1970 Hackleman’s Legacy
Jay Courtland (JC.) Hackleman was instrumental in founding the Illinois Crop Improvement Association in 1922. The Indiana Crop Improvement Association awarded him the Soils and Crops Award, and he remains the only non-resident to have been honored. He served the organization directly or indirectly for almost 50 years. In 1970, his contemporaries shared, “In his passing, agriculture, and society lost a man, who by his presence and action, left things better than they were when he arrived.” The following biography can be found in A.L. Lang’s – Fifty Years of Service- A History of Seed Certification in Illinois 1922 to 1972.
Prof. Jay Courtland Hackleman was born on a farm near Carthage, Indiana, June 24, 1888. He graduated from Carthage High School in 1906, from Purdue University with a BS degree in 1910 and received his MS degree from the University of Missouri in 1912. While an undergraduate at Purdue University, he was president of the Agriculture Society, editor-in-chief of the Purdue Agriculturist, associate editor of the Purdue Daily Exponent, organization editor of the Purdue year book and president of the Emersonian Literary Society. From Purdue, Prof. Hackleman went to the University of Missouri where he served as instructor in farm crops 1910-1917 and assistant professor of crops extension 1917-1919. He was secretary-treasurer of the Missouri Corn Growers’ Association 1914-1919. In 1919 Prof. Hackleman came to the University of Illinois, Department of Agronomy, as assistant professor in charge of crops extension. He was made professor in 1923 and served as crops extension specialist in the Department of Agronomy until his retirement in September 1956.
Prior to his retirement, Prof. Hackleman helped organize the Illinois Crop Improvement Association in 1922. He served as its secretary and treasurer for 15 years, after which he served as Chairman of the College of Agriculture and Agricultural Experiment Station Advisory Committee to that organization until his retirement. Prof. Hackleman was an Honorary Member of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association and after retirement from the University of Illinois, he remained on the association’s staff as Director of Public Relations and editor of their newsletter. From 1922 he served actively on the International Crop Improvement Association Board of Directors and was secretary-treasurer for four years, and president one year. He was made an Honorary Member in 1955, and chaired a committee which wrote a very detailed, comprehensive history of the International Crop Improvement Association 1919-1961.
Prof. Hackleman, founder of the American Soybean Association and secretary and president to the association, was instrumental in convincing Illinois farmers that there was great potential in soybeans. He was also a renowned grain judge, serving for many years as one of the corn judges at the International Grain and Hay Show in Chicago. He was also on the wheat judging committee for the Pillsbury national show and judged grain at many state and county fairs during his extension activities. In 1932 he served as a judge at the world’s wheat congress in Canada, and as crop production specialist for the Mutual Security Agency in European countries, May 1, 1952 to September 1, 1953. He was an active member on many committees of the American Society of Agronomy and chairman of Section IV—”Crops Seed and Technology” in 1947, as well as a fellow in the Society. He was a member of Acacia and Alpha Gamma Rho Social Fraternities and Alpha Zeta, Epsilon Sigma Phi, and Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Fraternities as well as Masonic Orders and Urbana Exchange Club. Honors bestowed include the Award of Merit by the Indiana Crop Improvement Association on January 21, 1965. Each year this organization gives this coveted award to some agriculturist who has rendered outstanding service to the state of Indiana; Prof. Hackleman was the first man from outside of Indiana to receive this award. In October 1969, the International Crop Improvement Association, at its golden anniversary meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded Prof. Hackleman a plaque of merit as a charter member of that organization. At the annual Soybean Conference of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association, January 26, 1970, he was again honored with a certificate of appreciation for many years of valuable service to agriculture, signed by Governor Richard B. Ogilvie and Director of Agriculture John W. Lewis. During his active career, Prof. Hackleman published many scientific articles, station bulletins and circulars. His main literary contributions, however, were the hundreds of popular, comprehensive farmer mimeograph newspaper releases and national farm magazine articles. With his death on April 15, 1970, Prof. Hackleman left an enviable legacy of service and leadership in the agricultural world.
