Shideler (James) research collection on farm cooperatives, circa 1951-1952.

The collection consists of James Shideler’s research materials on the development of farm cooperatives in California in the early twentieth century, especially in California under the leadership of Aaron Sapiro and David Lubin. Included in the collection is a folder of correspondence with Aaron Sapiro regarding Sapiro’s role in the development of the cooperative marketing movement, a folder of materials on the Farmers Grain Marketing Committee of 17, and two folders of notecards with Shideler’s notes and references from his research at the National Archives and other repositories.

James Shideler was an agricultural historian and professor in the department of history at UC Davis from 1945 until 1984. He was the director of the Agricultural History Center at UC Davis from 1964 through 1978 and served as an editor of Agricultural History.