In Memoriam

James Francis Cavanaugh

1917 - 2010

Executive Secretary,
The American Jersey Cattle Club
1956-1985

Founding Executive Secretary, National All-Jersey Inc.
1957-1985

 
 

James Francis Cavanaugh, Executive Secretary of The American Jersey Cattle Club (AJCC) from 1956 to July 1, 1985 and the founding Executive Secretary of National All-Jersey Inc. (NAJ), died peacefully in his sleep on April 6, 2010, eight days shy of reaching his 93rd birthday.

Born April 14, 1917 to a Kansas dairy and wheat farm family, Jim Cavanaugh worked with people equally well on the concrete floor of a holding pen or the carpeted floor of a CEO's office. The progress of the Jersey breed and the USJersey organizations under his leadership from 1956 to 1985 was nothing short of remarkable. Among his contributions were increased production based upon adoption of sound genetic programs, a strong milk marketing program, expansion through Genetic Recovery, the development of Jersey Marketing Service, and the founding of the Jersey Journal. He was the moving force behind the creation of the National Heifer Sale to fund an outstanding youth program and a scientifically sound program to control genetic abnormalities in the Jersey breed.

In his final report to the membership at the 1985 Annual Meeting, Cavanaugh said:

“The record reveals that I have been very repetitive in my reports. At the first meeting, I recommended that the Board establish three long-range goals:

  • Sell the dairy industry on the value of Jersey milk.

  • Promote the efficiency of the Jersey cow.

  • Increase the production average of Jerseys.

“As I review the programs, projects and changes the Boards have adopted, I continue to believe the following would be among the most beneficial: National All-Jersey Inc.; increased production (adoption of sound genetic programs); establishing the Jersey Journal; Genetic Recovery; Equity; moving from New York to Columbus; computerized office operations; sound financial decisions which included investment when needed [for programs and services] such as All-Jersey® and Jersey Marketing Service; youth programs financed by the National Heifer Sale; and promotional programs with glamour such as the All American activities.

“I leave with optimism for the future of the Jersey breed. I like our goal: Make owning Jerseys more profitable than owning any other breed of dairy cattle.”

A hallmark of Cavanaugh’s combined career as Executive Secretary of both the AJCC and NAJ was his efforts to expand and improve markets for Jersey milk. In the early ‘50s, he recognized the value of the All-Jersey® milk program and pioneered its national expansion. As fluid milk markets changed, non-traditional programs were adopted to improve the profitability of Jersey dairying. In the mid-‘70s, the Equity Project was developed, returning untold millions to Jersey milk producers and setting the stage for implementation of multiple component pricing (MCP) as a part of Federal Order Reform on January 1, 2000.

Breed improvement programs were developed under Cavanaugh’s leadership to make the Jersey cow competitive and profitable. Foremost among these was the AJCC’s adoption of the USDA Sire Summary in 1967. The Club was the first breed registry association to designate the summary as its official sire rating program, paving the way for a rapid rate of improvement in Jersey productivity. The first package of Jersey herd improvement services was developed during his tenure. The Total Performance Evaluation (TPE) program bundled testing and type evaluation services in one package at one low price. The services and benefits provided by TPE were updated and expanded over the years, and became the foundation of the current REAP program.

Another non-traditional program molded by Cavanaugh was Genetic Recovery, in which superior unregistered Jersey females could be brought into the AJCC Herd Register. More than 75,000 females were enrolled in the program’s three steps from its adoption on January 1, 1975 through Cavanaugh’s retirement nearly 10 years later. The program was so successful that it was adopted by the Guernsey and Ayrshire associations, and inspired similar programs across the world.

Breed expansion was fostered by the organization of Jersey Marketing Service in 1971, when it took over management of the National Heifer Sale. Jersey Marketing Service played a particularly important function in moving excess replacement cattle from areas like the Northeast U.S. into growing All-Jersey® milk markets in the Southeast. JMS increased the professionalism of cattle marketing by creating stringent health protocols and providing complete pedigree and testing information to buyers.

These programs and services bolstered the basic service of the Club: animal identification, or registration. At his retirement, registrations had increased 39% compared to the lowest period in history, and the organization had implemented database processing that has been key to more efficient, cost-effective services.

Jim Cavanaugh was the first editor of the Jersey Journal when the magazine began publication in October of 1953. He held special fondness for the contributions of the Journal to promote the programs and policies of the AJCC and NAJ Boards of Directors.

A milestone was the development of a positive approach to deal with genetic abnormalities in the Jersey breed, which emerged in the mid-‘70s. A program of scientific research and testing was created to support the declaration of abnormalities and the permanent labeling of carrier animals. The awareness of the only two abnormalities yet declared—Limber Legs and Rectovaginal Constriction—stemmed financial losses for Jersey owners  and prevented their further spread in the breed.

Cavanaugh was a graduate of Kansas State College (now University) in 1942 with a major in dairy production and minors in dairy management and agricultural journalism. He was a member of the 1941 dairy cattle judging team which won at Waterloo, Iowa and placed third at the National Intercollegiate Judging Contest.

An Air Force B-24 pilot with 50 combat missions in the European theatre during World War II, he attained the rank of Major and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Following his discharge, he returned to the staff of Hoard’s Dairyman, Ft. Atkinson, Wis., as associate editor. In 1947, he joined The American Jersey Cattle Club as assistant secretary, then was promoted to Executive Secretary nine years later.

Jim served in leadership capacities with National Dairy Shrine, the American Dairy Science Association, the Purebred Dairy Cattle Association, the National Brucellosis Committee, and the National Society of Livestock Records Association, plus the American board of KEEP, the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project of Japan. He traveled worldwide on behalf of the U.S. Jersey and dairy industry.

Cavanaugh was at times an owner and breeder of Registered Jersey™ cattle. His chosen prefix reflected his optimism and drive. It was the military pilot’s term to describe optimal conditions for flying: Ceiling Absolute, Visibility Unlimited--CAVU.

After retiring from the Jersey organizations, Jim joined the staff of the American Guernsey Association. His contributions to that organization in an eighteen-month period were most significant. From April 15, 1987 to March 1988, Cavanaugh was acting executive secretary of National Dairy Herd Improvement Association, Inc. From January 1, 1988 to January 1, 1992 Jim was Research Development Coordinator for the AJCC Research Foundation, which he helped created in 1967.

Numerous honors were bestowed upon Cavanaugh in addition to the AJCC Distinguished Service Award. These included:

2000 - Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame
1993 - National Pedigreed Livestock Council, Distinguished Service Award
1992 - World Jersey Cattle Bureau, Distinguished Service Award
1987 - National Association of Animal Breeders, Distinguished Service Award
1984 - National Society of Livestock Records Association, Distinguished Service Award
1984 - National DHIA, Distinguished Service Award
1982 - Kansas State University, Distinguished Service in Agriculture
1978 - National Dairy Shrine, Guest of Honor
1977 - World Dairy Expo, Inc., Industry Person of the Year
1976 - Kansas Interbreed Dairy Council, Certificate of Honor, Kansas Dairy Leaders
1975 - The American Dairy Science Association, Distinguished Service Award
1975 - The American Jersey Cattle Club, Lifetime Membership
1971 - Commonwealth of Kentucky, Kentucky Colonel
1968 - The Ohio State University, Dairy Science Hall of Service
1964 - The Borden Company, Certificate of Appreciation

His passion in later years was to edit the “Gotham Herdsman” books and newsletters chronicling the lives of the Borden Boys, of which he was a member. This league of young men from across the U.S. traveled with and cared for the cows selected to represent each breed in the Borden’s Dairy World of Tomorrow exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair.

In 1999, he was present for Elsie’s 60th Anniversary and Birthday Bash in Bryant Park, New York City, then again in June of 2007 for the 150th Anniversary of the Borden Company and to celebrate the donation of Borden Boys’ personal memorabilia to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. During his 2007 visit to New York City, The New York Times profiled the lifetime love affair between Jim Cavanaugh and Elsie, who he helped bring to life in bovine form at the 1939 World’s Fair.

Jim and Virginia “Ginny” Allen were married on April 22, 1946. They shared 59 years of marriage and lived in their Columbus home from 1949 until her death in January of 2006 at age 88. Her support was acknowledged by Jim in the response he made when presented the AJCC Distinguished Service Award in 1985. “She played both mother and father to our four children. She managed the household, the finances and represented the family where necessary in civic, church, neighborhood and school affairs. She physically did the lawn and garden work, interior and exterior painting at the house and still managed to play in the championship flight at our military golf club for a dozen years.”

Jim Cavanaugh is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Michael and Susan Cavanaugh of Arlington VA, Paul and Jean Cavanaugh of Columbus, Kevin and Joan Cavanaugh of Raleigh NC; and daughter and son-in-law, Gerald and Mary Manley of Columbus; grandchildren, James, Thomas, Matthew, Scott and Daniel Cavanaugh, Patrick Manley, and Kate Caress; great-grandchildren, Jessica, Nathan, Jordan Cavanaugh, and Russell Caress. He was a 63-year member of St. Catharine Parish, where a funeral mass will be conducted Friday, April 9.

At the request of the family, in lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to The J.F. Cavanaugh Fund of the AJCC Research Foundation, 6486 E. Main Street, Reynoldsburg OH 43068-2362.

 
 

Updated April 8, 2010

 

     

Once More, Cows Attract a Visitor to New York City

Kitra Cahana/The New York Times

Jim Cavanaugh, 90, in New York Thursday with Borden’s current Elsie. In 1939, Mr. Cavanaugh helped choose the original, named You'll Do Lobelia 998632, from Elm Hill Farm in Brookfield, Mass.

By ETHAN WILENSKY-LANFORD

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

June 8, 2007 -- Many things draw visitors to New York: Broadway musicals, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, games at Yankee Stadium.

For Jim Cavanaugh, it has always been cows.

It was cows that first brought him from Kansas to New York for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. And it was cows that brought Mr. Cavanaugh, now 90, back to New York yesterday. 

“It just looks busier than ever,” Mr. Cavanaugh said yesterday as he stood watching cars go by on the West Side of Manhattan. He figured he had been to the city four times in his life. “I am amazed they don’t have more fender benders, the way they drive around,” he said.

Mr. Cavanaugh was on hand to show off Elsie, a horned Jersey dairy cow who, for about an hour, stood in the hot sun behind a custom picket fence on the sidewalk outside the New-York Historical Society.

Mr. Cavanaugh was there as part of a ceremony in which the museum was given a photographic plate and a scrapbook that had belonged to Gail Borden, who in the mid-1800s invented condensed milk and helped start a dairy company.

The first time Mr. Cavanaugh came to New York, he was in college, studying animal husbandry at Kansas State Agricultural College. He boarded a bus in Manhattan, Kan., and got off in the other Manhattan. He was chosen to be one of the Gotham Herdsmen who would help handle the cows in a pavilion for the 1939 World’s Fair called Borden’s Dairy World of Tomorrow.

Visitors to the pavilion would see a barn of the future made of glass walls with cows revolving on a mechanism called the Rotolactor as they were being milked. The Rotolactor was a hit. 

For about six months, Mr. Cavanaugh showed off the cattle. Many visitors had never seen a live cow. Mr. Cavanaugh told the gullible visitors that the cud the cows were chewing was bubblegum and the pink salt the cows were licking was lipstick.

Elsie had already become such a well-known mascot for the dairy company that visitors would ask for her by name. It was Mr. Cavanaugh’s job to help choose the cow that would become Elsie for the fair.

He had picked a cow from Massachusetts with perky ears, bright eyes and long lashes that had been named You’ll Do Lobelia 998632. Mr. Cavanaugh recalled escorting her to a dancehall pavilion at the fair, where a bandleader introduced Elsie as “the biggest stripper in town.”

Mr. Cavanaugh and his fellow cow handlers lived on the Upper West Side, where they became friendly with young women studying teaching at Barnard College. He spoke fondly of dancing to Tommy Dorsey’s band at downtown nightclubs. 

On nights he was feeling generous, Mr. Cavanaugh said, he spent 25 cents to take his date to her parents’ home aboard the Long Island Rail Road. On other nights, he rode the subway to Flushing, Queens, for a mere nickel. 

After the fair, Mr. Cavanaugh went on the road. Even though it was November, he said he was thrilled to ride a boxcar across the country and into British Columbia, returning cows that had been picked to be in the fair to their owners. “Some guys took a cow to Pittsburgh, and that was it,” he said. 

He favored hitchhiking and taking buses back home to Kansas over a first-class train ticket the company had provided. On the way, he stayed with cattle breeders. 

After World War II, he worked for the Jersey Cattle Club, an association based in Ohio that registered and advocated for Jersey cows over the better-known black and white Holstein breed. 

Mr. Cavanaugh’s cow travel took him to Japan, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. “This didn’t happen to very many people,” he said of his experiences, which all began with that trip to the city nearly 70 years ago.

As a Roman Catholic who goes to Mass every day, Mr. Cavanaugh has hung a picture of the pope in his home. Next to that photo is a framed picture of another love — Elsie.

Mr. Cavanaugh, who had traveled from Manhattan, Kansas, at the 1939 World’s Fair.

WHOLLY COW! 
By HEIDI SINGER 
NEW YORK POST Copyright 2007 NYP Holdings, Inc.

June 8, 2007 -- Yes, that was a live cow calmly chewing her cud on Central Park West yesterday - and the legendary Elsie milked the attention for all it was worth.

The curly-horned cutie visited the New York Historical Society to help mark the 150th anniversary of Borden Cheese, and celebrate the donation of founder Gail Borden's historic scrapbook to the society. 

"She's a people cow - she likes people," said Hunter Lueckemeyer, who tours the country with the icon, one of its 50 spokescows. 

The brown cow chowed on a special birthday cake made from oats and corn. 

 

 

Smithsonian Acquires Borden World's Fair Materials

Advertising Icon "Elsie the Cow" Visits National Museum of American History

WASHINGTON, DC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/05/07 --  In a special ceremony today, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History received a collection of personal memorabilia documenting the Borden Company's participation in the 1939 New York World's Fair in commemoration of Borden's 150th anniversary. The donation includes yearbooks, photographs, personal scrapbooks and other materials. A selection of the Borden-related collection will be on temporary display in the museum's "Treasures of American History" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum beginning July 12.

 Jim Cavanaugh, Chester Steen and Herbert Petree were among the 60 "Borden Boys" -- young agriculture and dairy college students recruited to handle the 150 cows at the Borden pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair, "The Dairy World of Tomorrow." The exhibit was designed as a showcase for the most modern, sanitary methods used in the dairy industry. These young men cared for the animals, kept careful statistics on milk production and demonstrated dairy operations to the public. Today, the three men once again accompanied "Elsie the Cow" to a major event, this time in the nation's capital.

"Back then, Elsie was a sensation, and we knew we were a part of something special and wanted to preserve our memories," said Cavanaugh, who helped select the first "real" Elsie after visitors to the World's Fair inquired as to which of the cows was the one featured in the company's advertisements.

"The Borden brand and Elsie have not only played major roles in popular culture and advertising in American history, but they also reflect the importance of the development of the dairy industry," said Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History. "We're pleased that the personal memorabilia of the 'Borden Boys' will be preserved in the museum's archives center."

At the World's Fair, Borden soon discovered that although impressed with the technology on display, most visitors really wanted to know which animal was Elsie, a fictional cow featured in the company's recent advertisements. An especially sweet-dispositioned Jersey was swiftly identified as Elsie and introduced to the public. She became the focus of the exhibit, where she and her calf Beulah lived in a luxury stall with framed "portraits" of her ancestors on the wall. Due to her immense popularity at the fair, the Borden Company made Elsie its primary advertising icon, a role she still plays today.

The Borden materials will be added to the museum's archives center collections, supplementing existing collections related to the 1939 World's Fair as well as advertising history.

Gail Borden created the Borden brand in 1857, when he established the nation's first milk condensery in Burrville, Conn. A team of artists introduced Elsie in the late 1930s as part of a project to find a trademark animal for Borden. Through a licensing agreement in 1997, Elsie and Borden Cheese became part of the Dairy Farmers of America. DFA is the nation's largest producer-owned dairy marketing cooperative and food company.

The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Documenting the American experience from Colonial times to the present, the museum looks at growth and change in the United States. The museum is closed for major renovations and will re-open in summer 2008. For information about the museum, please visit http://americanhistory.si.edu or call Smithsonian Information at (202) 633-1000, (202) 633-5285 (TTY).

 

New York Historical Society Has a Cow!

Elsie the Cow Visits 'Mooseum' to Mark Borden's 150th Anniversary with Donation Ceremony - Elsie will Have Her Cake and Eat it, Too!

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- To commemorate National Dairy Month and the 150th anniversary of the Borden(R) brand, the oldest dairy brand in America, a scrapbook compiled by and including handwritten notes by Borden founder Gail Borden was donated today to the New York Historical Society. Gail Borden is the "Father of the Modern Dairy Industry" and inventor of condensed milk. A portrait of Borden on a metal printing plate also was presented. The items will remain permanently at the Historical Society.

The real Elsie the Cow, America's beloved mascot, joined company and museum officials for a presentation ceremony held on the steps of the Historical Society. Following the dedication, Elsie indulged in a special birthday cake made with some of her favorite ingredients -- coarse feed, Blackstrap un-sulphured molasses, hay and fresh flowers!

Accompanying Elsie (who travels in a 40 foot "cowdillac" trailer) were her handlers, along with ninety-year-old Jim Cavanaugh, one of the original "Borden Boys" and one of the men credited with selecting the first Elsie at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The "Borden Boys" were 60 young agriculture and dairy college students recruited to handle the cows at the Borden Exhibit during the World's Fair. Cavanaugh, today one of only nine surviving "Borden Boys," maintains personal contact with the close-knit group.

"Borden and Elsie have a rich history, especially within the state of New York," Cavanaugh said. "It is gratifying and heart-warming to return to New York with Elsie almost 70 years after the World's Fair to participate in this momentous event."

Alexander Hoyt, whose family owns the original John Gail Borden homestead and 100 acres of the famous Borden Home Farm in Wallkill, NY, donated the items to the Historical Society. The scrapbook was only recently discovered, while the tin portrait was found many years ago, just after the Hoyt family purchased the homestead and 100 acres of the famous Borden Home Farm in 1950.

"Gail Borden founded one of the most enduring brands in American history and we felt it important that this personal scrapbook showcasing his thoughts and interests be preserved appropriately," said Alexander Hoyt. "We're delighted to be able to give these treasures to the New York Historical Society in recognition of the Borden Brand's 150th anniversary."

"We are pleased to add the Gail Borden Scrapbook and tin portrait to our Library Collection," said Marilyn Kushner, Curator and Head, Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections, New York Historical Society. "Gail Borden spent much of his life in the state of New York. He was a scientist, farmer, and businessman who revolutionized the dairy industry so it is fitting that some of his personal possessions have found a permanent home at the New York Historical Society."

"The Borden brand has been a fixture of Americana through parts of three centuries, 30 U.S. presidents, two world wars, the Great Depression, and the birth of rock and roll," said Tom Camerlo, Chairman of Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. "Very few brand names have resonated with consumers over as many decades."

A Name Associated with Quality

The Borden story began 150 years ago with Gail Borden, who was a publisher, cattleman, surveyor, civil servant, politician and missionary in 19th century Texas before he began inventing new ways to preserve foodstuffs. In 1853, Borden began working on a process to condense milk as a means of preventing spoilage. Four years later, he established his first condensery in Burrville, Connecticut, which became known as the Borden Company.

More factories were built in Connecticut, New York and Maine and the business experienced tremendous growth during the Civil War when the Union Army called on Borden to supply condensed milk in large quantities. After the war, the family established a family farm in Wallkill, New York, just 70 miles north of New York City.

Today, Borden(R) Cheese and Butter are marketed through Dairy Farmers of America, a farm cooperative of nearly 22,000 dairy families. We are proud that purchases of Borden Cheese and Butter support hard-working dairy farmers across the country. Borden Brand Cheese products include individually wrapped cheese slices, natural shredded cheese, natural chunk cheese, string cheese and natural cheese slices.

About the New York Historical Society

The Society holds one of the world's greatest collections of historical artifacts, American art, and other materials documenting the history of the United States and New York, and is home to both one of the nation's most distinguished independent research libraries and New York City's oldest museum. The Society's collections include more than 4.5 million American history-related documents, paintings, artifacts, and ephemera. Highlights of these holdings include: an exceptional collection of materials relating to slavery, the Civil War, and reconstruction; all 435 of John James Audubon's known extant watercolors preparatory for Birds of America; an outstanding collection of 18th century newspapers; world-renowned Hudson River School paintings; vast holdings revealing the social dimensions of early trial history in the United States; an extensive collection of Tiffany glasswork; and far-ranging materials relating to the founding and early history of the nation. The strength and depth of these collections provides a vital foundation for the Society's research and educational initiatives.

 

In Washington, D.C.

American icon Elsie the Cow with original cow handler. Borden Boy and retired Executive Secretary of The American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc., Jim Cavanaugh, 90. Cavanaugh is credited with selecting You'll Do Lobelia (AJCC 998632) as the first Elsie at the 1939 New York World's Fair. His service to the national Jersey organizations spanned 38 years (1947-1985).  (PRNewsFoto/Borden brand) Jun/7/2007