Kenneth B. Platt Land Reform papers
Scope and Contents
The Kenneth B. Platt Land Reform Papers span the years 1964-1970. Contents of the collection include assorted land reform documents, including reports from the United States Agency for International Development, a printed booklet by the Department of the Interior General Land Office overviewing the public land system in the United States, and reports concerning land reform in Korea. Also included in the collection is a photograph of an unidentified group of women and correspondence records. Topical focus of the collection centers around the public land system of the United States, plans for land reform in countries such as Korea and Iran, and cadastral surveying.
Dates
- Creation: 1924-1970
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Kenneth B. Platt was born on the Salmon River at Craig Mountain in 1907, where he lived until 1917, when he moved with his family to Genesee. In 1930, he completed a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry from the University of Idaho; a year later, he earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Minnesota. Throughout his career, Platt worked in various positions pertaining to land management, land reform, and agricultural economics. From 1932-1935, he wrote radio script for the Idaho agricultural extension service. Following that, he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management until 1946, with two interims from 1944-1946 and 1952-1954 where he served in the U.S. Navy and worked for the U.S. State Department in Cairo, Egypt, respectively. In 1959, Platt transferred to the U.S. State Department’s Agency for International Development and worked in Tehran, Iran until 1965, assisting with land reform efforts and natural disaster relief. From 1965 to his retirement in 1970, his work continued at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute in Suwon, Korea, where he assisted with land reform and food-to-market systems. After retiring in 1970, Platt moved to Moscow, Idaho, where he lived until January 13, 1990, when he passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to his agricultural and land reform work, Platt was also a poet. He published two poetry collections, titled “Within These Walls” (1945) and “Underneath the Bough” (1976). In 1978, he also wrote and published, “Salmon River Saga”, a book detailing his early life living on the Salmon River.
Extent
0.5 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Consist of assorted land reform documents, including correspondence, reports from the Unites States Agency for International Development, and a booklet overviewing the public land system in the United States. The collection also includes a miscellaneous photograph of an unidentified group of women.
Arrangement
Materials arranged in folders, grouped by general topic and type of report.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials in this collection were donated by Kenneth B. Platt in 1988.
- Title
- Guide to Kenneth B Platt Land Reform papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Trixie Zwolfer
- Date
- 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository