These records consist of mostly incoming and outgoing correspondence with botanists; colleagues; friends; herbarium curators; directors of arboreta; private collectors
of plants; and publishers; and they concern specimen identification; recommendation of books to be used for identification of plants; requests for reprints; purchase and acquisition
of collections; reference to colleagues and herbariums; history of private collections; also includes some personal accounts of daily activity of friends and colleagues and
personal memorandum regarding Leonard's salary, upgrading, and recommendation that he be made a research associate.
Historical Note:
E. C. (Emery Clarence) Leonard (1892-1968) was born in Ohio and attended Wittenberg College. He did his postgraduate work at Ohio State University. In January 1918
he was made an aid in the United States National Museum, Division of Plants (which became the Department of Botany in 1947), and went on military furlough six months later.
Leonard returned to the Smithsonian in July 1919. From 1928 to 1936 he was assistant curator, Division of Plants, and from 1937 to 1962 was associate curator, Department of
Botany, Division of Phanerogams. Leonard retired in 1962 and was made research associate, Division of Phanerogams. For an administrative history of the Department of Botany,
see Record Units 220 and 226.
