5.35 Linear feet (12 boxes and 2 oversize folders)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1836-1997
Scope and Contents:
Spencer became interested in the Piltdown hoax while working on his dissertation after coming across a suggestive letter between Aleš Hrdlička, who was suspicious of the Piltdown specimens, and Sir Arthur Keith. Spencer began to research Keith's involvement in the Piltdown dig and specimen study, but in 1983 he learned that another researcher, a man named Ian Langham from the History and Philosophy of Science Program at Sydney University, was also pursuing the same topic and the same suspect. Spencer believed that Langham would soon publish his theory, and he backed away from his research until Langham's sudden death in 1984. At that time, Spencer took over his project and, with the cooperation of Langham's widow and colleagues, extended Langham's research and published their theory in 1990 in Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery. An accompanying volume of primary documents, The Piltdown Papers 1908-1955: The correspondence and other documents relating to the Piltdown Forgery, was also published.
This series contains correspondence, research notes and materials (including newspaper clippings, publications, letters, and other Piltdown documents), and papers related to the publication of the two Piltdown books—drafts, edits, press releases, and reviews. In 1983 Spencer received a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation to prepare the Sir Arthur Keith (SAK) papers at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), and thus also included are papers related to this project. Boxes 12-14 contain copies of scholarly and popular press articles related to Piltdown, arranged chronologically by Langham and Spencer. Some are annotated, and there are some pages of notes by Spencer and Langham interfiled. Other materials of special interest in the series are a movie script based on Spencer's Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery and a copy of an advance uncorrected proof of The Piltdown Confession, a novel by Irwin Schwartz.
The correspondence within this series primarily pertains to Piltdown research and book publication, but also includes some correspondence not related to Piltdown (regarding other projects on which Spencer was working during the same years). Included are a few letters between Ian Langham and Spencer, correspondence related to the transfer of Langham's research to Spencer after his death, and letters of Langham given to Spencer.
Since Spencer incorporated Langham's research into his books, many of the research notes and documents were prepared and annotated by Langham. In order to help researchers, some of the folders are marked "IL" and/or "FS" in order to distinguish Spencer's notes from Langham's. There are also handwriting samples in box 7, directly following the correspondence. Some of Langham's Piltdown correspondence is also included, as well as some of Langham's papers concerning other research projects, including work related to his dissertation for his PhD in the History of Science from Princeton University on British social anthropology (later published in 1981 as "The Building of British Social Anthropology") and biographical information about him.
Additional materials relating to Spencer's Piltdown research can be found in Series 7: Subject Files, Series 13: Photographs, and Series 14: Audiotapes. Please also see Series 5: Projects, Sub-series 5.1: Brixham Cave Project.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged by topic. Documents within folders are arranged chronologically, with undated documents at the back. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Collection Restrictions:
To protect the privacy of individuals, some materials have been separated and access to them has been restricted.
Access to the Frank Spencer papers requires and appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Frank Spencer papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Blair Arnold Rudes was a linguist who specialized in Native American languages. The Blair Rudes papers document his research and professional activities from 1974-2008 and primarily deal with dictionaries and other linguistic materials he created and studied, as well as the culture and history of various Native American groups around the Eastern United States and the rest of North America. His involvement in language education, federal recognition of tribes, and the use of authentic Native American dialog in film are also represented. The collection consists of research files, linguistic research and data, correspondence, papers and other writings written by Rudes and his colleagues, movie scripts and related materials, and audio/visual recordings.
Scope and Contents:
The Blair Rudes papers 1967-2008, document his research and processional activities from his time in graduate school at the University of Buffalo in the 1970s through the end of his career at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Materials primarily deal with linguistic and historical research on Native American languages, particularly those in eastern North America. There is also a significant amount of material related to the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe and their petition to the federal government for recognition, and Rudes's work as a consultant on language education projects. The collection consists of research files, linguistic research and data, correspondence, papers and other writings written by Rudes and his colleagues, official documents for the Golden Hill Paugussett federal recognition case, movie scripts and related materials, and audio/visual recordings.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 7 series: Series 1. Biographical, 1999-2007; Series 2. Correspondence, 1975-2007; Series 3. Linguistic Research and Data, 1969-2008, undated; Series 4. Writings, 1967-2007, undated; Series 5. Dialog Translation, 2003-2008; Series 6. Grants, Contracts, and Foundations, 1997-2007; Series 7. Golden Hill Paugussett Federal Recognition, 1994-2003.
Biographical / Historical:
Blair Arnold Rudes was a linguist specializing in Native American languages, particularly those originating in eastern North America. Aside from working in academia for many years, Rudes also used his linguistic skills as a language education expert and consultant and was involved in projects related to film dialog translation, federal recognition of Native American tribes, and education for migrant and Native American students in the United States. He was best known in the Native American community for his extensive work documenting endangered indigenous languages (such as Tuscarora) as well as reconstructing Native languages that were dormant or lost to history and assimilation (such as costal Algonquian and Catawba). At the time of his death in 2008, he was an Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Rudes was born in Gloversville, NY on May 18, 1951. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo where he studied linguistics at the undergraduate and graduate level. As a masters student in the mid-1970s, he was exposed to the Seneca language through his landlady who was also a graduate student studying the language. As Rudes learned more about Seneca, he quickly became interested in it and the rest of the Iroquoian languages, particularly Tuscarora. Before long Rudes was visiting the Tuscarora Reservation near Buffalo and learning the language from fluent speakers. He was awarded his Doctorate in linguistics in 1976. After graduating, he briefly spent time as a Fulbright scholar in Romania and as a lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park before being hired as a consultant for Development Associates, Inc.
For almost twenty years, Rudes worked on various language-related projects for Development Associates and as an independent contractor. Most of these projects studied academic programs and performance of minority, migrant, and Native American students with special language issues. Rudes was also hired as a researcher and consultant by the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe between 1994 and 2003 to assist in their petition for federal recognition. In 1999, Rudes returned to academia and was hired as an Assistant Professor of English in the Applied Linguistics Program at U.N.C. Charlotte. That same year he published his seminal Tuscarora-English/English Tuscarora Dictionary.
Aside from his academic duties, Rudes continued to work independently as a language consultant and was hired in 2004 to reconstruct the Virginia Algonquian language for the New Line film The New World (2005). Rudes also assisted in coaching actors in speaking the language, which had been dormant since the early 18th century. In order to finish translating dialog into Virginia Algonquian on time, Rudes was reported to have shut himself into his Williamsburg hotel room for nearly a month, working feverishly until his task was completed. Rudes was also hired as a Mayan dialog coach for the Paramount Pictures film The Ruins (2008).
Throughout his career, Rudes was active in the Foundation for Endangered Languages, the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, the annual Algonquian Conference, and the American Society for Ethnohistory. He presented and published regularly about his work with Native American languages, especially Virginia and Carolina Algonquian, Catawba, Mohawk, and Tuscarora. Rudes died of a heart attack on March 16 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Sources consulted:
Whitford, Sara. "The Algonquian Language Reborn: An Interview with Blair Rudes." Coastal Carolina Indian Center, 2011. Accessed April 12, 2016.
http://www.coastalcarolinaindians.com/the-algonquian-language-reborn-an-interview-with-blair-rudes/
Whitford, Sara. "Obituary: Blair A. Rudes, PhD – Linguistics Advisor to CCIC." Coastal Carolina Indian Center, 2011. Accessed April 12, 2016.
http://www.coastalcarolinaindians.com/obituary-blair-a-rudes-phd-linguistics-advisor-to-ccic/
Chronology
1951 -- Born on May 18 in Gloversville, New York.
1973 -- Awarded Bachelors of Art in linguistics from the University of Buffalo.
1974 -- Awarded Masters of Art in linguisitcs from the University of Buffalo.
1976 -- Awarded Ph.D in linguistics from the University of Buffalo.
1976-1978 -- Awarded Fulbright Scholarship to teach linguistics at the University of Bucharest in Romania.
1980-1981 -- Hired as a lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park.
1981-1999 -- Worked for Development Associates, Inc. as an educational consultant.
1994-2003 -- Hired by the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe to assist in their petition for recognition from the federal government.
1999 -- Hired as an Assistant Professor in the Applied Linguistics Program in the Department of English at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
2004-2005 -- Worked as a Virginia Algonquian translator and dialog coach for The New World.
2005 -- Promoted to Associate Professor at U.N.C. Charlotte.
2006 -- Recognized by the Tuscarora Nation for contributions to preserving the Tuscarora language.
2007 -- Worked as a Mayan dialog coach for The Ruins. Recognized by the South Carolina General Assembly in a resolution for work done for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs.
2008 -- Awarded the University at Buffalo's Distinguished Alumni Award. Died on March 16 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Separated Materials:
Two VHS recordings were transferred to the Human Studies Film Archive (accession number 2016-009).
Provenance:
Materials were held at the U.N.C. Charlotte Department of English after Rudes's death until 2008, when his brother Bryan Rudes donated them to the National Anthropological Archives (accession 2009-16).
In 2015, Rudes's former graduate student Craig Kopris donated an appendix draft from his dissertation (A Grammar and Dictionary of Wyandot, 2001) that contained comments and annotations from Rudes. This file is located in sub-series 4.4: Writings by Others.
Restrictions:
The Blair Rudes papers are open for research.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Blair Rudes Papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The papers of Blair Rudes were processed with the assistance of the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Collection consits of letters, photographs and a script relating to comedian Joey Bishop, primarily regarding his Friars' Club roast, his USO tour to Vietnam, and the 1960 movie "Ocean's Eleven."
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (1918 – 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer and comedian who appeared on television.
Separated Materials:
Related materials inthe Division of Cultural and Community Life include a Sy Devore v-neck sweater (1960), a Carmen Lamola tuxedo ensemble (1975) and Friars' Club trunk (1968).
Provenance:
Collection donated by Nora Gabriotti, November 2019.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The project files series contains documents of Gretchen Bender's work. Found here are movie scripts from Jumper, documents from other works including Sandy, So Much Deathless, Total Recall, Volatile Memory, and Wild Dead. Also included here is work with Bill T. Jones, work with Martha Wash, miscellaneous notes, and miscellaneous receipts.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Gretchen Bender papers, 1980-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection documents the career of Saburo "Sab" Shimono, an American actor of Japanese descent.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents Saburo Shimono, an American born actor of Japanese descent primarily through movie and theatre scripts for productions featuring Shimono.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into five series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1948-2013
Series 2: Scripts, 1962-2012
Series 3: Photographs, 1965-1986
Series 4: Posters, 1966-2010
Series 5: Audiovisual Materials, 1970-2009
Biographical:
Sab Shimono is an accomplished actor and voice performer with numerous television, film, and stage credits to his name and an important figure in Asian-American arts and culture. He was born on July 31, 1937, in Sacramento, California, to restaurant owners Masauchi Shimono and Edith Mary Otani Shimono.
During World War II he and his family were incarcerated at the Sacramento Assembly Center, then at Tule Lake Segregation Center, California and Camp Amanche (also known as the Granada War Relocation Center) in Colorado. After graduating from Sacramento High School (where he was student body president) in 1956, Shimono went on to the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied acting under Henrietta Davis. His first professional theatre role was a summer stock production of Flower Drum Song where he played Wang Ta. In 1966 he debuted on Broadway as Ito in the original production of Mame starring Angela Lansbury and directed by Greg Saks. After working on a number of off-Broadway projects including multiple productions with La MaMa, Shimono returned to Broadway in 1976 as Manjiro in the original production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. In addition to the stage, he has appeared in numerous films including, Midway (1976), Gung Ho (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), Hot Summer Winds (1991), Suture (1993), The Shadow (1994), Waterworld (1995), Paradise Road (1997), The Big Hit (1998), and Southland Tales (2006). He guest starred in many television shows, including 2 ½ Men, Friends, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, Mad Men, and Hawaii, Five-0. He voiced the role of Uncle for five seasons on Fox's Jackie Chan Adventures, and was the voice of Chow Lo in Disney's Mulan.
Shimono has worked extensively with a number of acclaimed Asian-American playwrights including Philip Kan Gotanda, Wakako Yamauchi, and Ken Narasaki. He has appeared in several plays or movies that reference the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans, including Alan Parker's Come See the Paradise(1990), Michael Uno's movie version of the Philip Kan Gotanda play The Wash (1988), and independent shorts Day of Independence (2003) and Half Kenneth (2009). Shimono also starred in a short film for the National Museum of American History's exhibition, A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution, which ran from 1987 to 2004.
He has been honored on numerous occasions with awards for outstanding performance from the LA Weekly and Dramalogue, and received the 1975 Clio Award for Best Actor. Shimono has also been active in the push for LGBT equality, working extensively with a number of organizations dedicated to LGBT rights, particularly within the Asian-American Pacific Islander communities. He lives and works with his husband, Steve Alden Nelson, in Los Angeles, California.
Source
Densho Encyclopedia
Separated Materials:
Related archival materials about Saburo Shimono's US Army service (1960-1964) and wood hand tools (1940s) from Tule Lake Camp, California and Camp Amanche (Granada War Relocation Center) in Colorado are held in the Division of Armed Forces History, National Museum of American History. See accession 2016.3049.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Saburo Shimono, May 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Social Security numbers are present and have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (1927-1992) was an experimental physicist, educator, inventor, entrepreneur, writer and novelist.
Scope and Contents:
Materials in this collection include notes, business papers, patents, calendar planners, reports, a thesis, correspondence, book drafts, screenplay drafts, university publications, magazines, magazine articles, newspaper articles, glass & 35mm images, photographs, a rolodex.
The researcher should note that the collection also contains VHS tapes and audio cassettes. These items are not included in the container list but a NASM Archives staff person can assist you regarding access.
Arrangement:
Organized into 5 series:
Series 1: Professional Papers
Series 2: Publications & Reports
Series 3: Personal Papers
Series 4: Images
Series 5: Odd & Oversize
Biographical / Historical:
Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (1927-1992) was an experimental physicist, educator, inventor, entrepreneur, writer and novelist.
Gerard K. O'Neill joined the Navy at age 17, served as a radar technician from 1944 to 1946, graduated from Swarthmore College in 1950 with high honors in Physics, and received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1954. He went to Princeton University in that year as an Assistant Professor, becoming a Full Professor of Physics in 1965. In the 1976-77 academic year he received the honor of serving as the Jerome Clarke Hunsaker Professor of Aerospace at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He retired from Princeton in 1985 as professor emeritus.
Dr. O'Neill's main research area was high-energy particle physics and he initiated and led large-scale projects in accelerator construction. In 1956 he invented the storage-ring technique for colliding particle beams, a method which is now the basis for nearly every new high-energy particle accelerator. In 1976 he built his first Mass Driver prototype.
Dr. O'Neill was a pioneer in the field of space colonization; his studies on the humanization of space began in 1969 as a result of his undergraduate teaching at Princeton, and one of his four books, The High Frontier, detailed his vision of humanity's movement into Earth-like habitats constructed in space. The High Frontier won the Phi Beta Kappa Award as the best science book of 1977. He also authored 2081: A Hopeful View of the Human Future, The Technology Edge: Opportunities for America in World Competition and co-authored a graduate textbook, Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics.
In 1977 following the success of The High Frontier, Dr. O'Neill founded the non-profit Space Studies Institute. SSI's research included work on mass drivers and the Lunar Polar Probe (renamed Lunar Prospector and flown by NASA.)
In 1967 Dr. O'Neill was a finalist, though ultimately not selected, for NASA's Astronaut Group 6, a group of scientist-astronauts to be given assignments in the Apollo Program. He returned to NASA throughout 1975-1977 to led studies on space habitats and space manufacturing; he testified twice before Congress during that time. In 1985, he was appointed by President Reagan to the National Commission on Space.
In 1983 Dr. O'Neill founded the Geostar Corporation, a satellite based positioning and communication system, based on a patent issued to him.
In 1986, O'Neill founded O'Neill Communications, Inc. which developed LAWN, a local area network device using radio waves and still in use today.
At the time of his death, Dr. O'Neill was working on a form of high-speed ground-based transportation he called "Magnetic Flight" with another company he founded, VSE International.
Dr. O'Neill was an instrument-rated pilot with some 2,500 hours of time in powered aircraft and held the Triple Diamond Badge of the Federation of the Aeronautique Internationale for sail plane flights. He was active in ultralight aircraft aviation and a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. On most of his travels in connection with research and lectures, he piloted his own small plane.
Dr. O'Neill died from leukemia in 1992; the Clementine Mission of 1994 was dedicated to him.
Provenance:
Tasha O'Neill, Gift, 2013
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at http://airandspace.si.edu/permissions
Collection Citation:
George Henry Mills Collection, Acc. 1994-0022, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
145 Film reels (143 16mm film reels - runtime of 40:24:65
2 35mm film reels - runtime of 58:23)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Videodiscs (dvd)
Video recordings
Electronic discs (cd)
Sound cassettes
Film reels
Motion pictures (visual works)
Movie scripts
Transcripts
Audiotapes
Videotapes
Clippings
Scripts (documents)
Date:
1957-2011
bulk 1980-1990
Summary:
The documentary film Growing Up With Rockets, produced by Vanguard Productions and Nancy Yasecko and released in 1984, is the story and personal reminiscences of the children, now grown, of those who worked at Cape Canaveral. The film discusses the Bumper Project (using captured V-2 missiles after World War II); Sputnik; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs; and ends with the first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) in 1981. Nancy Yasecko offers first person commentary with rare archival film, newsreels, excerpts from NASA promotional films, home movies and contemporary footage.
In 1990, under the auspices of Citizen Exchange Council (CEC), a NY-based Soviet-American exchange organization, Growing Up With Rockets was included in the American Documentary Showcase. The Showcase was the first uncensored collection of American documentary films ever to reach general audiences across the USSR.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately thirteen cubic feet of material related to the production and marketing of the documentary film Growing Up With Rockets including audio tapes; motion picture film and video recordings, scripts, post-production notes, reference material, correspondence, financial information, interview transcripts, news clippings, information regarding distribution contracts, event programs, photographs, and project descriptions and flowcharts.
The researcher should note that the collection also contains 16mm film and rollettes, U-Matic cassettes, VHS tapes, 1 inch videotape, 3/4 inch videotape, and DVD. There are 191 motion picture items totaling 75:51:35. Audio tape formats include compact disc; 1/4 inch reel to reel; audio cassettes; and records in various sizes. There are 128 audio items in total. These items are not included in the container list but a NASM Archives staff person can assist you regarding access.
Arrangement:
Organized into 6 series:
Series 1: Production
Series 2: Events
Series 3: Publicity
Series 4: Reference
Series 5: Other
Series 6: Oversize
This collection was arranged at the time of processing to better reflect its main areas of subject matter.
Within series, file units were placed in chronological order with undated material placed at the end of the
series. Original folder titles were kept. Archivist's description appears below folder titles.
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Yasecko is a media artist and educator who grew up and is still living on the Space Coast of Florida. She graduated from Cocoa Beach High School in 1972,and received her B.A. from the University of South Florida in 1975, and her M.A. in Instructional Technology from the University of Central Florida 1997.
Nancy Yasecko is also the proprietor of Vanguard Productions, located on Merritt Island, FL, a producer of film and video for PBS broadcast and non-profit and governmental organizations.
Her film Growing Up with Rockets was included with the first group of US documentaries to be screened in the former Soviet Union in the American Documentary Showcase, Glastnost Tour 1990.
Provenance:
Nancy Yasecko, Vanguard Productions, gift, 2012
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Knabenshue, A. Roy (Augustus Roy), 1876-1960 Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 11
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1966 - 1971
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
A. Roy Knabenshue Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0136, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Office of the Assistant Director, Finance and Administration Search this
Container:
Box 8 of 9
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 01-231, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Office of the Assistant Director, Finance and Administration, Subject Files
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women’s Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
The Doris Holmes Blake papers consist of correspondence, diaries, photographs and related materials documenting in great detail Blake's personal life and, to a lesser
degree, her professional career.
The heavy correspondence she maintained with her mother and daughter, her essays and children's books, and the 70 years' worth of daily journals all attest to her infatuation
with the written word and preoccupation with her inner life. Blake's diaries and family papers stunningly illuminate the contrasts in the daily lives of herself, her mother,
and her daughter.
The papers relating to her professional life are less complete. Although she spent almost 60 years (1919-1978) in association with the entomological staffs of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution, published numerous professional papers, produced all of her own illustrations, and illustrated many of her husband's
botanical works as well, this collection contains only a very limited amount of material documenting those activities. The papers do, however, include her extensive correspondence
with fellow entomologists, both in the United States and abroad.
In the course of transferring her husband's papers to the University of Texas, some of Blake's own papers were included as well. They are presently in the collection of
the Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin and include letters to her parents, 1906-1950; school and college notebooks, papers, essays and drawings;
and clippings, genealogical notes, and miscellaneous family letters and papers.
Historical Note:
Doris Holmes (1892-1978) was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, to a middle-class grocer and his wife. Essentially an only child (two siblings died in early childhood
and infancy), her natural intelligence, stubbornness, and extremely competitive nature were well fostered by her parents, who steadily encouraged and supported her determination
to excel.
Holmes left Stoughton for Boston University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1909, where she pursued studies in business and the classics, earning her A.B. in
1913. Her business skills led to her association with the Boston Psychopathic Hospital in 1913, initially as a clerk, and later as aide to Dr. Herman Adler. Her interests
in science and psychology led her to an A.M. from Radcliffe College in zoology and psychology in 1917.
After a short time as a researcher at Bedford Hills Reformatory for Women, Holmes married her childhood sweetheart, botanist Sidney Fay Blake. Early in 1919, Doris Blake
found work as a clerk for the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology under Frank H. Chittenden, and began the entomological studies that would continue for the rest
of her life.
Blake worked her way up to junior entomologist and, when Chittenden retired, continued her work under Eugene A. Schwarz at the United States National Museum. The birth
in 1928 of daughter Doris Sidney (an infant son had died shortly after birth in 1927) was not a sign for her to slow down -- Blake hired a nurse to watch the baby while she
continued to watch beetles. In 1933 her official employment came to an end with the institution of regulations prohibiting more than one member of a family from holding a
government position (Sidney Blake was then working for the Department of Agriculture).
Although no longer on the payroll, Blake continued her taxonomic work on the family Chrysomelides for almost 45 more years, first as a collaborator and then as a research
associate of the Smithsonian Institution. Shortly after her husband's death, Blake traveled to Europe in 1960 on a National Science Foundation grant to revise the genus Neobrotica
Jacoby. She ultimately published 97 papers in various journals (see "Doris Holmes Blake," Froeschner, Froeschner and Cartwright, Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash., 83(3), 1981, for
a complete bibliography) and continued her active research until shortly before her death on December 3, 1978.
