Agriculture Research Guide

The Society’s Historic Missourians website contains biographies of a number of significant farmers, horticulturalists, and agricultural scientists who lived in Missouri.

• George Washington Carver - George Washington Carver was a world-famous chemist who made important agricultural discoveries and inventions. His research on peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other products helped poor southern farmers vary their crops and improve their diets.


• James Beauchamp Clark - James Beauchamp “Champ” Clark was a prominent Democratic politician from Missouri. Clark served in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty-six years. As a politician, he supported agrarian interests over corporate interests.


• Frederick Victor Heinkel - Fred V. Heinkel was president of the Missouri Farmers Association from 1940 to 1979. Throughout his life, he worked on behalf of farmers in Missouri and the United States.


• Henry Kirklin - Henry Kirklin was a former slave who became a prize-winning gardener and horticulturalist. Kirklin taught at the Bartlett Agricultural and Industrial School, later known as the Dalton Institute, in Chariton County, Missouri. Kirklin also lectured and demonstrated horticultural techniques at county fairs and in African American schools on behalf of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture.


• Jerry L. Litton - Jerry L. Litton was a successful rancher, US congressman, and candidate for the US Senate in 1976 before losing his life in a plane crash that also killed his family.


• Curtis Fletcher Marbut - Dr. Curtis Fletcher Marbut was a university professor and a pioneer in modern soil science. His work contributed to advancements in soil classification, agriculture, and geography.


• Frederick B. Mumford - Frederick B. Mumford was an important figure in the history of US and Missouri agriculture. While he may be best known today for the building on the University of Missouri campus named after him, Mumford helped the university’s College of Agriculture grow into a highly regarded program while he was dean from 1909 to 1938.


• James Sidney Rollins - James Sidney Rollins was president of the board of curators of the University of Missouri for nearly twenty-five years until his retirement in 1886. He played a vital role in the founding, location, growth, and development of the university and its agricultural college.


• Laura Ingalls Wilder - Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of the most influential children’s authors in American history. Her vibrant retelling of episodes from her childhood in the classic Little House historical fiction series helped shape the popular idea of the American frontier. Laura was also famous for her farming skills, and it was through her agricultural career that Laura got a start in writing. In 1911 Laura wrote several articles about farm life for the Missouri Ruralist.


• Margaret Bush Wilson - Margaret Bush Wilson was a St. Louis lawyer, civil rights activist, and an attorney for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Electrification Administration.