Mid-West Dairymen's Company Records (Rockford)
Scope and Contents
The records of Mid-West Dairymen’s Company document the origin and development of a northern Illinois non-profit milk producers’ cooperative during the period 1924-1980. The collection contains corporate record books (1924-1963) which include articles of incorporation, by-laws, minutes of the meetings of the board of directors and special committees, resolutions, and bills. This valuable source furnishes essential legal, financial, production, and marketing information from the cooperative’s founding in 1924 until 1963. Correspondence (1933-1961), membership agreements (1936-1961), financial ledgers, and production records provide supplementary and important data which makes possible a thorough and accurate study of the period 1930-1960. In addition, exhibits, reports, hearing proceedings and legal decisions on federal orders pertaining to the marketing of milk, 1934-1964, are included. Researchers should note that there are few materials available beyond 1963 and may wish to consult related Northern Illinois Regional History Collections: DeKalb Milk Consumers Association Records (RC15), Gurler Family Papers (RC25), Pure Milk Association (RC62), Stephenson County Pure Milk Association (RC93).
Dates
- created: 1924+
- Other: Date acquired: 10/12/1979
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights in the materials belong to Mid-West Dairymen’s Company of Rockford, Illinois. Literary rights are dedicated to the public.
Biographical or Historical Information
On February 20, 1924, the Board of Directors of Mid-West Dairymen’s Company met in Chicago to approve the by-laws of a dairy cooperative, organized under the Cooperative Marketing Act of the State of Illinois passed June 21, 1923. The purpose of the new organization was “to be a non-profit cooperative agricultural association without capital stock organized for the mutual help and benefit of its members and to provide better and more economical methods of marketing the dairy products of its members through cooperation...” In 1924 the main office was located in Chicago, but the original plan encompassed six geographical territories - - Indiana, Wisconsin, Rockford East, Rockford West, Winnebago County, Illinois outside of Winnebago County.
Membership in the cooperative declined during the Depression so that by May 1932 there was only one operating district, Rockford: as a result, the headquarters moved to Rockford in 1932. For a short time the Producers Milk Company also existed as a subsidiary non-profit cooperative association handling financial matters and accumulating capital stock. In the 1930’s the cooperative dealt with the Rockford’s Milk Dealers Association and others to obtain higher prices for dairy products.
In response to the Depression and a crisis of overproduction in agriculture, the New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 sought to aid agriculture by reestablishing farm prices at parity level, prices comparable to those in the 1909-1914 base period. It also sought to control production. Since 1933 an increasingly important task of dairy cooperatives, including MidWest Dairymen’s Company, has been to lobby the federal government concerning prices, surpluses, foreign trade, and protection from substitutes for dairy products. As part of the Illinois Milk Producers Association, MidWest also lobbied in Springfield. It has actively followed, if not participated in, federal, state, and city milk control legislation, for example, Rockford’s milk codes concerning health and pasteurized milk in the 1940’s to federal pricing and marketing orders in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 1980 it continues to advocate federal milk support prices, restrictions on imports, and support for and funding of the School Lunch Program and Special Milk Program. Over the years it has also sought to increase milk and dairy consumption through the advertising media and has worked with many other dairy organizations and cooperatives.
Mid-West Dairymen’s Company was founded in an “era of cooperatives” in the 1920’s. The Capper-Volstead Act of 1922 had legalized marketing associations and defined terms for producers to organize. Mid-West’s basic aim - - to benefit dairy producers - - has not changed since its founding. In times of relative prosperity or outright depression, Mid-West has been part of the larger cooperative movement which has tried to solve problems of agricultural overproduction by voluntary cooperation and governmental aid. It continues today to maintain a strong membership.
Note written by
Extent
11.00 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Source of Acquisition
Board of Directors of Mid-West Dairymen’s Company
Method of Acquisition
The Board of Directors of Mid-West Dairymen’s Company deposited their records with the Northern Illinois Regional History Center on October 12, 1979.
Subject
- Associated Milk Producers (Organization)
- Midwest Dairymen's Company (Organization)
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
Uniform Title
- Title
- Archon Finding Aid Title
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Northern Illinois University Repository
Founders Memorial Library
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb IL 60115 US
815-753-9392
rhcua@niu.edu