The plant physiologist and historian Rodney H. True (1866-1940) divided his career relatively evenly between the Bureau of Plant Industry in United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Botany and Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. A specialist in the physiological function of mineral nutrients in plants, True was active in his later career in the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, and the Agricultural History Society. The True Papers consist of 6 linear feet of material relating primarily to the period of his career spent at the University of Pennsylvania. The collection contains roughly equal proportions of personal and professional correspondence, with a few diaries and research notebooks documenting his involvement with professional organizations and his interests in the history of his discipline.

Simon Flexner, born in 1863, one of the nation's leading experts in pathology and bacteriology, was most renowned for his research on cerebrospinal meningitis, polio and infantile paralysis. Arguably though, Flexner's stewardship of the Rockefeller Institute was his greatest contribution to medical and scientific research. His rise in the medical community began in the late nineteenth century in Louisville, Kentucky, where despite not having completed even the seventh grade, Flexner taught himself basic bacteriology by conducting experiments at home using a microscope borrowed from the pharmacy where he served as an apprentice. Granted a medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1889, he went on to a pathology fellowship at the newly opened John Hopkins School of Medicine. Within two short years of leaving Louisville, Flexner received an assistant of pathology appointment at Johns Hopkins. It was a quick ascent and the beginning of a long and brilliant career that included a prestigious appointment at the University of Pennsylvania and then a directorship at the new Rockefeller Institute where he realized his lifelong dream of creating a dynamic and productive research laboratory. The Rockefeller Institute became instantly famous worldwide as the preeminent research facility for virology and under Flexner's direction produced invaluable contributions in pathology, bacteriology, and immunology. This collection does not reflect the early phases of Flexner's career at Johns Hopkins but does document an early interest in meningitis and other infectious diseases with science-related correspondence, laboratory notebooks, and administrative correspondence with the New York City and State Departments of Health. There is abundant material on Flexner's directorship of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, including Flexner's search for staff, an involved process which is detailed in correspondence with the scientists, many of whom became quite famous. Also included is material relating to the other institutions and Rockefeller philanthropies with which Flexner was involved. (Among the most significant correspondence, however, may be that which documents the support of the General Education Board and the Rockefeller Foundation in the development and subsequent reorganization of medical schools following brother Abraham Flexner's scathing report on medical education in the United States and Canada). This collection would be of great interest to anyone interested in the history of bacteriology, histology, and immunology or the general history of modern medicine and philanthropy.

William Jacob Robbins (1890-1978, APS 1941) was a botanist and physiologist. From 1937 to 1957 he was director of the New York Botanical Garden. His research focused on culture methods of plants in relation to biochemistry and nutrition, especially on the synthetic abilities of fungi. His studies paralleled the scientific agenda of the Rockefeller Foundation, an agency with which he was closely associated for years as adviser and trustee. He was perhaps the most influential botanist in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the early postwar era, and a principal participant in the plans for the global reconstruction of science. Robbins served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1956 to 1959.

Victor George Heiser, who was a preeminent public health physician, created a rich archive of material documenting all phases of his career, especially the international health work of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1915-1934. There are voluminous, detailed, and interesting diaries for the whole course of his adult life (1890-1972). There are notebooks reflecting on his early training and work (1890-1907), and lectures he attended at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia (1897).

Raymond Pearl spent the majority of his academic career (1918-1940) at Johns Hopkins University, where he was Professor of Biometry and Vital Statistics and Director of the Institute of Biological Research. Founder of the Quarterly Review of Biology and Human Biology, he made significant contributions in the areas of biology, genetics, eugenics, and statistics. The Pearl Papers includes correspondence as well as notebooks, scrapbooks, diplomas, photographs, and 33 volumes of diaries. There is significant correspondence with his wife, Maud (ca. 500 letters), and mother, Ida May (ca. 300 letters), particularly for the years 1895-1934. Of special note is Pearl's correspondence with his friend, colleague, and fellow Baltimoreian, H. L. Mencken (ca. 500 letters). The collection contains important information on the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, The Baltimore Sun, the Birth Control Federation of America, Dartmouth College, the International Institute of Statistics, Johns Hopkins University, and the National Academy of Sciences. This note is currently under review for revision.

A collection of letters, legal papers and financial records of three generations of the prominent Philadelphia family. Spanning 1745-1955, detailed are the legal cases and political advocacy work of John Kintzing Kane (1795-1858), Robert Patterson Kane (1827-1906), and Francis Fisher Kane (1866-1955). Also includes correspondence, architectural drawings, and photograph albums of the Cope family. Robert Patterson Kane's daughter Eliza Middleton Kane (1863-1952) married the Philadelphia architect Walter Cope (1860-1902) in 1893. The APS papers of Elisha Kent Kane are in call no. B K132.

One of the oldest houses in Philadelphia, Wyck is now a non-profit museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nine generations of the Jansen-Wistar-Haines family owned the Wyck property from 1690 until 1973. The last family owner deeded 2.5 acres of land, the house and its contents, several outbuildings, a landscaped garden, and a small endowment to the Wyck Charitable Trust. The Wyck Charitable Trust and the Wyck Association now administer the preservation of the property and its educational services to the public. This collection contains diaries, letters, accounts, bills and receipts, deeds, and photographs. The collection as a whole is deepest for the period 1770-1970. Items of particular note include accounts of household expenses at Wyck from ca. 1790-1970; papers pertaining to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Quaker schools, and social reform groups; agricultural and horticultural practices; and correspondence to and from cultural leaders of 18th and 19th century Philadelphia. The papers of the John S. Haines family (Ms. Coll. 52A) form part of the Wyck Papers. The papers cover the years 1845 to 1949 and are arranged into eight series.