II. U. S. House of Representatives

A. Agriculture, 1937-1978, 128 lin. ft.

Because of Congressman Poage's long association with the House Committee on Agriculture, a large volume of materials are naturally devoted to the work of this committee. This information is divided into eight sub-sections. The first is really extraneous material related to two Texas specific items : Guayule and Texas tidelands. The next five sections deal with agricultural legislation in the 89th through the 93rd congresses. The next section deal specifically with the Committee on Agriculture and the last section is a subject treatment of agriculture legislation.

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1. Legislation related to Texas, 1941-53, [bk 1930-53], 2.5 lin. ft.

During World War II, there was an increased need for alternative sources of rubber. Poage's interest in this is shown in these files on the Guayule plant. While one file is dated 1930, the remainder of the files, three boxes, date from 1941 to 1946. When the war was over, interest waned.

Another topic of interest to Poage was the controversy surrounding the Texas tidelands. Under President Truman, the income from minerals, notably oil, was assigned to the Federal Government. Not until Eisenhower became president was this policy reversed. The files cover this period from 1948 to 1953.

2-6. Legislation: 89th-93rd Congresses, 1965-78, 71 lin. ft.

Each of these five legislative sections begins with a Finder File which contains carbon copies of replies to correspondence. The rest of the files in each section are arranged alphabetically by topic beginning with Agriculture Committee. Other topics covered include conservation, cotton, crackpot letters, dairy, farm programs, Food for Peace, forests, livestock, peanuts, potatoes, poultry, rice, REA, soybeans, sugar, tobacco, watershed projects, wheat and wool. The 89th Congress files also contain a number of materials related to Harold D. Cooley whose defeat in the 1965 election led to Poage's becoming chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

7. Legislation : Agriculture Committee, 1941-1978, 7.5 lin. ft.

Poage became a member of the House Committee on Agriculture in 1941, serving continuously until his retirement in 1978. These files contain only a small of material from the 1940, there are files for every year from 1949 to 1978. The topics covered are general in nature dealing with the operation of the committee rather than with specific legislation as in the earlier files. Subjects such as committee organization, personnel, news releases, staff payroll, and trips are found in chronological order.

8. Legislation : Agriculture, by Subject, 1951-1978, 45 lin. ft.

These files are in alphabetical order, then chronological within each topic. They deal with a variety of legislation handled by the Agriculture Committee from about 1951 to 1978 such as the Animal Human Act, cattle, conservation, cotton, dairy and poultry, farm programs, migrant labor, livestock and grain, oleomargarine, peanuts, pesticides, sugar, wheat, and wool. Files from some subcommittees are also included here : Conservation and Credit, Domestic Marketing and Consumer Relations, Family Farm, Forests, Farm Labor, Livestock and Feed Grains, and Oilseeds and Rice.

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