Students relied on William Wesley Burr’s friendship and counsel. As Dean of the Agricultural College, students found a man who not only bespoke but exemplified the homely virtues of integrity, thrift, hard work, and imagination. This same giving quality carried over into various civic affairs where state legislators saw in Mr. Burr a man of high principles, sought his advice, and acted upon his wise judgment.
I have felt for a long time that the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement would take great pride in selecting Dean Burr for the honor that is being bestowed on him tonight. Selfishly I had always hoped that I would have an opportunity to take part in this program.
In preparing my paper I first started to enumerate in detail the wonderful service Dean Burr gave to our state, his many kind deeds and the grand gentleman that he is. I soon found that I could not cover even a part of his life in the time allotted me. Then I decided to take a little different look in that I would briefly draw a picture for you of Nebraska’s fantastic development during the past 50 years, the problems involved in this process and show how Dean Burr in a big way became a leader in this development.
In a sense I am congratulating the State of Nebraska for having had the benefit of the influence, service and devotion of this great man for the past 54 years.
It has become the custom these days, when you wish to pay someone an especial compliment or proffer him high praise, to refer to him as a “ball player’s ball player” or a “farmer’s farmer” or a “banker’s banker.” Tonight I am pleased to refer to the man we are honoring as a “Nebraskan’s Nebraskan.”
Now, I am aware that in academic circles upon occasions such as this you intone a man’s name as William Wesley Burr. Yet I would insist that a Nebraskan’s Nebraskan should be known as Bill Burr.
I believe there are substantial reasons why Bill Burr is a Nebraskan’s Nebraskan, and why he so richly deserves a high place among those honored in the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement.
Mr. Burr is a native of Indiana but came to Nebraska as a very young man. He graduated from the College of Agriculture with a commendable record in his studies in 1906. That same year he accepted a cooperative position with the University and U.S. Department of Agriculture as an agronomist at the North Platte Agricultural Experiment Station.
His excellent studies at North Platte led him, in 1913, to a position as assistant agronomist in the office of Dry Land Agriculture in Washington, D.C. But Nebraska called again, and he answered by returning to the University to head the Department of Agronomy in 1916. Three years later he was appointed assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and in 1928 he became Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station, a position he held until his retirement in 1948.
Now I do not propose to recite here tonight the research achievements and professional accomplishments of Mr. Burr. But I would like to point out that upon at least several occasions, Mr. Burr and I reached the same conclusions. One such occasion occurred in 1913 when I was County Agent in Gage County and we were holding a county institute, which as many of you know, was the forerunner of the Agricultural Extension Service program in this state. Well for this occasion the College sent Miss Aurelia Scott, a very fine young lady, down to us to discuss homemaking problems with our wives. When she arrived I told Mrs. Liebers that this gracious and charming woman would make someone an excellent wife. Well, while I wasn’t aware of it at the time, Bill Burr was in agreement with me for in 1919 they were married.
During her lifetime, Mrs. Burr was a devoted and inspiring wife and mother, and a gracious gentlewoman. Their daughter Jean, now the wife of an agronomist at Cornell University, is the mother of four children. Their son Bill, who holds the Ph.D. in chemistry, is now on the staff of the famous Southwest Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He is married and they have a fine family of three youngsters.
May I at this time, Mr. Burr, officially recognize you as a member, first class, in that wonderful fraternal order of Grandads?
As you have seen in the record of Mr. Burr’s professional and scientific life in agriculture which I have just recited, it was inevitable that he should become a leader. The qualities of leadership are complex and mysterious, but when we see a leader we recognize these qualities.
Certainly one of these qualities is modesty. And by this I mean modesty in all things. For example, Mr. Burr was something of an expert hunter and fisher. He was recognized as such by those who roam the fields for game, and search the streams for fish. Now most of the time I believe that Bill always gave me an accurate and modest account of his achievements in these endeavors. But, then, there were other occasions when we would all listen attentively and nod agreeably as one improbability was added to another. But all the time there was that twinkle of good fun in Mr. Burr’s eyes and as we burst into laughter we knew that we had been listening to a man who recognized that happiness is a high virtue and that a fine way to keep life in perspective is to have a good laugh occasionally at our own expense.
It seems to me that one cannot truly take the measure of a man’s accomplishments and character unless we look behind him at the times in which he lived. When Mr. Burr came to Nebraska our state had just discarded its swaddling clothes and had proudly donned its knee pants. Vast numbers of families from the eastern states and from foreign shores had just recently settled on the fertile soil of our state. These were times of high hope, of high courage. Here was a spirit of adventure. Here were men and women who saw in the fertile soil an opportunity to make a living, to get ahead. But these settlers did not always understand the rules of nature which controlled the riches to be reaped from that soil. Here was indeed a great challenge. I think it is fortunate that men like Mr. Burr came west when they did. Here they found the hard work, the robust and sincere people, and the exciting optimism for growth which characterizes an agricultural frontier. These attributes were absorbed in generous amounts by Mr. Burr, and they served him well in future years.
Surely there is no greater joy than playing part in molding the character and training the minds of young people. This is a task and an opportunity for which Mr. Burr was admirably fitted. Hundreds of young men and women who passed through this College had occasion to visit with Mr. Burr. They could have no better friend and counselor, for in Mr. Burr they found a man in whom the flame of optimism for the future forever burned brightly. In him they found a man who not only bespoke but exemplified the homely virtues of integrity, thrift, hard work and imagination. These virtues have given our great state sure-footed progress.
This same quality of giving generously of his time to the students of the College, and its faculty, carried over into public affairs which is inevitably involved in the life of the Dean. Mr. Burr participated wholeheartedly in the civic affairs of the City of Lincoln, and in affairs of the state. May I say briefly, in this connection, that Mr. Burr distinguished himself in all of his associations with the Legislature. The members saw in Mr. Burr a man of substance and high principles, and many of them sought Mr. Burr’s advice and counsel upon many occasions and acted upon his wise judgment. During his tenure as Dean of the College, Mr. Burr won for it high esteem among the lawmakers of Nebraska.
In the quarter century of Mr. Burr’s mature years, agriculture in this state underwent nothing less than a profound revolution. We witnessed a remarkable change in plant breeding and in tillage practices. We have witnessed an almost breathtaking shift from animal to machine power. We have seen great change in the management of livestock. We have watched as the farm lost its remoteness and became as near to the world about us as a flip of a switch on a radio or TV set. Who among us gathered here this evening could have contemplated in our younger years this almost miraculous change?
It has become almost habitual these days for us to turn to our great Land Grant Colleges, such as the one we have here in Nebraska, for answers to the problems which beset our agricultural industry. I think there is good reason for this. Of course, the record is there for all to see. And that’s important. But there is much more to it than that. I believe that the character of the people who made the record is equally important.
We believe in our Agricultural Colleges because we simply take for granted the integrity of the men and women who are responsible for their operation. When our agriculture was moving through a period of great change, it was also moving through a period in our history when we were grappling with difficult problems. There were the problems of a post-war world in what has been described as the roaring twenties. There was the catastrophe of an unparalleled drought and depression in the thirties. There was the tragedy and production demands of World War II in the forties.
The men who are responsible for our College of Agriculture, such as Mr. Burr was for so many years, do not live in a vacuum. They are swept into the main stream of the events which shape the lives of men. While some of us may anxiously view the current from the shallower and calmer waters near the bank, we expect men like Mr. Burr to build for us a leak-proof boat.
As we all know this is an imposing task. We called upon Mr. Burr and his colleagues to assess the past, to contemplate the present, and to chart a course for the future. And, as we can all testify, our society does not always provide men like Mr. Burr with all of the tools required to accomplish the mission.
Yet, I believe it is a marvelous thing that men such as Mr. Burr persevere. Our agricultural progress would be much less than it is today had they not persevered. This calls for something more -- much more -- than technical competence, as important as that attribute is. It also requires a warm heart, an understanding spirit, sound judgment, courage, responsibility, insight and humility. These are the qualities that not only helped him understand and appreciate the dynamics of agriculture, but the men and women who earn their livelihood from it.
We have come a long way in Nebraska agriculture, and a generous share of credit for this achievement belongs to Bill Burr, truly a Nebraskan’s Nebraskan.
