Elements of the philosophy of plants containing the principles of scientific botany, nomenclature, theory of classification, phytography, anatomy, chemistry, physiology, geography, and diseases of plants, with a history of the science, and practical illustrations by A.P. DeCandolle and K. Sprengel. Translated from the German
Author:
Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de 1778-1841 Search this
Cook, O. F. (Orator Fuller), 1867-1949 Search this
Extent:
0.25 cu. ft. (1 half document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1894-1895, 1897-1900, 1903-1905, 1933, 1948
Descriptive Entry:
This collection contains a small amount of Cook's correspondence, concerning the identification of Myripoda. Correspondents include Otis Warren Barrett, Theodore D.
A. Cockerell, Carl H. Eigenmann, Karl Kraepelin, and Karl August Mobius. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. This collection also includes a small amount of correspondence
and manuscripts concerning his work on botanical nomenclature.
Historical Note:
Orator Fuller Cook (1867-1949) was born in Clyde, New York. He was educated at Syracuse University, receiving the Ph.B. degree in 1890. After graduation, Cook remained
at Syracuse as an Instructor in the Biology Department. From 1891 to 1897, Cook made several trips to Liberia as an agent for the New York Colonization Society and at various
times served as Professor of Natural Sciences at Liberia College. In 1895, Cook joined the staff of the United States National Museum (USNM), in an honorary capacity, as Custodian
of the Section of Myripoda of the Department of Insects. In 1898, Cook was appointed to a salaried position, as Assistant Curator in the Division of Plants, USNM. He resigned
the following year to join the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industry, where he remained until his death. He continued his association with the
USNM as Custodian of the Section of Myripoda and was made Honorary Assistant Curator of the Section of Cryptogamic Collections of the Division of Plants in 1899.
These records are the official minutes of the Board. They are compiled at the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, who is also secretary to the Board, after
approval by the Regents' Executive Committee and by the Regents themselves. The minutes are edited, not a verbatim account of proceedings. For reasons unknown, there are no
manuscript minutes for the period from 1857 through 1890; and researchers must rely on printed minutes published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution instead.
Minutes are transferred regularly from the Secretary's Office to the Archives. Minutes less than 15 years old are closed to researchers. Indexes exist for the period from
1907 to 1946 and can be useful.
Historical Note:
The Smithsonian Institution was created by authority of an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846. The Act entrusted direction of the Smithsonian to a body called
the Establishment, composed of the President; the Vice President; the Chief Justice of the United States; the secretaries of State, War, Navy, Interior, and Agriculture; the
Attorney General; and the Postmaster General. In fact, however, the Establishment last met in 1877, and control of the Smithsonian has always been exercised by its Board of
Regents. The membership of the Regents consists of the Vice President and the Chief Justice of the United States; three members each of the Senate and House of Representatives;
two citizens of the District of Columbia; and seven citizens of the several states, no two from the same state. (Prior to 1970 the category of Citizen Regents not residents
of Washington consisted of four members). By custom the Chief Justice is Chancellor. The office was at first held by the Vice President. However, when Millard Fillmore succeeded
to the presidency on the death of Zachary Taylor in 1851, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney was chosen in his stead. The office has always been filled by the Chief Justice
since that time.
The Regents of the Smithsonian have included distinguished Americans from many walks of life. Ex officio members (Vice President) have been: Spiro T. Agnew, Chester A.
Arthur, Allen W. Barkley, John C. Breckenridge, George Bush, Schuyler Colfax, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Curtis, George M. Dallas, Charles G. Dawes, Charles W. Fairbanks, Millard
Fillmore, Gerald R. Ford, John N. Garner, Hannibal Hamlin, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret A. Hobart, Hubert H. Humphrey, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, William R. King, Thomas
R. Marshall, Walter F. Mondale, Levi P. Morton, Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, James S. Sherman, Adlai E. Stevenson, Harry S. Truman, Henry A.
Wallace, William A. Wheeler, Henry Wilson.
Ex officio members (Chief Justice) have been: Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Nathan Clifford, Morrison R. Waite, Samuel F. Miller, Melville W. Fuller, Edward D. White,
William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone, Fred M. Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger.
Regents on the part of the Senate have been: Clinton P. Anderson, Newton Booth, Sidney Breese, Lewis Cass, Robert Milledge Charlton, Bennet Champ Clark, Francis M. Cockrell,
Shelby Moore Cullom, Garrett Davis, Jefferson Davis, George Franklin Edmunds, George Evans, Edwin J. Garn, Walter F. George, Barry Goldwater, George Gray, Hannibal Hamlin,
Nathaniel Peter Hill, George Frisbie Hoar, Henry French Hollis, Henry M. Jackson, William Lindsay, Henry Cabot Lodge, Medill McCormick, James Murray Mason, Samuel Bell Maxey,
Robert B. Morgan, Frank E. Moss, Claiborne Pell, George Wharton Pepper, David A. Reed, Leverett Saltonstall, Hugh Scott, Alexander H. Smith, Robert A. Taft, Lyman Trumbull,
Wallace H. White, Jr., Robert Enoch Withers.
Regents on the part of the House of Representatives have included: Edward P. Boland, Frank T. Bow, William Campbell Breckenridge, Overton Brooks, Benjamin Butterworth,
Clarence Cannon, Lucius Cartrell, Hiester Clymer, William Colcock, William P. Cole, Jr., Maurice Connolly, Silvio O. Conte, Edward E. Cox, Edward H. Crump, John Dalzell, Nathaniel
Deering, Hugh A. Dinsmore, William English, John Farnsworth, Scott Ferris, Graham Fitch, James Garfield, Charles L. Gifford, T. Alan Goldsborough, Frank L. Greene, Gerry Hazleton,
Benjamin Hill, Henry Hilliard, Ebenezer Hoar, William Hough, William M. Howard, Albert Johnson, Leroy Johnson, Joseph Johnston, Michael Kirwan, James T. Lloyd, Robert Luce,
Robert McClelland, Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., George H. Mahon, George McCrary, Edward McPherson, James R. Mann, George Perkins Marsh, Norman Y. Mineta, A. J. Monteague, R.
Walton Moore, Walter H. Newton, Robert Dale Owen, James Patterson, William Phelps, Luke Poland, John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn, B. Carroll Reece, Ernest W. Roberts, Otho Robards
Singleton, Frank Thompson, Jr., John M. Vorys, Hiram Warner, Joseph Wheeler.
Citizen Regents have been: David C. Acheson, Louis Agassiz, James B. Angell, Anne L. Armstrong, William Backhouse Astor, J. Paul Austin, Alexander Dallas Bache, George
Edmund Badger, George Bancroft, Alexander Graham Bell, James Gabriel Berrett, John McPherson Berrien, Robert W. Bingham, Sayles Jenks Bowen, William G. Bowen, Robert S. Brookings,
John Nicholas Brown, William A. M. Burden, Vannevar Bush, Charles F. Choate, Jr., Rufus Choate, Arthur H. Compton, Henry David Cooke, Henry Coppee, Samuel Sullivan Cox, Edward
H. Crump, James Dwight Dana, Harvey N. Davis, William Lewis Dayton, Everette Lee Degolyer, Richard Delafield, Frederic A. Delano, Charles Devens, Matthew Gault Emery, Cornelius
Conway Felton, Robert V. Fleming, Murray Gell-Mann, Robert F. Goheen, Asa Gray, George Gray, Crawford Hallock Greenwalt, Nancy Hanks, Caryl Parker Haskins, Gideon Hawley,
John B. Henderson, John B. Henderson, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Gardner Greene Hubbard, Charles Evans Hughes, Carlisle H. Humelsine, Jerome C. Hunsaker, William Preston
Johnston, Irwin B. Laughlin, Walter Lenox, Augustus P. Loring, John Maclean, William Beans Magruder, John Walker Maury, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, John C. Merriam, R. Walton
Moore, Roland S. Morris, Dwight W. Morrow, Richard Olney, Peter Parker, Noah Porter, William Campbell Preston, Owen Josephus Roberts, Richard Rush, William Winston Seaton,
Alexander Roby Shepherd, William Tecumseh Sherman, Otho Robards Singleton, Joseph Gilbert Totten, John Thomas Towers, Frederic C. Walcott, Richard Wallach, Thomas J. Watson,
Jr., James E. Webb, James Clarke Welling, Andrew Dickson White, Henry White, Theodore Dwight Woolsey.
National Museum of Natural History. Department of Botany Search this
Extent:
1 cu. ft. (1 record storage box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1958-1985
Descriptive Entry:
These records document departmental involvement in and administration of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT), U.S. chapter. The IAPT was founded
in 1950 to carry out projects of interest and concern to systematic botanists which require or profit from international cooperation. IAPT is responsible for the establishment
and functioning of inter-Congress nomenclature committees and for the organization and execution of the nomenclature sessions at each International Botanical Congress. IAPT
publishes a journal, Taxon, and a handbook series, Regnum Vegetabile.
Materials in this accession include correspondence concerning membership, publications and taxonomical issues; financial summary reports; committee minutes and related
records; grant records; and monthly reports and other materials concerning the Index Nominum Genericorum (part of the Regnum Vegetabile series). Most of the records were created
by Senior Botanist Richard S. Cowan.
United States National Museum. Division of Grasses Search this
Extent:
13.84 cu. ft. (8 record storage boxes) (1 half document box) (13 12x17 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Manuscripts
Black-and-white photographs
Place:
China -- History $y Civil War, 1945-1949
Fuzhou Shi (Fujian Sheng, China)
South America
Africa
Canada
Brazil
Date:
1884, 1888, 1899-1965
Descriptive Entry:
These papers document the history of the agrostology section of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture (1901-1939), and the Section of
Grasses, United States National Herbarium, United States National Museum (1912-1963) at the time Albert Spear Hitchcock and Mary Agnes Chase worked for the USDA and the USNH,
as well as the scientific endeavors of Hitchcock and Chase. Included are personal papers, which also predate Hitchcock's and Chase's tenure with the USDA and USNH. Records
of the USDA were probably transferred to the Smithsonian when Hitchcock became custodian of the grass section, USNH. These papers include loose incoming and outgoing correspondence
with U.S. and foreign botanists; directors and botanists of herbaria; agrononomists; collectors of botanical specimens; seed laboratories, floral companies; USDA staff members;
Smithsonian Institution staff members; agricultural schools and agricultural experiment stations; colleagues; friends; publishers; and scientific societies, regarding identification,
examination, and reports on plants and grasses; exchange and transfer of specimens, gifts and loans of specimen collections; information regarding plants and grasses for sheep
and other livestock; explorations and botanical collecting expeditions; taxonomy; nomenclature; sick and annual leave; requests for positions with the USDA; recommendations
for colleagues for positions, recommendations for fellowships; recommendations for publication of manuscripts; requests for publications; election to scientific societies;
administrative status of the grass section, USNH (1938), Mary Agnes Chase Fund (1953-1961); feminist movement; pacifism and politics in Europe before and during the Second
World War; political and economic conditions during the Chinese Civil War, especially in Foochow (1949); outgoing letterpress correspondence (1905-1923) concerning the above;
also biographies, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, photographs, and scrapbook.
Historical Note:
Albert Spear Hitchcock, botanist, a distinguished authority on the grasses of the world, was born in Owasso, Michigan, on September 4, 1865. After spending his early
years growing up in Kansas and Nebraska, Hitchcock entered Iowa State Agricultural College, receiving his B.S. in 1884, and an M.S. in 1886. Though influenced by botanists
Charles Edwin Bessey and Herbert Osborn, Hitchcock majored in chemistry and accepted his first position in 1886 as an instructor of chemistry at Iowa State University. During
the summer months, Hitchcock returned to Ames to botanize the region.
In 1889, Hitchcock gave up his chemistry position for a lesser salary in order to work under William Trelease at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, working as
an instructor in the Engelmann School of Botany, Washington University, curator of the herbarium, and librarian at the Botanical Garden. Hitchcock left St. Louis to become
professor of botany at Kansas Agricultural College, 1892-1901; and in 1901 began his association with the United States Department of Agriculture as an assistant agrostologist
under Frank Lamson-Scribner. The association was to last until Hitchcock's death in 1935.
Until 1905, most of Hitchcock's work at the USDA was in the economic field of grasses. In 1905 he changed places with Charles Vancouver Piper and took over the grass herbarium
in order to conduct taxonomic studies. Hitchcock became the systematic agrostologist at the USDA, and after 1928 held the title of principal botanist in charge of systematic
agrostology, USDA.
Hitchcock's relationship with the Smithsonian dates back to October 10, 1912, when he was made custodian of grasses, Section of Grasses, Division of Plants, United States
National Museum. Apparently, though the USDA herbarium was transferred to the Smithsonian and merged with the Smithsonian collections in 1896 (see description of the Hunt
Institute collection 105), the grass section of the herbarium remained with the USDA and was not transferred until later, possibly in 1912 when Hitchcock held joint positions
with the USDA and the Smithsonian. Hitchcock remained custodian (without remuneration) of the Section of Grasses until his death. Under Hitchcock, the grass herbarium increased
to become the largest and most complete collection of its kind in the world.
Hitchcock was very much interested in nomenclature and helped educate botanists throughout the world on the advantages of basing specimen names on the type method rather
than on previous authority. His writings and support for the Fourth International Botanical Congress project on nomenclature reunion at Ithaca, New York, in 1926, helped lay
the foundation for an international agreement on nomenclature at the Congress meeting held at Cambridge in 1930.
Hitchcock also originated the idea of preserving a portion of tropical jungle in the canal zone. While he was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Research
in Tropical America, Barro Colorado Island was made into a permanent preserve. (See STRI records, Record Units 134 and 135, for a history of the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute.)
Hitchcock traveled widely collecting botanical specimens, including the entire United States, most of Latin America, and parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 1929 he was
the botanist representative from the United States at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held in South Africa.
Among Hitchcock's 250 articles and books, his major works consisted of studies on the grasses of the United States. Included in his works are, Genera of Grasses of the
United States; Manual of Farm Grasses; Manual of Grasses of the United States; Methods of Descriptive Systematic Botany; and Text-Book of Grasses.
Hitchcock received an Sc.D. from Iowa State College in 1920, and in 1934 he was awarded an honorary D.Sc. degree from Kansas State College.
Feminist and botanist Mary Agnes Chase, considered "one of the world's outstanding agrostologists and preeminent among American students in this field," by the Botanical
Society of America upon presentation of her Certificate of Merit in 1956, was born in Iroquois County, Illinois, on April 20, 1869. Educated in the public and private schools
of Chicago, Chase became interested in botany at an early age, working at night as a proofreader and botanizing during the day. Though Chase took extension course work from
the Lewis Institute and the University of Chicago, the only degree she received was an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Illinois in 1958.
In 1901, Chase became an assistant in botany at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, working with Charles Frederick Millspaugh and illustrating each species
with line drawings for his article, "Plantae Yucatanae." Chase left Chicago in 1903 to become a botanical illustrator for the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington,
D.C. Working beyond office hours, Chase spent her time on the collections of the grass herbarium in order to prepare a series of articles on the genera of Paniceae.
From 1907 to 1923, Chase held the position of scientific assistant in systematic agrostology, becoming assistant botanist in 1923 and associate botanist in 1925. Upon the
death of Albert Spear Hitchcock, Chase became senior botanist in charge of systematic agrostology in 1936, and at the same time, became custodian of the Section of Grasses,
Division of Plants, United States National Museum. She retired from the USDA in 1939, retaining her position as custodian for the grass section in the USNM. When the Division
of Plants reorganized in 1947, becoming the Department of Botany, the Section of Grasses became the Division of Grasses, with Jason Richard Swallen becoming assistant curator
and then curator of the Division. Chase was made a research associate in the Department, but still, it appears, retained a position as honorary custodian of the grass herbarium.
In 1959, Chase was made an Honorary Fellow of the Smithsonian, the eighth fellow in the history of the Institution. Among Chase's publications, her important works are
First Book of Grasses; a revision of the Manual of Grasses of the United States; and a three-volume index to grass species that contains information from approximately
80,000 index cards. This last undertaking was published in 1962. Chase died September 24, 1963.
Oral history interviews with Francis Raymond Fosberg
Creator::
Fosberg, F. Raymond (Francis Raymond), 1908-1993, interviewee Search this
Extent:
22 audiotapes (reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Audiotapes
Oral history
Date:
1993
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Fosberg was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his distinguished scientific career, contributions to the field of Pacific science, and career as a botanist
at the National Museum of Natural History. Additional information about Fosberg can be found in the F. Raymond Fosberg Papers, which are also housed in Smithsonian Insitution
Archives.
Descriptive Entry:
The F. Raymond Fosberg Interviews were conducted by Smithsonian Institution Archives Historian, Pamela M. Henson, during six sessions in 1993. Fosberg discusses his
early life and influences; education and reminiscences of William Atwood Hilton and Philip Alexander Munz at Pomona, Harold St. John at Hawaii, and Jack Fogg at Pennsylvania;
work on the Mangareva Expedition; his career at the USGS and USDA and work on the Colombian Cinchona Mission and the Marshall Islands and Micronesia surveys; work on
Cinchona while on a Guggenheim Fellowship; career at the NMNH and reminiscences of Sachet; work in the international systematics community specifically on plant taxonomy
and nomenclature, and work on the Pacific Science Congress; and his multidisciplinary, ecological view of science. The collection consists of 11 hours of audiotape recordings
which have been remastered digitally into 22 .wav files and 22 .mp3 files for reference, and c. 250 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Francis Raymond Fosberg (1908-1993) was born in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in Turlock, California, with an early interest in natural history. He received his
B.A. in botany from Pomona College in 1930. After graduation, he took a position at the Los Angeles County Museum researching plants of the desert Southwest and islands off
the coast of California. This research led to his interests in island ecosystems, and in 1932 he moved to Honolulu to accept a position as a research assistant at the University
of Hawaii. While in Hawaii, he was invited to participate in the Mangareva Expedition. He received his M.S. in botany from the University of Hawaii in 1937 and his Ph.D. from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1939. Fosberg accepted a position at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and was sent to Colombia to identify stands of Cinchona
for quinine production for the war effort. After World War II, he participated in a survey of economic resources in the Micronesian Islands. Upon his return to the United
States, he and his new assistant, Marie-Hélène Sachet, began vegetation work for the newly formed Pacific Science Board under the National Research Council. Fosberg was also
involved in the development of a joint program of the South Pacific Commission and the Pacific Science Board called the Coral Atoll Program, publishing papers twice a year.
Fosberg began his fifteen-year career at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1951, mapping the military geology of islands in the Pacific. During his years there
he also participated in many conferences, congresses, and scientific organizations such as the Pacific Science Association; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization; the Pacific Science Board; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1966, Fosberg took a position at the Smithsonian's National Museum
of Natural History (NMNH) in the tropical biology branch of the Ecology Program. Sachet was also appointed to the Program, allowing a continuation of their joint research.
In 1968, with the demise of the Program, he and Sachet transferred to the Department of Botany, where Fosberg became Curator. He became Senior Botanist in 1976 and continued
his career as Botanist Emeritus from 1978 to 1993.
United States National Museum. Division of Plants Search this
Extent:
22.74 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (40 document boxes) (3 tall document boxes) (1 oversize folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scientific illustrations
Manuscripts
Maps
Place:
Texas
Mexico
Date:
1886-1928 and undated
Descriptive Entry:
These papers include official records that document the history of the USNH while Joseph Nelson Rose was assistant botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture
(1888-1896), assistant and associate curator, USNH, United States National Museum (1896-1911), and the Division of Plants, USNM (1917-1928); also personal and official papers
documenting Rose's professional career, including incoming and occasional loose outgoing correspondence after 1910 (watermarks on 1910 and 1911 outgoing loose correspondence
along with virtually nonexistent outgoing letterpress correspondence after 1909 are a result of water damage to the records) with leading foreign and United States botanists;
colleagues; herbarium and nursery curators; florists; agrostologists; field agents; amateur plant collectors; United States Department of Agriculture administrative officers;
Smithsonian Institution administrative officers; agricultural experiment stations; editors; and friends. Correspondence regards examination, identification, and reports on
botanical specimens; identification of specimens for publications; transfer of specimens to the USNH; exchange of specimens; requests to Rose regarding information on the
flora of Texas and Mexico; requests for bulbs, seeds, and plants; purchasing of cacti collections; research and collecting expeditions; authorization for expeditions; nomenclature;
illustrations for journals; collaboration over collecting specimens and publishing; requests for jobs; requests to recommend colleagues to systematize cultivated plants; proposals
for a building to house the USNH in order to expand the collection; meetings of scientific societies; requests for Who's Who autobiographical information; outgoing
letterpress correspondence (1894-1909, 1911-1912) regarding the above; also manuscripts and correspondence pertaining to the joint Cactaceae project with Nathaniel Lord Britton;
manuscripts and correspondence about the joint project with John Donnell Smith regarding Hauyeae; reviews; and occasional newspaper clippings pertaining to botanists whose
letters are located in the correspondence folders.
Historical Note:
Joseph Nelson Rose, botanist, was born on a farm near Liberty, Indiana, on January 11, 1862. In 1881 he entered Wabash College, graduating with an A.B. in 1885. Rose
stayed on at Wabash College as its first postgraduate student, receiving his A.M. in 1887 and his Ph.D. in 1889. During his last two years he acted as an assistant in botany
under John M. Coulter, who was to have an influence on his later career.
Rose was appointed as an assistant botanist in the United States Department of Agriculture under George Vasey, working in the United States National Herbarium (USNH), in
August 1888. (For a history of the USNH and George Vasey, see the description for the Hunt Institute collection 105.)
When the USNH was moved back to the Smithsonian in 1896, Rose transferred to the United States National Museum as an assistant curator, Division of Plants. In 1905 he was
made associate curator.
Though Frederick Vernon Coville was honorary curator, USNH and the Division of Plants, in the United States National Museum (while at the same time chief botanist of the
Plant Industry, USDA), it appears that Rose was directly in charge of the National Herbarium. Outgoing letterpress correspondence within these records contains copies of the
USNH report for the Smithsonian Annual Report being transmitted by Coville through Rose and Rose's report on the Division of Plants for the Annual Report being sent to Coville.
At times, Rose signed outgoing correspondence over the title, acting curator. Coville remained Rose's supervisor, however, with correspondence regarding Rose's collecting
activities being transmitted between Smithsonian administrative officers and Coville.
In 1912, Rose transferred from the United States National Museum (USNM) to the Carnegie Institution of Washington as a research associate in order to prepare a monograph
with Nathaniel Lord Britton on Cactaceae of the world. This work was jointly supported by the Carnegie Institution, the New York Botanical Garden, and the USDA. Rose was relieved
of his administrative duties with the Smithsonian. Nonetheless, he retained an office in the Smithsonian and was allowed the use of Smithsonian franking privileges for all
correspondence regarding his project, while retaining the title of custodian of "Cactaceae, Crassulaceae, and Miscellaneous Mexican Collections" in the National Herbarium.
Rose officially returned to the Smithsonian as associate curator, Division of Plants, in 1917, retaining that position until his death on May 4, 1928.
Rose's collecting activities and botanical studies began with the flora, fungi, and pine of Indiana and the Umbelliferae of North America. He was assigned the Mexican collections
gathered by Edward Palmer while assistant botanist at the USDA. This led to 20 years of study of the flora of Mexico and numerous publications, including his "Studies of Mexican
and Central America Plants," published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium (1897-1911). His important study on Cactaceae of the world with Nathaniel
Lord Britton resulted in the publication of four volumes titled The Cactaceae (1919-1923). Overall, Rose published almost 200 articles and monographs by himself and
in collaboration with other botanists. Besides his own collecting explorations, Rose was instrumental in bringing to the Smithsonian one of its most important gifts, the large
private herbarium and botanical library belonging to John Donnell Smith of Baltimore.
In reward for his botanical investigations and publications, Rose received an LL.D. from Wabash College in 1925. His remarks made during the ceremonies are included in
this collection.
United States National Museum. Department of Botany Search this
Extent:
5 cu. ft. (5 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Maps
Manuscripts
Place:
Colombia
South America
Date:
1918-1949
Descriptive Entry:
These records document the history of the United States National Museum, Division of Plants (1919-1947) and Department of Botany (1947-1949) while Ellsworth Paine Killip
was an aid, assistant curator, associate curator, and curator of the Division and the Department, as well as personal correspondence between Killip and his colleagues documenting
their personal and professional activities. Included are occasional letters and copies of letters to and from William Ralph Maxon that apparently were forwarded to Killip.
For the most part, this material includes loose incoming and outgoing correspondence between Killip and U.S. and foreign botanists; directors and botanists of U.S. and foreign
herbaria; museum curators; colleagues, friends; editors; and scientific societies regarding the examination and identification of botanical specimens; exchange of specimen
collections; explorations and collecting expeditions, especially Killip's expeditions to South America; information on mounting specimens; requests for photographs pertaining
to Killip's publications; requests for publications and reprints; reviewing monographs; checking manuscripts for taxonomy and nomenclature; scientific society meetings; nominations
for officers and membership to scientific societies; evaluation of colleagues for positions; recommendations for job openings; personal matters; also letterpress books containing
references to Killip's collecting expeditions in Colombia; Killip's work on South American plants; determination of plants received; manuscript copies; passports; maps; and
a few copies of outgoing letters from Paul C. Standley, assistant curator, Division of Plants (1921).
Historical Note:
Ellsworth Paine Killip, botanist, was born in Rochester, New York, on September 2, 1890. Killip attended the University of Rochester and received an A.B. in 1911. From
1914 to 1917, Killip held the position of associate curator at the Rochester Academy of Sciences.
On July 7, 1919, Killip was appointed as an aid in the United States National Museum, Division of Plants. He became assistant curator of the Division in December 1927,
and on June 1, 1928, became an associate curator. Upon the retirement of William Ralph Maxon in 1946, Killip was made curator of the Division of Plants. During Killip's administration,
the Division of Plants underwent reorganization. The Division was separated from the Department of Biology and raised to the status of a department, becoming the Department
of Botany on July 31, 1947. Killip became head curator of the Department and also held the title of acting curator for the Division of Cryptogams, one of four original divisions
formed under the reorganization. Killip retained both titles until his retirement from the Department in 1950. From 1951 through 1965, Killip continued his research and his
ties with the USNM as a research associate in the Division of Phanerogams.
Killip's main studies were on the taxonomy of South American plants. Some of his expeditions to South America are documented in this collection. Among his publications
is an article, "American species of Passifloraceae," 1938, and a major study on the passionflower family that was published in two volumes.
Killip was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Cosmos Club, and the Washington Biologists' Field Club. He died in California on November
28, 1968.
United States National Museum. Department of Botany Search this
Extent:
6.78 cu. ft. (13 document boxes) (14 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Black-and-white photographs
Place:
Guatemala
Date:
1936-1965
Descriptive Entry:
Records include some correspondence belonging to Mary Agnes Chase, which was forwarded to Swallen; Ernest R. Sohn, associate curator of Botany, 1956; and Thomas R.
Soderstrom, curator of Grasses, 1964-1965. Correspondents include U.S. and foreign botanists; agricultural experiment stations; field botanists; state geological surveys;
foresters; curators of herbaria; wildlife technicians; collectors of botanical specimens; grass companies; government officials; colleagues; and scientific societies. Correspondence
concerns the examination, identification, and determination of botanical specimens, especially grasses and corn; exchanges of specimen collections; loans of specimens; requests
for and shipment of botanical collections; nomenclature; agrostology investigations; studies of grasses, especially Swallen' s work on grasses for Julian Alfred Steyermark's
Flora Guatemala; requests for photographs pertaining to publications; photographs of flora sent to Swallen by collections in the field; editing articles and requests
to review papers; manuscripts; reports; requests for recommendations for job openings; recommendations and evaluations of colleagues for job positions; elections of officers
to scientific societies; and requests for Swallen to seek election to office in scientific societies.
Historical Note:
These records are the official files of Jason Richard Swallen while he was employed by the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, 1936-1946,
and the Department of Botany, United States National Museum, 1946-1964. Jason Richard Swallen (1903- ) was born in Alliance, Ohio. He received his A.B. from Ohio Wesleyan
in 1924, and his M.S. from Kansas State College in 1925. Swallen accepted the position of junior botanist with the Bureau of Plant Industry in 1925 and became an assistant
botanist in 1931 and an associate botanist in 1936 with the Bureau.
Swallen joined the United States National Museum in 1946 when he became associate curator, Division of Plants. Then the Division was reorganized into the Department of
Botany in 1947, Swallen became curator of the Division of Grasses. In 1950, Swallen became head curator of the Department, and in 1964, chairman of the Department. At the
same time he continued to maintain his title as curator of the Division of Grasses. Swallen resigned his positions in 1964 and became a research scientist with the Department
of Botany. His ties with the Museum and the Department were severed during the following year.
Swallen's botanical interest was in the field of agrostology, particularly the taxonomy of grasses of South America.
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
These papers consist of incoming correspondence from botanists, directors of herbaria, colleagues, and friends concerning the identification and determination of botanical
specimens; specimen collecting; purchasing specimens, especially from Southeast Asia and Mexico; nomenclature concerning African specimens; publications; scientific activities;
and personal matters.
Historical Note:
Robert Merrill King (1930-2007) was a Research Associate with the Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, from 1971 to 1972. King's botanical studies
concerned Compositae.
The papers of George Sprague Myers provide extensive documentation of his research career in ichthyology and herpetology. The collection also offers substantial information
concerning the development of Myers' interest in natural history; his college work at Indiana University and Stanford University; his teaching career at Stanford University
and to a lesser extent Harvard University; his work as a part-time ichthyologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; his activities in professional organizations
and at international scientific symposia and conferences; his participation on scientific expeditions and field trips; and his work as an author and editor. Less well represented
in the collection is material documenting Myers' brief curatorial career at the United States National Museum (USNM). Researchers interested in this aspect of his work should
consult the records of the Division of Fishes, USNM (Record Units 213 and 234), in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Myers maintained an extensive correspondence, and the bulk of his papers consists of letters written and received between 1920 and 1984. The correspondence illustrates
most aspects of his career but is especially valuable in documenting his research interests and his activities in professional organizations. Myers exchanged letters with
many of the outstanding zoologists of his era, and the correspondence is a valuable source for documenting the history of twentieth-century ichthyology and herpetology. The
letters also reflect the breadth of his research interests. Many contain his thoughts on evolution, biogeography, zoological nomenclature, and the history of science. Myers'
long association with the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists is well-documented in his correspondence, and it is an important source for those interested
in the history of the society. His network of correspondents was world-wide, and several letters provide information on political and social events. Of special interest are
letters describing the effect of World War II on European science and museums.
The remainder of the collection primarily consists of materials relating to Myers' zoological research and his teaching career at Stanford University. A large file of manuscripts
and speeches (many of which are unpublished) not only documents the preparation of scientific papers, but also reveals Myers as a writer with diverse interests. Included are
manuscripts dealing with general history, history of science, botany, biogeography, and museum theory. Also included in the collection are numerous notes, publications, and
illustrations used in his research.
Myers' thirty-four-year teaching career at Stanford University is partially documented in the collection. Materials include correspondence with university officials, staff,
and programs; administrative records concerning the operation of the Biology Department and Natural History Museum; classroom material used by Myers; and correspondence with
graduate students under his guidance. Researchers should also consult the general correspondence for information concerning his career at Stanford.
Of particular interest is a group of collected materials relating to various aspects of Myers' professional career and personal life. Included are materials concerning
his high school and college work; records documenting professional activities, official travel, and disputes with colleagues; personal memorabilia; and miscellaneous biographical,
bibliographical, and family materials. Especially important is a small amount of papers illustrating his early interest and work in the biological sciences. Included is a
catalogue of natural history specimens collected by Myers up to 1923; a notebook containing drafts of papers and field notes recorded by Myers in the 1920s; and notes, manuscripts,
and illustrations from his work on aquarium fishes, circa 1920-1925.
A small group of photographs is found in the collection. Included are portraits of Myers; photographs of Myers with colleagues and at social occasions; and pictures he
collected. A few photographs are also present in his correspondence and research materials.
The collection also includes diplomas, certificates, and awards presented to Myers by professional organizations and social groups.
Historical Note:
George Sprague Myers (1905-1985), ichthyologist, herpetologist, and educator, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He developed an early interest in vertebrate zoology--accumulating
aquariums in which he kept species of exotic and native fishes. His first article on aquarium fishes was published at age fifteen, in 1920. Around this time Myers began frequenting
the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, seeking advice on natural history questions. As a result, he became a volunteer assistant at the AMNH from
1922 to 1924. At the museum he came under the influence of the ichthyology and herpetology staff including G. K. Noble, Karl P. Schmidt, John T. Nichols, Eugene W. Grudger,
John Tee-Van, Charles M. Breder, and others.
In 1924, Myers was introduced to Carl H. Eigenmann, who invited him to attend Indiana University and offered him a part-time curatorial assistantship working in the fish
collections. Under Eigenmann's guidance, Myers further developed his interest in the systematics of South American fresh-water fishes. He remained in Bloomington until 1926,
when Eigenmann fell ill and moved to California. In that year, Myers was contacted by David Starr Jordan about continuing his ichthyological studies at Stanford University.
He accepted Jordan's offer and received an assistantship in the Natural History Museum. Myers' education was influenced by an outstanding group of systematic zoologists gathered
together by Jordan. John O. Snyder, Edwin C. Starks, Harold Heath, G. F. Ferris, and Albert W. C. T. Herre each played a role in shaping his career. Myers received the A.B.
degree in 1930; the A.M. degree in 1931; and the Ph.D. degree in 1933. His dissertation was entitled "The Classification of the African Cyprinodont Fishes, with a Discussion
of the Geographical Distribution of the Cyprinodontidae of the World"--an indication of his early interest in biogeography.
Myers began his professional career at the United States National Museum (USNM), where he was appointed Assistant Curator in charge of the Division of Fishes in 1933. His
four-year tenure at the USNM was marked by fiscal restraints brought on by the Depression. The lack of technical and clerical assistance made it necessary for him to spend
large amounts of time curating, organizing, and arranging the museum's fish collections. There was little time for research, although he did manage to publish several short
papers and conduct a survey of the fresh-water fishes of Virginia with his USNM assistant, Earl D. Reid.
In 1936, Myers returned to Stanford, accepting appointment as Associate Professor of Biology and Head Curator of Zoological Collections. By 1938, he had been advanced to
Professor. He remained in that position at Stanford until his statutory retirement in 1970. Perhaps the three outstanding achievements of his career at Stanford were development
of a curriculum in systematic ichthyology, increasing and reorganizing the zoological collections in the Natural History Museum, and his guidance of a long line of outstanding
graduate students, many of whom became distinguished in their chosen fields.
From 1942 to 1944, Myers served as a Special Professor of Ichthyology at the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His work was funded by the Committee for Inter-American
Artistic and Intellectual Relations, a government-supported effort to maintain good relations with Latin America during World War II. At the museum he assisted with curatorial
and library duties, exhibits, and administration. He also aided the Brazilian Fish and Game Division. Between 1970 and 1972 he served as Henry Bryant Bigelow Visiting Professor
of Ichthyology and Alexander Agassiz Visiting Professor of Zoology at Harvard University.
While interested in all lower vertebrates, Myers' most influential research was on fishes. His greatest ichthyological interests were the characins, cichlids, cyprinodonts,
and Asiatic cyprinids. He was an important advocate of modern ideas of fish evolution and was instrumental in developing the most widely accepted system of classifying the
world fish fauna as primary freshwater, secondary freshwater, peripheral, or marine. Much of his biogeographical research tended to give credence to the theory of continental
drift based on evidence derived through observations of primary freshwater fishes.
Myers was a prolific writer and his bibliography included over six hundred titles on ichthyology, herpetology, biogeography, the history of systematic zoology, and museum
practices. He was also an accomplished editor. From 1932 to 1960, he served as associate editor of William T. Innes's The Aquarium and was scientific editor of all
nineteen editions of Innes's Exotic Aquarium Fishes. He was the founder and editor of the Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin, 1938-1967; editor of The Aquarium
Journal, 1952-1954; and a member of the editorial board of Ichthyologica, 1966.
Myers participated on several scientific expeditions. In 1938, he served as ichthyologist on the Hancock Pacific Expedition aboard the Velero III. During the trip he collected
fishes off the coasts of Mexico, the Cocos Islands, the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Ecuador, and Panama. Later that year, he was co-leader of the Crocker Deep-Sea Expedition
off the coast of California. In 1947, Myers participated in the United States Navy's Bikini Scientific Resurvey conducting field work on Bikini and Rongerik atolls. In addition,
he executed several field surveys in the United States and South America.
Myers was active within the ichthyological profession and served several organizations in elected or appointed capacities. He was President of the American Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists from 1949 to 1951. He also served on numerous committees of the society. From 1945 to 1951, Myers was a vice-president and council member of the California
Academy of Sciences. He was named Research Associate in Ichthyology and Herpetology at the Academy in 1970. Myers was a corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London
and an honorary fellow of the Zoological Society of India. In 1936, he was awarded the silver medal of the Societe National d'Acclimation, Paris.
For additional biographical information on Myers see, Lionel A. Walford, "On the Natural History of George Sprague Myers" in "Festschrift for George Sprague Myers," Proceedings
of the California Academy of Sciences, 1970, vol. 38, no. 1, pp 1-18; Daniel M. Cohen and Stanley H. Weitzman, "George Sprague Myers, 1905-1985," Copeia, 1986,
no. 3, pp. 851-853; Alan E. Leviton, David C. Regnery, and John H. Thomas, "Memorial Resolution: George Sprague Myers, 1905-1985," The Stanford University Campus Report,
6 April 1986; and Martin R. Brittan, "In Memoriam: George Sprague Myers, 1905-1985," Tropical Fish Hobbyist, March 1986, pp. 84-86.
Nicolson, Dan H. (Dan Henry), 1933-2016 Search this
Extent:
3 cu. ft. (3 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Clippings
Color photographs
Black-and-white photographs
Place:
Dominica
Date:
1963-1977
Descriptive Entry:
This accession documents Dan H. Nicolson's work on two major projects: the Hassan Flora Project and the Archbold-Bredin-Smithsonian Biological Survey of Dominica. Papers
include correspondence and memoranda, financial reports, grant documents, and administrative records.
Historical Note:
Dan Henry Nicolson (1933-2016) was a curator at the U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History, from 1964 to 2005. He specialized in the plant family
Araceae, Asian botany, and botanical nomenclature. Nicolson's field work took him to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and China to collect plants. He served as nomenclature editor
of the journal Taxon (1979-1999) and was a member of the editorial committee for the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (1981-2006). He was also an active member
of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy, serving as president (1993-1999). Nicolson held a B.A. from Grinnell College (1955), a M.B.A. from Stanford Business School
(1957), and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University (1959 and 1964).
Flora of Dominica. Part 2, Dicotyledoneae (Monograph)
Creator::
Nicolson, Dan H. (Dan Henry), 1933-2016 Search this
Extent:
2 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Books
Manuscripts
Place:
Dominica
Date:
circa 1968-1990
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of correspondence and research notes compiled by Dan H. Nicolson for his publication "Flora of Dominica, Part 2: Dicotyledoneae," part of the
Smithsonian Contributions to Botany series. A copy of Nicolson's publication is also included.
Historical Note:
Dan Henry Nicolson (1933-2016) was a curator at the U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History, from 1964 to 2005. He specialized in the plant family
Araceae, Asian botany, and botanical nomenclature. Nicolson's field work took him to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and China to collect plants. He served as nomenclature editor
of the journal Taxon (1979-1999) and was a member of the editorial committee for the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (1981-2006). He was also an active member
of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy, serving as president (1993-1999). Nicolson held a B.A. from Grinnell College (1955), a M.B.A. from Stanford Business School
(1957), and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University (1959 and 1964).
Nicolson, Dan H. (Dan Henry), 1933-2016 Search this
Extent:
6 cu. ft. (6 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Black-and-white photographs
Serials (publications)
Brochures
Picture postcards
Place:
Nepal
India
Sri Lanka
China
Date:
1959-1991, with some materials dating 2016
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists primarily of the professional correspondence of Dan H. Nicolson, botanist, U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History. Materials
also include picture postcards, serials, black-and-white photographs, and brochures.
Historical Note:
Dan Henry Nicolson (1933-2016) was a curator at the U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History, from 1964 to 2005. He specialized in the plant family
Araceae, Asian botany, and botanical nomenclature. Nicolson's field work took him to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and China to collect plants. He served as nomenclature editor
of the journal Taxon (1979-1999) and was a member of the editorial committee for the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (1981-2006). He was also an active member
of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy, serving as president (1993-1999). Nicolson held a B.A. from Grinnell College (1955), a M.B.A. from Stanford Business School
(1957), and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University (1959 and 1964).
Nicolson, Dan H. (Dan Henry), 1933-2016 Search this
Extent:
6.5 cu. ft. (6 record storage boxes) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Place:
Nepal
India
Sri Lanka
China
Date:
circa 1986-2009
Descriptive Entry:
This accession primarily consists Dan H. Nicolson's professional correspondence.
Historical Note:
Dan Henry Nicolson (1933-2016) was a curator at the U.S. National Herbarium, National Museum of Natural History, from 1964 to 2005. He specialized in the plant family
Araceae, Asian botany, and botanical nomenclature. Nicolson's field work took him to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and China to collect plants. He served as nomenclature editor
of the journal Taxon (1979-1999) and was a member of the editorial committee for the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (1981-2006). He was also an active member
of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy, serving as president (1993-1999). Nicolson held a B.A. from Grinnell College (1955), a M.B.A. from Stanford Business School
(1957), and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University (1959 and 1964).
