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 reminiscences and
interviews recorded by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
The Walter Shropshire, Oral History Interviews were recorded to document the history of the Smithsonian Institution's Division of Radiation and Organisms (DRO) of the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which then became the Radiation Biology Laboratory (RBL) and later the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC).
Descriptive Entry:
Pamela M. Henson, Historian, from the Smithsonian Institution Archives, conducted these interviews as a part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives' Oral History Collection.
These interviews cover the history of the Smithsonian's Radiation Biology Laboratory; the research conducted by its staff; the challenges faced by administrators; changes
in the scientific field of biophysics; and Shropshire's personal life and pastoral career. Interviews of Shropshire include audiotape sessions and photographs.
The Walter Shropshire, Oral History Interviews consist of 16 interview sessions, totaling approximately 15 hours of audiotape recordings and 684 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Scientific research has always been essential to the Smithsonian Institution's mission. These interviews focus on the history of the Smithsonian's Division of Radiation
and Organisms, which became the Radiation Biology Laboratory and later the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, focusing on the effects of sunlight on living organisms.
The interviewee, Walter Shropshire, a research scientist with RBL, worked at the Institution for thirty-two years. His reminiscences span from his early childhood in Washington,
D.C., to his second career as a pastor. The topics covered include background information about his education and personal life; studies at The George Washington University;
early work in the basement laboratories of the Smithsonian Institution Castle; scientific research for RBL; participation in Smithsonian symposia; collaboration with other
scientists of his era; conducting research abroad; his administrative duties at RBL; working as a Methodist pastor; and an in-depth conversation about photographs from the
early years of the Smithsonian's Division of Radiation and Organisms and RBL.
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
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.
Der Geist in der Natur von Hans Christian Oersted ; Deutsch von K.L. Kannegiesser ; nebst einer biographischen Skizze von P.L. Möller und mit dem Portrait des Verfassers
Friedrich Christian Lessers des Evangelischen ... Testaceo-Theologia, oder, Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommensten Eigenschaften eines göttlichen Wesens aus natürlicher und geistlicher Betrachtung der Schnecken und Muscheln, zur gebührend Verherrlichung des grossen Gottes und Beförderung des ihm schuldigen Dienstes ausgefertiget : mit Kupfern
Title:
Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommensten Eigenschaften eines Göttlichen Wesens
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
Friedrich Christian Lessers, der Kirche St. Jacobi und Martini zu Nordhausen pastoris ... Testaceo-theologia, oder, Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommnesten Eigenschaften eines göttlichen Wesens : aus natürlicher und geistlicher Betrachtung der Schnecken und Muscheln, zur gebührenden Verherrlichung des grossen Gottes, und Beförderung des ihm schuldigen Dienstes ausgefertiget
Title:
Testaceo-theologia, oder, Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommnesten Eigenschaften eines göttlichen Wesens
Testaceo-theologia
Testaceotheologie
Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommnesten Eigenschaften eines göttlichen Wesens
Supplementary notes to the first and second edition of Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater treatise : with a plate of the fossil head and restored figure of the Dinotherium
The savage world : a complete natural history of the world's creatures, fishes, reptiles, insects, birds and mammals : founded upon the theory of the progression of species, and in accordance with genetic revelation, scriptural truths, and the harmony of nature ... / by J.W. Buel ; embellished with over 1500 elegant engravings ... and magnificent colored plates
Author:
Buel, James W (James William) 1849-1920 Search this
Genesis and geology, or, An investigation into the reconciliation of the modern doctrines of geology with the declarations of scripture / by Denis Crofton ; with an introduction by Edward Hitchcock
Title:
Genesis and geology
Investigation into the reconciliation of the modern doctrines of geology with the declarations of scripture
Friedrich Christian Lessers, des evangelischen predigtamtes zu Nordhausen aeltesten ...Testaceo-theologia ; oder, Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommensten Eigenschaften eines göttlichen Wesens : aus natürlicher und geistlicher Betrachtung der Schnecken und Muscheln, zur gebührenden Verherrlichung des grossen Gottes und Beförderung des ihm schuldigen Dienstes ausgefertiget ; mit Kupfern
Title:
Testaceo-Theologia
Gründlicher Beweis des Daseyns und der vollkommensten Eigenschaften eines Göttlichen Wesens
