This collection, the bulk of which is digitized here, consists of photographs of buildings, laboratories, and equipment associated with the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, Arlington Experimental Farm, and several other U.S. Department of Agriculture sites in the 1920s through the 1950s. The photographs were collected by Travis P. Hignett, a chemist who worked in fertilizer research at the Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory. The majority of photographs date from the 1920s and 1930s and depict numerous stages of the nitrogen fixation process and the various equipment and apparatus used in the production of atmospheric nitrogen, including generators, compressors, filters, thermostats, and vacuum and blast furnaces. The collection also includes several photographs of U.S.D.A. exhibit booths from industrial expositions and trade shows, including the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition held in Philadelphia, as well as portraits of various laboratory and U.S.D.A. personnel.
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British Phosphate Commission motor ship
- 1961
General view of the M.V. "Triaster" motor ship being loaded with phosphate at the cantilever located in Christmas Island, Nauru. This ship was managed by the British Phosphate Commissioners, a board of representatives…
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Variety of tools used at U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities
- 1950s – circa
General view of a variety of tools used to handle radioactive substances and other materials at U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities. The tools are labelled with numbers, presumably corresponding to an…
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U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel
- 1950s
General view of U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel at an unidentified facility. Per a notation on the verso of the photograph, the individuals are identified (in no particular order) as follows: K.S. Love;…
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U.S. Department of Agriculture drillability apparatus
- 1950s – circa
General view of a drillability apparatus with fertilizer hoppers, a starwheel, and rotating plate mechanism at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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2 items
Testing of radioactive material at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
Two views of a chemist inserting radioactive materials into an apparatus at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and testing,…
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Stokes Tablet Press at Agricultural Engineering Laboratory
- 1950s
General view of a Stokes Tablet Press at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Engineering Laboratory facility. A tablet press is a mechanical device that compresses granulated material into tablets or…
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Radioactive material handling at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
Close-up view of the handling of radioactive material at an U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and testing, including the study of…
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Radioactive material handling at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
General view of a chemist handling radioactive material at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and testing, including the…
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Radioactive material handling at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
George Wieczorek (right) and two unidentified chemists handling radioactive material at an U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and testing,…
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Radioactive material containers
- 1950s – circa
General view of assorted containers and components used to house radioactive materials. The jar labels include space to record the isotope, amount, and date. These containers are believed to have been used as part of…
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Portrait of Gae Adamson Bennett (b. 1917)
- 1950s
Portrait of agricultural economist Gae Adamson Bennett (b. 1917). While working for the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Bennett co-authored numerous volumes on agricultural production…
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Kiln in use at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
View of chemist George Wieczorek removing a vessel from a Pereco kiln at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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Interior view of fertilizer apparatus
- 1950s
Close-up view of the interior of an apparatus likely used for the manufacture and/or testing of fertilizer at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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George Wieczorek and colleague using Geiger counter at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
General view of chemist George Wieczorek (left) and an unidentified chemist using a Geiger counter to measure ionizing radiation in radioisotopes at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. A box of…
- Subject Radioisotopes, Nitrogen fertilizer industry, United States. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Radioactive substances, Chemists, Radioactive substances--Testing, Geiger-Müller counters, United States. Department of Agriculture, Remote handling (Radioactive substances), Employees, Wieczorek, George
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Geiger counter in use at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
View of chemist George Wieczorek (right) using a Geiger counter to measure ionizing radiation in an unknown substance, likely soil or fertilizer, at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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Geiger counter in use at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
View of chemist William A. Jackson using a Gieger counter to examine a package at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and…
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Geiger counter in use at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
View of chemist George Wieczorek (right) and an unidentified chemist using a Geiger counter to measure ionizing radiation in an unknown substance at a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used…
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Fertilizer trays at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
General view of fertilizer trays on a suspension apparatus at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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Drillability apparatus components
- 1950s
Component parts, likely of a drillability apparatus, used at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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Chemist handling radioactive material at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s – circa
General view of an unidentified chemist handling radioactive material at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. The U.S.D.A. commonly used radioactive material for a variety of research and testing,…
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Apparatus at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s
General view of an unidentified apparatus, possibly a hopper or type of granulation equipment, at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility, likely the U.S.D.A.'s Agricultural Engineering Laboratory. Three…
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Apparatus at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s
General view of an unidentified apparatus at a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility. A radioactive materials sign and protective glass panel are visible to the right of the apparatus. The U.S.D.A. commonly used…
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Apparatus at U.S. Department of Agriculture facility
- 1950s
General view of an unidentified apparatus at an unidentified U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
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Overhead view of Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation barge
- 1956-Mar-26
Overhead view of the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation's Mid-South Big N barge showing several tankers and unidentified workers. This barge may have been used to transfer ammonia fertilizer between storage terminals.
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Drillability machine and hopper at the Agricultural Engineering Laboratory
- 1955-Jan-25
General view of the drillability machine at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Engineering Laboratory showing the distribution of wet granular fertilizer as deposited by the Grether hopper.