Morrill Act of 1862

Son Jon, portraying Congressman Justin Morrill (R, VT) addressed USDA people in Washington, D.C. yesterday on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of USDA and the Land Grant College system. Jon began his career in USDA while still an Agronomy student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, VA. He worked as a field Soil Scientist in Virginia, North Carolina, New York and Nebraska before being transferred to the Agency Headquarters  in Washington, D.C. in the mid-nineties. His soils and field experience gave him excellent experience as he assumed management responsibilities. Though still devoted to his job, he has become a "student" of Civil War History and in the reenactment of events of that era. Jon  has considerable  "institutional" memory of the agency since he was in 2nd grade when we moved back there in 1962. He developed a deep interest in the Department at an early age which has continued. Though our careers overlapped for a few years, there has been a member of our family in the Agency since 1948. This is not unusual and I have known families with 3 generation involvement.