Audiovisual Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Materials

Below is a timeline of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) screwworm research highlights.

1858: First reported screwworm cases on Devil's Island, French Guiana

1933: Emory Clayton Cushing and Walter S. Patton recognized screwworm fly as its own species, Cochliomyia hominivorax (different from the blowfly species)

1934: USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) established research station at Valdosta, Georgia (closed 1936) to conduct research on screwworms by scientists Ernest William Laake and Edward Fred Knipling

1935: ARS secured funding for research on screwworms. Raymond C. Bushland began research on artificial diets for rearing screwworms.

1937: Bushland and Knipling are transferred to ARS laboratory in Menard, Texas. Bushland began research on controlling screwworms through chemical means. Knipling began research on sterile male technique, an autocidal theory of total insect population management.

1938: USDA developed Smear 62, an insecticidal wound treatment

1939: Bushland is transferred to Orlando, Florida, to conduct research on mosquito control

1940: Knipling is transferred to Orlando, Florida, to conduct research on insects affecting man

1946: Bushland transferred to ARS laboratory in Kerrville, Texas. Knipling transferred to USDA-ARS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

1950: Arthur W. Lindquist introduced Knipling to Hermann Joseph Muller's research on genetic mutations in fruit flies by radiation. Bushland and Donald E. Hopkins began tests on sterilization of screwworms using radiation.

1951: Alfred H. Baumhover arrived at Kerrville, Texas, to work on screwworm eradication using sterile male technique. Sanibel Island, Florida, was the first field test to use the sterile male technique.

1954: Baumhover traveled to Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and began successful screwworm eradication campaign using sterile male technique

1955: Baumhover returned to Orlando, Florida, to work on eradication of screwworms from the Southeast United States. Mass rearing techniques were developed.

1955-1957: A mass fly production facility for rearing screwworms is built in Bithlo, Florida. Screwworms successfully eradicated in a 2000 square mile field test area near Orlando, Florida.

1958: ARS built mass fly production facility near Sebring, Florida

1959: Screwworms successfully eradicated from the Southeast United States

1962: ARS Southwest United States screwworm eradication program began with flies produced at the Kerrville, Texas, ARS laboratory. Mass production facility built at Mission, Texas.

1963: ARS developed program specializations. Billy Gene Hightower studied screwworm ecology in Texas. Alfred H. Baumhover studied sterile fly distribution. Leo E. LaChance studied screwworm genetics. Maxwell M. Crystal studied chemosterilants.

1964: Baumhover transferred to Oxford, North Carolina, to work with the Tobacco Insects Investigations

1966: USDA declared screwworms eradicated from Southwest United States, except Texas continued to be infested until 1982. United States and Mexico conducted a feasibility survey for a screwworm eradication program in Mexico, which resulted in the establishment of a screwworm eradication program in Mexico.

1974: The Lincoln-Eden Report, "The Southwestern Screwworm Eradication Program: A Review," is published. Charles G. Lincoln and William Gibbs Eden were tasked with evaluating the Southwestern United States Screwworm Eradication program after poor results spanning 1972-1974. They concluded that the program was a success despite some minor faults and the research should continue.

1977: The ARS Screwworm Research Unit relocated from the Mission, Texas, laboratory to a sterile fly production facility near Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, Mexico

1984: A new gelled diet is developed by ARS for use in mass rearing screwworms

1990: "Severn Run's Cazador," a German wirehaired pointer, is trained by John Bertram Welch to detect screwworm larvae and screwworm infested animals

1991: Mexico was declared screwworm free

1994: Screwworms eradicated from Belize and Guatemala. Panama City, Republic of Panama, became the headquarters for the USDA-ARS Screwworm Research Unit.

1995: Screwworms eradicated from El Salvador

1996: Screwworms eradicated from Nicaragua

1999: Screwworms eradicated from Honduras

2000: Costa Rica declared screwworm free

The Audiovisual Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Records contain items collected by various members involved with the Screwworm Eradication Programs in the United States, Mexico, and North Africa. The collection spans the years 1944-2003. There are films, photographs, slides, and an audiocassette.

The bulk of the materials are related to activities of the Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, plant warehouse and sterile fly production plant. Series I (Films) contains films produced by the Mexico-American Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for public education and awareness of screwworm research. In addition, there are films from Edward Fred Knipling pertaining to Africa, as well as some copies of his interviews and speaking engagements.

Series II (Photographic Materials) contains photographs and slides. The majority of the materials depict the activities of the Tuxtla Gutierrez plant. Also included are some USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) slides of screwworm drawings and screwworm infestations.

Series III contains an audiocassette of Edward Fred Knipling's banquet talk at Iowa State University Entomology Department's Centennial.

Appendix A contains a listing of related collections in the Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Items from this collection have been digitized and are available on the web at https://www.nal.usda.gov/finding_aids/screwworm-eradication-program-records.

The following sources were used to write the historical note and the scope and content sections:

Audiovisual Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.

Mexican-American Commission. "Mexican-American Commission." Last accessed on March 1, 2006

Promotional Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.

Screwworm Research Unit. "History of USDA-ARS Screwworm Research and the USDA-ARS Screwworm Research Unit." Last accessed on March 1, 2006 from https://www.ars.usda.gov/.

Series I. Films. 1944-2003. 7 boxes.

This series consists of three subseries: Reels, Master VHS Copies, and Viewing VHS Copies. The materials are arranged chronologically within each subseries.

• Subseries I.A. Reels. 1944-1989.
  This subseries contains 8 mm and 16 mm films pertaining to Africa, DDT, and screwworm eradication. Some of the films are in Spanish.
• Subseries I.B. Master VHS Copies. 1979, 1987.
  This subseries contains master VHS copies pertaining to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) public awareness campaign on screwworm eradication. Master copies are the original version and copies were created from them for public access. The public access copies are located in the Viewing VHS Copies subseries.
• Subseries I.C. Viewing VHS Copies. Ca. 1979-2003.
  This subseries contains copies of videos of the USDA public awareness campaign on screwworm eradication, interviews and speaking engagements with Edward Fred Knipling, the eradication of the melon fly from Okinawa, a history of DDT, and legislative updates with "Kika" de la Garza.

Series II. Photographic Materials. 1978-2002. 3 boxes.

This series consists of two subseries: Photographs and Slides. The materials are arranged chronologically within each subseries.

• Subseries II.A. Photographs. 1978-2002.
  This subseries contains photographs from Paul Tommy Stanford depicting the Tuxtla Gutierrez plant warehouse, the Panama dispersal center, and an aerial photograph of the Moore Air Field in Mission, Texas.
• Subseries II.B. Slides. 1999.
  This subseries contains slides from Paul Tommy Stanford depicting the Tuxtla Gutierrez plant warehouse. Also included are USDA-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) slides of screwworm drawings and infestations.

Series III. Audiocassette. 1980. 1 tape.

This series contains an audiocassette of Edward Fred Knipling's banquet talk at the Iowa State University Entomology Department's Centennial celebration.

Listed below are screwworm related manuscript collections housed in Special Collections, National Agricultural Library as of June 2007:

Artifacts: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 348.

Audiovisual Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 215.

Baumhover, Alfred H., Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 266.

Graham, Owen Hugh, Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 213.

Husman, Chester N., Awards: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 349.

International Collection: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 355.

Knipling, Edward Fred, Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 210.

Oral Histories: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 305.

Promotional Materials: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 214.

Severn Run's Cazador (Caz), Screwworm Detection Dog, Collection: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 310.

Southeastern United States Collection: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 212.

Southwestern United States and Mexico Collection: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 211.

USDA Entomology Research Division Records. Manuscript Collection 237.

Wyss, John, Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records. Manuscript Collection 338.