Elvin A. Duerst Papers, 1929-1999

Title: Elvin A. Duerst Papers, 1929-1999

Predominant Dates: 1939-1980

ID: MSS Duerst

Primary Creator: Duerst, Elvin A.

Extent: 55.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Elvin A. Duerst Papers are arranged into 20 series: 1. Biographical Materials, 1929-1999; 2. Montana Extension Service, 1923-1946; 3. China (UNRRA/FAO); 1943-1953; 4. Paraguay (IIAA), 1943-1955; 5. Brazil (IIAA), 1942-1964; 6. Bolivia (ICA), 1954-1966; 7. Peru (ICA), 1949-1966; 8. Korea, 1957-1964; 9. El Salvador (ICA/USAID), 1959-1966; 10. Bolivia (SRI), 1959-1968; 11. Honduras (SRI), 1961-1968; 12. Turkey/Iran (CENTO), 1952-1972; 13. Saudi Arabia (Hoff & Overgaard/SRI/ARAMCO), 1950-1982; 14. Nicaragua (IBRD), 1961-1975; 15. Philippines (USAID/Snitzler), 1962-1975; 16. Costa Rica (Systan), 1943-1980; 17. Latin American (General), 1950-1973; 18. Professional Projects, 1955-1988; 19. Photographs, circa 1937-1981; 20. Maps, 1940-1978.

Languages of Materials: English [eng], Korean [kor], Arabic [ara], Spanish;Castilian [spa], Portuguese [por], Turkish [tur], Chinese [chi], Tagalog [tgl]

Abstract

The Elvin A. Duerst Papers are comprised of materials relating to his education and career as an international agricultural economist. The collection includes records from his time as an agricultural economics student at Linfield College, Oregon State College (BS 1937) and the University of Illinois (MS 1939) and materials documenting his professional work in agricultural transportation and infrastructure projects, economic development planning, and foreign aid coordination. Duerst's career was comprised of work with numerous federal aid agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Institute of Inter-American Affairs (IIAA), International Cooperation Administration (ICA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and private contracting firms such as Stanford Research Institute (SRI), Systan, Inc., Hoff & Overgaard, James R. Snitzler Associates, and Westwood Research, Inc.

Scope and Content Notes

The Elvin A. Duerst Papers are comprised of materials created and assembled by Duerst in the course of his education and career as an international agricultural economist. The collection provides a broad look at the United States' involvement in foreign agriculture and economics throughout the Cold War era and details the impact of President Harry S. Truman's Point 4 Program on subsequent international aid activities led by the United States government. Moreover, the collection documents the exchange of modern agricultural ideas and the transition in developing countries from traditional farming and transportation methods to modern, mechanized practices.

Series 1 includes biographical information, personal artifacts, correspondence, student records from Oregon State College and the University of Illinois, and records pertaining to Duerst's art collection. The Oregon State College materials include notes and projects for agricultural economics courses as well as documents pertaining to the Agricultural Club. The University of Illinois materials include records for agricultural economics courses and Duerst’s thesis: "Farm Security Administration Credit and Organization of Low-Income Farms, Brown County, Illinois."

Series 2 is comprised of materials related to Duerst’s employment as a county agent for the Montana Extension Service from 1940-1945. Series 3-16 are comprised of materials documenting Duerst's career as an agricultural economist for the United Nations, various U.S. government aid agencies, the Stanford Research Institute, and other private organizations. Duerst specialized in agricultural and transportation infrastructure projects, economic development planning, and foreign aid coordination in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, studies, reports, project files, subject files, and publications. Related photograph albums, photographs, and maps can be found in Series 19 and 20.

Series 17 is comprised of administrative materials and publications related to United States foreign aid agencies in Latin America including the Institute of Inter-American Affairs (IIAA), the International Cooperation Agency (ICA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Regional Office for Central America and Panama (ROCAP). Series 18 is comprised of professional project materials related to Duerst’s personal research interests and international travel.

Series 19 is comprised of 14 photo albums, 37 postcards and 263 photographs. These materials document Duerst's travel and work in China in 1946-1948 and in Latin America, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines in the 1960s and 1970s; his work in Montana in 1940-1945; and his student years at the University of Illinois in the late 1930s. Series 20 is comprised of 116 maps primarily of China, Saudi Arabia and Bolivia, with an overall emphasis on Latin American countries.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Elvin Albert Duerst (born 1915) was an international agricultural economist with government and private contract positions in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, he attended Linfield College (1932-1935), graduated from Oregon State College in 1937 with a degree in agricultural economics, and earned a master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois in 1939. Duerst was involved with the Oregon chapter of the Future Farmers of America during high school and college. Additionally, he completed post-graduate work in economics at American University and Johns Hopkins University.

After earning his master’s degree, Duerst joined the Montana Extension Service as a county agent from 1940 to 1945. After World War II, he began work with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on agricultural relief in China. From 1948 until his retirement in 1966, Duerst held several agricultural economist and program officer positions with international aid agencies including the Institute of Inter-American Affairs (IIAA) in Paraguay and Brazil, the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) in Peru and El Salvador, and the Agency for International Development (USAID) in El Salvador. In the decade following his retirement, Duerst served as a consultant on agricultural and economic development projects, including advising the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) on the Trans-Asian Railway, and community development projects in Nicaragua, the Philippines and Costa Rica. In 1967, Duerst joined the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) as an economic consultant and advised on agricultural planning and transportation projects in Bolivia, Honduras, and Saudi Arabia. From 1975-1979, Duerst served as a consultant to the Local Industrial Development Department of the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia.

Duerst's work encompassed a wide variety of tasks and objectives. While employed by UNRRA, FAO, and the IIAA, he was primarily responsible for advising local farmers on modern agricultural techniques and helping to move rural communities beyond subsistence farming. However, as his career progressed, he became increasingly involved developing policies for national economic growth, and developed expertise in commodities transportation and infrastructure development. Many of these projects impacted whole countries and even, in the case of CENTO, international regions.

Duerst died in May 2006 in McMinnville, Oregon.

Author: Lauren Goss

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 263 loose photographs, 81 loose postcards, 2217 photographs and 37 postcards in 14 albums; 116 maps; 54 boxes, including 1 oversize box, and 4 map folders

Acquisition Note: The Duerst Papers were donated to the OSU Libraries by his estate in 2007.

Related Materials: The OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings include other collections pertaining to international agricultural development, including the Ava Milam Clark Papers (MSS Clark) and the Wallace L. Kadderly Papers (MSS Kadderly). The Center also holds several collections pertaining to agricultural and resource economics including the Agricultural and Resources Economics Department Records (RG 128), Emery N. Castle (MSS Castle), D. Curtis Mumford Papers (MSS Mumford), Fred W. Obermiller Papers (MSS Obermiller), and the Western Agricultural Economics Research Council Records (WAERC).

Preferred Citation: Elvin A. Duerst Papers (MSS Duerst), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Creators

People, Places, and Topics

Agricultural development projects--China.
Agricultural development projects--Latin America.
Agricultural development projects--Saudi Arabia.
Agricultural extension work--Montana.
Agriculture--Economic aspects.
Arabian American Oil Company
Central Treaty Organization
Duerst, Elvin A.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Hoff og Overgaard
Institute of Inter-American Affairs (U.S.)
James R. Snitzler Associates
Linfield College
Montana Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics
Natural Resources
Oregon State College--Students.
Stanford Research Institute
Systan Inc.
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United States. Agency for International Development
United States. Agency for International Development. Regional Office for Central America and Panama Affairs.
United States. International Cooperation Administration
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Westwood Research, Inc.
World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief--China.