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Good afternoon,
Wanted to make sure you saw this great Washington Post piece on the USDA 150th Anniversary kick-off celebration that took place today.
Video from this morning’s celebration will be available on www.usda.gov this afternoon.
For more information on the 150th anniversary celebration, please visit www.usda.gov/usda150. Additional information on USDA's work to strengthen the American economy can be found at www.usda.gov/results.
USDA set to mark 150th anniversary (Washington Post 5/15)
In the aftermath of staggering casualties suffered during the bloody Union victory at Shiloh, federal armies were advancing cautiously on the critical Confederate rail center of Corinth, Miss., on May 15, 1862. On the same day in Washington, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating a Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s birth 150 years ago Tuesday in the midst of the Civil War was part of an enormous expansion of the federal government during the conflict, one that reflected both a response to the great national crisis and a determination by Lincoln to forge ahead with the business of the nation despite the war. Read more.
