A Little Bit of History

The Department of Agriculture was created in 1862. One of the functions of the Department was "To acquire and to diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture, in the most general and comprehensive sense of the word....". The first Commissioner of Agriculture in his report to President Lincoln in January of 1863 pointed out the importance of exhibits and stated that there should be an object library or reference collection of agricultural facts in a Department museum. In 1864 such a museum was established. Upkeep of the Department museum and a need for temporary exhibits at fairs and national expositions between 1876 to 1909 gave rise to a recognition for a centralized exhibit design service. In 1912 such a service was established and the predecessor to the present day Design Center was established.

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