Collection Timeline

1868 to 1964

1868
Box 1, Folder 11: As president-elect, Welch presents an organizational plan, addressed to the Board of Trustees, for the future Iowa Agricultural College. Welch discusses the college's purpose, courses of study, departments, and faculty.

1869
Box 1, Folder 18: Speech given by Welch at the State Agricultural College (now Iowa State) inauguration. Welch discusses the opening of the new institution, the importance of the college's focus on industrial and practical education, and the education of women.
Box 1, Folder 10: In addition to President Welch's inaugural address, speakers include John Scott (Lieutenant Governor ), Benjamin F. Gue (President of the Board of Trustees), and (Norton?) Townshend. Included is the poem "The Ideal Farmer and His Wife" by Professor H. W. Parker.
Box 1, Folder 4: Contains both business and personal correspondence from Welch including letters to parents of Iowa State students, friends, and colleagues.

1870~
Box 2, Folder 13: A speech given by Welch when he received a L. L. D. (Doctor of Law) Degree from the University of Michigan. He talks about his time at the University and the importance of a good education. He praises the University for practicing the principle that intellectual culture is at its highest value when it prepares students for work. He advocates a combination of studies that are involved in our social, moral, and professional duties (a combination of the classics with studies such as mathematics) and that the early choice of a profession should determine a student's studies.

1872
Box 1, Folder 16: The speech was given during the first commencement ceremony for Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University). Welch discusses character, morality, integrity, and that fortune will not necessarily come to the graduates through luck, but instead they must work hard for success.

1875
Box 1, Folder 9: Notes include discussions on beauty, landscape gardening, design and arrangement, chose of trees, colors, buildings, and homes.
Box 1, Folder 5: Contains correspondence about members of Adonijah and Mary Welch's family, correspondence by descendents, obituaries, and brief histories. Correspondents primarily include A. B. Shaw and Winifred Dudley Shaw.

1878
Box 2, Folder 17: A speech given by Welch before the State Association of Principals of Graded Schools in Iowa City on July 27, 1878. He discusses differences between the old and new theories of education and curricula. He asserts that in order to create a practical education, you need to combine both theories instead of focusing solely on the old or the new. The speech given which begins on page 21 was published in The College Quarterly, July 1878. Preceding pages of the manuscript were never given and instead used to attach clippings of the conclusion of the speech. The manuscript is presented as it was originally written with the clippings also added to the end. (Missing pages 1, 10, 11 and 53).
Box 2, Folder 2: A commencement speech given by Welch to the Class of 1878. Welch speaks about when students graduate from college, they officially enter adulthood and take on its responsibilities. He also discusses how education can be used to benefit society.

1879
Box 1, Folder 17: This is a speech Welch gave to the annual meeting of the Iowa Fine Stock Breeder's Association (later Iowa Live Stock Association) in Des Moines, Iowa in which he discusses heredity.

1881~
Box 1, Folder 19: Welch discusses citizenship, patriotism, nationalism, President James A. Garfield's assassination, freedom of religion, and universal education.

1884
Box 2, Folder 3: A speech given by Welch at Nebraska University about the change in education needed in the new Western territories. He talks about the growing needs of the West, including school houses, governments, and homes and how they will need skilled workers, not unskilled intellectuals, to help build and service the new cities. He discusses times money was wasted by hiring unskilled workers which could have been saved using educated engineers, miners, and architects. He advocates a process of educational reform to bring education in line with the present world, emphasizes that students should study a wide range of subjects to become well-rounded adults, and discusses his support for co-education.
Written by Mary and Adonijah Welch to Margaret and Edgar Stanton while the Welches were on their second trip to Europe after Welch resigned from the presidency. The letters mention family matters, the Board of Trustees and the dissension against Welch at Iowa State related to the desire for a more agricultural and vocational centered education.

1884~
Box 2, Folder 3: A speech given by Welch at Nebraska University about the change in education needed in the new Western territories. He talks about the growing needs of the West, including school houses, governments, and homes and how they will need skilled workers, not unskilled intellectuals, to help build and service the new cities. He discusses times money was wasted by hiring unskilled workers which could have been saved using educated engineers, miners, and architects. He advocates a process of educational reform to bring education in line with the present world, emphasizes that students should study a wide range of subjects to become well-rounded adults, and discusses his support for co-education.

1885
Box 1, Folder 13: Speech given to the State Horticultural Society in which Welch describes the campus in 1869, and how the acres of wild prairie were transformed into a planned campus landscape. He primarily describes building roads and planting trees.
Box 1, Folder 12: Report discusses the organization, management, instruction, experiments and other aspects of the following European agricultural schools: Royal Agricultural Academy at Poppelsdorf (Germany), Royal Institute for Fruit and Vine Culture (Geisenheim-on-the-Rhine, Germany), Royal Forest School of Bavaria (Germany), Agricultural Station (Ghent, Belgium), College of Agriculture (Downton, England), and Royal Agricultural College (Cirencester, England). Also included is a copy of S. A. Knapp's request for leave for President Welch for the trip to Europe.

1887
Box 3, Folder 4: Booklet for senior students which contains a brief explanation by Welch, followed by a bibliography of materials students are to read and analyze for their selected branch of study. The selected readings give students a view of the history, origin, and growth of "forces that promote civilization."

1941
Box 1, Folder 4: Contains both business and personal correspondence from Welch including letters to parents of Iowa State students, friends, and colleagues.

1957
Box 1, Folder 6: Contains remembrances of Welch and Iowa State and correspondence discussing Welch. Correspondents include Louis Pammel and Earle Ross.

1964
Box 1, Folder 1: Contains articles, brief biographies including biographies written by Iowa State professors, and correspondence about Welch.
Box 1, Folder 5: Contains correspondence about members of Adonijah and Mary Welch's family, correspondence by descendents, obituaries, and brief histories. Correspondents primarily include A. B. Shaw and Winifred Dudley Shaw.