ABAC ALUMNUS DONATES AGRICULTURE YEARBOOKS TO COLLEGE

Mike Welborn, an Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College alumnus, recently presented ABAC with a unique gift when he donated a set of agriculture yearbooks to the college.

Welborn, a retired County Extension Agent in Newton County, said he inherited the collection of yearbooks from his father, S. L. “Spud” Welborn, a County Extension Agent in Union County and Jackson County from 1945 – 73.

“My father started the collection, and when he passed away, I wanted to donate the yearbooks to someone who would really appreciate their significance,” Welborn said. “When I saw how enthusiastic President Mike Vollmer and Dr. Larry Allen [Chair in the Division of Agriculture and Forest Resources] were about the agriculture yearbooks, I decided to donate them to ABAC. I felt really good about my donation because I knew I was giving the yearbooks to people who really cared about them.”

Vollmer said ABAC is grateful for Welborn’s donation.

“Mike has not only given ABAC a set of books, but he has also given our current and future students a look at history,” Vollmer said. “We are greatly indebted to him for this very special gift,” Vollmer said.

Welborn said the agriculture yearbooks, which were published by the Department of Agriculture from 1894 -1992, were originally reports, which cited the latest research in all phases of agriculture in the United States. Eventually, the format of the books changed, and each yearbook focused on one specific subject, such as “Keeping Livestock Healthy,” “Animal Diseases,” “Soil,” and a variety of other topics.

“I hope my donation is put to good use and benefits ABAC and the community,” Welborn said. “Students may find the yearbooks useful as research manuals to compare modern-day techniques to how things were done in the past. By looking through the books, they will see all of the growth and expansion that has taken place in the field of agriculture.”

Allen is working on completing the set of yearbooks, which has only a few volumes missing. He plans to place the collection in ABAC’s new Agricultural Sciences Building. The new state-of-the-art facility is expected to be completed by August 2003. The agriculture yearbooks will be available for faculty and student use.

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