L.C. Dunn was one of the most significant figures in the emerging field of developmental genetics in the 20th century. His T-locus work with the mouse established a number of important genetic principles, including ideas of gene interaction, the distribution of alleles in wild populations, and the factors that influence fertility. He wrote an important textbook of genetics, Principles of Genetics (1925), in collaboration with Sinnott (and later Dobzhansky); other significant books authored or co-authored by him include Heredity, Race and Society (1946), and A Short History of Genetics (1965). He worked in poultry genetics for eight years at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Storrs, CT, from 1920-1928. The remainder of his career was spent at Columbia University, where he worked with rats, mice, and fruit flies, and proved himself to be an inspiring teacher as well. His interest in international scientific collaboration led him to establish ties to Soviet scientists, and to help relocate refugee scientists during World War II. He remained active in his profession to the end of his life. This collection includes correspondence, reports, notebooks, lectures, and photographs. It is a rich collection, documenting the development of American genetics as well as Dunn's interests in humanitarian efforts and international affairs. There is significant material relating to American-U.S.S.R. contacts, particularly in the files on the American-Soviet Friendship Council and the American-Soviet Science Society. There is much, as well, on the impact of the Lysenko controversy in the U. S. Dunn's interest in European scientists can also be seen in the sizable amount of material on the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars. Material relating to the Kilgore and Magnusson bills for the support of science (predecessors to the NSF) are also in the collection. Of note are data on the following: National Research Council Committee on Experimental Animals and Plants; research on the population study of the Jewish community in Rome; and Columbia University. There is much in the correspondence concerning Drosophila, poultry genetics, and other such topics; Walter Landauer is Dunn's major correspondent.

The James V. Neel Papers document nearly every phase of the career of one of the founders of human population genetics in the United States. Neel was particularly thorough and organized, and retained virtually all of his significant scientific correspondence, committee reports, minutes of meetings, and drafts of manuscripts. The collection also includes data collected during Neel's work among the Xavante, Yanomanö and other indigenous populations. In a career that spanned the period from the late work of Thomas Hunt Morgan and Charles B. Davenport to the contemporary world of molecular genetics and nucleic acids, Neel knew, worked with, and corresponded with many of the most influential 20th century practitioners of genetics. The collection begins in earnest in 1943, after Neel had decided to focus on human genetics. Neel's work with Drosophila and none of his Drosophila manuscripts are found in the collection.