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Happy Hundred and Fiftieth Birthday USDA!
Dorsett spraying grape vines a little east of the present West Wing of the USDA. “Pat” is at the pump; Dorsett at the nozzle, ca. 1914.
May 15, 2012 marks the exact 150th anniversary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), one of the partners of the Campus and Community: Public and Land-grant Universities at 150 program of the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. On this day in 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation that established the USDA.
Support the Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, sustainability projects, educational outreach, and more.