A special collection on the role of “Crop Dusters in Rural America” is available now and for posterity on the Library of Congress’s website. The collection was produced by a mother-and-son team who undertook the oral history project in part to dispel outdated notions about ag pilots and the agricultural aviation profession.
In 2020, folklorist Samuel Kendrick and his mother, Ellen Kendrick, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to chronicle the occupational experiences and perspectives of agricultural pilots, operators and other figures involved in the industry. They had some familiarity with their subject matter already from living on their family farm in Richards, Missouri, near the Missouri-Kansas border. Being friends with Dusty Elkinton, the first ag pilot they interviewed, also helped. It gave the Kendricks some street cred, which helped when they looked for other aerial applicators to interview.
In 2021, they recorded interviews with 14 individuals for their agricultural aviation collection, including Missouri operator and 2023 NAAA Secretary Sam Styron (pictured at right), married ag pilots Austin and Emily Daniel, Air Tractor President and CEO Jim Hirsch, NAAA CEO Andrew Moore, and the most veteran of all the ag pilots they secured, Floyd McElwain, who was 85 at the time of his interview. Together, the oral histories capture the unique nature of the agricultural aviation profession and the traits common among ag pilots. The Kendricks also sought to highlight the ethics, professionalism and safety at the forefront of the decisions aerial applicators make inside and outside the cockpit to support farmers in producing a safe, affordable and abundant supply of food, fiber and bioenergy.
The curated ag aviation interviews are among the newest collections published by the Library of Congress as part of its ongoing Occupational Folklife Project and will continue to be preserved for future generations to enjoy. Anyone who listens to the Occupational Folklife interviews will come away with a better understanding of the agricultural aviation profession and a greater appreciation for the hardworking people devoted to this essential segment of agriculture.
The inclusion of an agricultural aviation collection at the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center is a welcome addition to the public record. Explore it here.
