosmopolitan Club, on the Junior Play Cast committee, in the Easterners Club and Agricultural Club, in the Honor Legion, and a Lieutenant Colonel. He graduated from OSC in 1916 with a degree in Plant Pathology.

Hoerner moved to Minnesota after graduation, completing an MS on crown rust in oats at University of Minnesota in 1918. By 1921 he had returned to OSC as a Botany instructor, but left soon after to work for company that manufactured spraying and dusting machinery and materials. In 1931 he returned to Corvallis to work as a plant pathologist for the USDA with an emphasis on controlling downy mildew in hops, but also returned to his engagement with the university community, serving as the Secretary of the Alumni Association, on the board of Intercollegiate Athletics, on the OSC Co-op Board, and as a faculty advisor for Phi Kappa Phi.

In January 1948, Hoerner was appointed the Extension Specialist for Hop Production in a half-time appointment with the Extension Service, continuing his work for the USDA in the remainder. His hops specialist position was established at the request of Oregon hop growers and was initially funded by the Agricultural Research Foundation. Hoerner left his positions at Oregon State and the USDA in April 1955 to become Chief of the Oregon State College Technical Assistance Team at Kasetsart University in Thailand. He completed two 2-year contracts at Kasetsart in 1955-1959 and died in October 1959.

More Extent Information: 500 photographs; 6 boxes, including 3 oversize boxes, and 1 map folder

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were donated to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center by Joy Hoerner Rich, Hoerner's daughter, and Lisa Schessler, Hoerner's granddaughter, in several accessions from 1991 through 2015.

Related Materials: In addition to offering a view of student life at OAC in the teens, this collection supports research in the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives. Hops Research Reports prepared by Hoerner and other USDA and Oregon State researchers, Experiment Station publications by Hoerner on the control of downy mildew in hops, and The Hop Press are available in ScholarsArchive@OSU. Articles by Hoerner can also be found in the Oregon Hop Grower, Pacific Hop Grower, and The Hopper, which have all been digitized and are available on Oregon Digital. Additional materials on hops research and extension activities at Oregon State are available in the Agricultural Experiment Station Records (RG 025), Extension Service Records (RG 111), and Botany and Plant Pathology Department Records (RG 054). Additional materials that document the cooperative program between Kasetsart University and Oregon State College in the 1950s and 1960s can be found in the President's Office Records (RG 013), College of Agricultural Sciences Photographs (P 036), Robert W. Henderson Papers (MSS Henderson), Zoology Department Records (RG 074), College of Engineering Records (RG 062), College of Forestry Records (RG 139), Chemistry Department Records (RG 098), and the College of Home Economics and Education Records (RG 141).

Preferred Citation: Godfrey R. Hoerner Papers (MSS Hoerner), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Hoerner, G. R.

Agricultural extension work--Oregon.
Agriculture--Research--Oregon.
Agriculture--Research--Thailand.
Brewing industry--Oregon.
Hoerner, G. R.
Hops--Diseases and pests--Oregon.
Hops--Harvesting--Oregon.
Hops--Oregon.
Hops and Brewing
Hops industry--Oregon.
Mahāwitthayālai Kasētsāt
Natural Resources
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State Agricultural College. Agricultural Experiment Station
Oregon State College--Students.
University History

Maps (documents)
Panoramic photographs.
Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.
Scrapbooks.