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.

The correspondence in this collection concerns behavior genetics, evolution, heredity, etc. There is material relating to the congresses of the Permanent International Committee on Genetics, and the IXth (Bellagio, 1953), Xth (Montreal, 1958), and XIth (The Hague, 1963) International Congress of Genetics. There is also correspondence pertaining to the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology (1955), the Mendel Semi-Centennial Symposium (1950), the Soviet geneticists' visit to the U.S. in 1967, and to Anton R. Zhebrak.