Alexander Hollaender was a leading researcher on the genetic effects of radiation. Born in Samter, Germany, in 1898 and arriving in the United States in 1921, Hollaender was educated at the University of Wisconsin, receiving his AB, MA, and Ph.D. there. He served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He was director of the division of biology at the Atomic Energy Commission's Oak Ridge National laboratory from 1946 until 1966. The 4 linear feet of the Alexander Hollaender Papers contain incoming and outgoing correspondence and reports relating to the genetic effects of radiation, specifically atomic radiation. Also included are documents of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy; the NAS Committee on the Biological Effects of Atomic Energy, Genetics Panel; the United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation; and the World Health Organization all of which Hollaender was closely involved with.

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.

Ernst Wolfgang Caspari was an important contributor to behavior and developmental genetics, working primarily on the mealmoth Ephestia. Trained in Alfred Kuhn's laboratory at the University of Göttingen (1933-1935), Caspari was forced from his position by the Nazis in 1933, escaping to the United States five years later. As a professor of biology at Lafayette College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Rochester, Caspari continued his research on Ephestia, mouse genetics, and behavior genetics until his retirement in 1975. The Caspari Papers includes correspondence, papers, grant reports, and lectures relating to Caspari's genetic research dating primarily from the period after his departure from Germany. In addition to substantial material on behavior genetics and human evolution, the collection includes correspondence relating to Caspari's editorial work for Advances in Genetics, and his involvement with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Fifth Banff Conference on Theoretical Psychology, Genetics Society of America, International Conference on the Unity of Science, Social Science Research Council, Committee on Genetics and Behavior, and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

The psychologist and behavioral geneticist Bronson Price made important contributions to the study of the genetics of mental traits in twins. Receiving his doctorate from Stanford in 1934, Price began down a research path that led him to study under Aleksandr R. Luria in Moscow from 1934-1935, and thereafter to the Department of Psychology at Ohio State. In 1941, Price changed course professionally, entering into war-time government service, never to return to academia, working first with the National Office of Vital Statistics and later as a statistician with the Children's Bureau and the Office of Education. The Price Papers contains one linear foot of correspondence relating to Bronson Price's interests in genetics and eugenics, with an emphasis upon Price's post-doctoral experiences in the Soviet Union and his long-term interests in the genetic study of twins. In addition to fairly extensive correspondence with H. J. Muller and Lewis Terman, the collection includes interesting materials relating to the Foundation for Germinal Choice, eugenic sterilization, and an extensive bibliographic card file used by Price in his research on twins post-1940. This note is currently under review for revision.

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.

The Papers of Curt Stern include extensive correspondence, lectures (1920s-1970s, 1.5 boxes), autobiographical material, articles, zoological course notes, photographs, etc. Stern's various areas of scientific interest are documented in the collection: the chromosome theory of heredity, role of gene mutation and chromosome rearrangements in evolution, action and interaction of genes during individual development, and particularly his contribution to the development of human genetics as a discipline (centered on his popular and influential book, Principles of Human Genetics, 1949, 1960, 1973). Both his career in Germany and the United States is documented in his correspondence. After studying with T. H. Morgan at Columbia University on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1924-1926), Stern returned to Richard Goldschmidt's lab at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute (1926-1932). There is material of note in the collection concerning this period when Stern helped to establish the cytological basis of crossing over. After a short stay at the California Institute of Technology in 1932, Stern's temporary residence in the U. S. became permanent, and his later career at the University of Rochester, 1933-1947 (Chairman, Department of Zoology) and at the University of California, Berkeley, 1947-1970 (there is abundant material on the Department of Zoology) is covered in the collection. There is other material on: American Association for the Advancement of Science Inter-Society Committee on Science Foundation Legislation, 1946-1947; American Society of Human Genetics (Pres., 1957); Atomic Energy Commission (Advisory Committee for Biology and Medicine, 1950-1955); Genetics (journal); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Advisory Committee for Biology, 1955-1968); and the Rockefeller Foundation. Stern's correspondence with friends and colleagues in Germany, England, and the U. S., during the 1920s-1930s, is of particular note as it documents not only the developments in genetics and the institutional and administrative networks supporting research, but it also offers general comments and observations on science, Germany, and politics. The photographs (2 boxes) include pictures of many prominent geneticists and scientists.