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 biochemist at Columbia University, Erwin Chargaff discovered the base-pairing regularities or "complementarity relationships" of nucleic acids that provided one of the key steps in developing a structural model for DNA. During his long career, Chargaff is credited with conclusively falsifying the tetranucleotide hypothesis; demonstrating the existence of a large number of DNA species; and creating the first descriptions of hypochromicity, hyperchromicity, and the denaturation of a DNA. In addition, Chargaff conducted important research on blood coagulation, lipids and lipoproteins, the metabolism of amino acids and inositol, and the biosynthesis of phosphotransferases. He retired to emeritus status in 1974 and remained active in research almost to the time of his death in June 2002. The Chargaff Papers are organized into ten series: I. Correspondence, 1931-1992; Ia. Correspondence, 1949-2002; IIa. Grants, 1930-1982; IIb. Subject Files, 1940-1984; IIc. Subject Files, 1946-2002; III. Works by Chargaff, 1929-1989; IIIa. Works by Chargaff, 1923-2002; IIIb. Reprints, 1977-1999; IV. Works by Others, 1936-1985; IVa. Works by Others, 1976-2002; V. Research Notes and Notebooks, 1929-1951 ; VI. Photographs, 1935-1977; VIa. Photographs, 1928-2002; VII. Audiovisual Materials; VIII. Awards and Certificates, 1958-2001; IX. Lecture Notes, 1942-1985; X. Personal Papers, [1880]-1985.

One of the four horsemen of the evolutionary synthesis of the 1940s, Theodosius Dobzhansky played a crucial role in bridging the gap between theoretical and empirical approaches in genetics and in promoting the Neo-Darwinian synthesis. His contributions to the biological species concept and to an understanding the evolutionary dynamics of wild populations of Drosophila were fundamental to the development of modern population genetics and evolutionary thought. The Dobzhansky Papers are a remnant of the correspondence and writings of the geneticist and evolutionary biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky. The correspondence (7.5 linear feet) provides insight into Dobzhansky's scientific, philosophical, and social views, particularly during the last decade of his life. Equally valuable are the 54 notebooks (ca.1917-1975) which comprise an almost uninterrupted self-commentary on Dobzhansky's career, replete with typescripts of personal letters and short essays sent to colleagues and friends. The collection also contains two unbound volumes of annotated "reminiscences" from the Columbia Oral History Project, 1962; two bound volumes of papers dedicated to him on his 70th birthday; and 1.5 linear feet of photographs.

Founded by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1890, the Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., was little more than a languishing outpost until the arrival of Charles B. Davenport in 1898. Over the course of two decades, the ambitious young biologist used his extraordinary administrative skills to transform the institution into the premier center of eugenical study and, as its director, to position himself as the leading spokesman for eugenical research in North America. The Davenport Papers (ca. 63 lin. feet) is a large and nearly comprehensive body of correspondence, lectures, diaries (1878-1942, mostly brief entries of an uneven character), student notebooks and family correspondence pertaining to Charles Davenport and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The collection is divided into two series, the Charles Davenport Papers, which provides valuable documentation of the development of American biology, animal and plant genetics, and eugenics during the period 1898-1942, with some perspective on the international eugenics movement. Series II, the Cold Spring Harbor Records (ca.20 lin. feet), consists largely of administrative correspondence relating to the laboratory, including Davenport's correspondence with Carnegie administrators (esp. Robert Woodward and John Merriam), accounts and reports concerning financial matters, publications, salaries, material relative to the early history of Cold Spring Harbor labs, and records relative to the numerous professional assistants who worked under Davenport. Among the major correspondents are the American Breeders Association, Committee on Eugenics; American Eugenics Society; American Society of Naturalists; Committee on a Study of the American Negro; Galton Society (see also the extensive correspondence with William K. Gregory); Eugenics Education Society (see Mrs. S. Gotto correspondence); International Congresses of Eugenics; International Federation of Eugenic Organizations, Committee on Race Crossing; National Committee on Mental Hygiene; National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor; and the Pan-American Conference on Eugenics and Homiculture. There are correspondence and papers relating to the Station for Experimental Evolution, the Eugenics Record Office, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and a substantial series relating to a long-range study of children carried out at Letchworth Village, Thiles, New York. This note is currently under review for revision.

One of the seminal figures in the emergence of the Modern or Neo-Darwinian Synthesis during the mid-twentieth century, George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984) helped define the unique contribution made by vertebrate paleontology to the life sciences. A specialist in Mesozoic and early Cenozoic mammals, Simpson's contributions to the fusion of Darwinian natural selection and Mendelian genetics were both empirical and theoretical, culminating in his major works Tempo and Mode in Evolution and The Meaning of Evolution. From his posts at the American Museum of Natural History (1927-1959), Columbia University (1945-1959), Harvard (1959-1967), and the University of Arizona (1967-1984), Simpson became one of the most influential paleontologists of the century, helped in part by his ability to write successfully for both a technical, professional audience and a popular audience. The Simpson Papers include a comprehensive assemblage of professional and personal correspondence, reflecting nealy all phases of Simpson's career. Written with charm, wit, and a sense of literary style, the correspondence touches on all aspects of modern paleontology, providing an important perspective on the emergence of contemporary evolutionary theory, biogeography, systematic theory and methodology, the relationship of science and religion, and creationism, as well as more general issues in scientific epistemology and social and political issues. The collection also includes autobiographical data and writings, lectures, class notes and papers, research data, material on his scientific expeditions (diaries in carbon form, photos, notes, etc.), publication material (he was author of some 800 publications), extensive photographic material, diplomas, and medals.