The McCormick International Harvester Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society preserves the worldwide history of the International Harvester Company as well the McCormick family, and makes that history available to collectors all over the world.

The archives are used by authors, researchers and IH enthusiasts but are accessible to all. For serious enthusiasts looking for photographs, patent drawings, or even advertising literature about their machines, the archives is an invaluable resource that helps fanatics learn more about their tractor or implement. In some cases, restorers have found old patent drawings or blueprints and made parts in order to keep an extremely rare tractor rolling.   



Above is an example of historical photos preserved in the archives. A farming man and woman bottle feeding a baby calf. Wisconsin Historical Society/52543
 
Today the McCormick-International Harvester Collection consists of more than 12 million manuscript pages, 350,000 photographs and 300 films. The McCormick family donated books, newspapers, farm machinery, toys and clothing in addition to the archive. It is one of the largest collections at the Wisconsin Historical Society. With nearly 23,000 collections in the archives, approximately 3 million pieces of history from documents and photographs to cartoons and film are housed there. All the money raised by donations and endowments are put towards preserving the irreplaceable items in the collection. The Wisconsin Historical Society is in the process of putting as much of the materials as they can online for easier and widespread access.



Pictured above is the McCormick mansion in downtown Chicago circa 1961. Wisconsin Historical Society/81728
 
Cyrus McCormick is credited as the inventor of the reaper, and his family went on to become founding members and key leaders of the International Harvester Company. The McCormick family collection was originally kept in the carriage house of one of their mansions in downtown Chicago, creating their own historical society. In 1915, Herbert Keller was hired as a professional historian to manage the McCormick historical society, then known as the McCormick Family Association. By 1951, Keller had expanded the collection to more than a million pieces. Find more information on Herbert Keller’s work here.



Above is a portrait of Cyrus Hall McCormick painted by Alexandre Cabanel in 1867. Wisconsin Historical Society/73880
 
When the property was sold in 1951, the McCormicks contracted Herbert and his wife, Lucille, to find a new home for their collection. The Kellers decided the best place for the collection was the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) at the University of Wisconsin. The WHS dedication to preserving agricultural history and the sheer size of their archives impressed the Kellers enough to select them. The McCormicks donated an endowment to take care of the collection and pay the salary of the Kellers who were to stay with the archives in Wisconsin and care for them. Herbert Keller curated the collection until his death in 1955. His wife stayed at the Wisconsin Historical Society until she retired in the 1960s. Over time, Navistar and International Harvester contributed pertinent pieces of the puzzle to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The International Harvester Company archives were never kept all together or in one place and the fragments of times past are finally being pieced together to tell one of the greatest stories of the largest and most influential farm equipment manufacturer of the 20th century.


Pictured above is Herbert Keller in the archives at the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Historical Society/28098
 
Browse the collection for yourself here.
 
Note that to honor contributions of the McCormick International Harvester Collection to red tractor enthusiasts, Octane Press has partnered with Aumann Auctions to offer Serial No. 501 of Red Tractors Collector’s Edition for sale in a charity auction. The auction ended on March 7, 2014 and all proceeds went to the McCormick-International Harvester Collection.