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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Dates:

1915-1923

Abstract:

Having inherited a fortune from her father, the middle-aged Adela C. Breton (1849-1923) began to indulge her interest in travel and archaeology. Between 1894 and 1908, Breton took thirteen excursions to the Mayan archaeological sites in Yucatan, Mexico, researching the artwork and producing valuable watercolor paintings of the ruins. She died in 1923, during a trip to attend the International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janeiro. The Breton Papers consist of one hundred letters written by Adela Breton to her friend and relative Ella Lewis of Philadelphia. Although they offer little insight into Breton's archaeological interests, they do provide a glimpse of her personality and her opinions on everything from American immigration law to the First World War, the malice of Germans, and her experiences traveling in western Canada.

Call #:

Mss.B.B754

Extent:

0.1 Linear feet

Subjects:

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Breton, Adela, 1849-1923 | Canada -- Description and travel. | Lewis, Ella | Women archaeologists | World War, 1914-1918

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Walter Sydney Adams Papers

Dates:

1881-1939

Abstract:

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An expert in stellar spectroscopy, Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956, APS 1915) made important empirical contributions to the analysis of the physical conditions of stellar and planetary atmospheres, determining the distances to extragalactic objects, and understanding stellar evolution. Adams succeeded his mentor George Ellery Hale as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, serving in that capacity from 1923 to 1946. The Adams Papers contains approximately 100 letters addressed to the astronomer Walter Sydney Adams, dating primarily from the period after his move to Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. Much of the correspondence is relatively perfunctory, however a few letters include interesting scientific content, including Harlow Shapley discussing his photometric study of HV 3435 and interest in Alpha Circini, Arthur Compton's comments on Keener's photoelectric method, Svante Arrhenius on the possibilities of constructing a new observatory for the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Arthur Eddington discussing the implications of the spectrum of the companion to Sirius. Among Adams' other correspondents are J. C. Kapteyn, James H. Jeans, Henry Norris Russell, Elihu Thomson, and Willem de Sitter.

Call #:

Mss.B.Ad19

Extent:

0.25 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Bateson Family Papers

Dates:

1829-1940

Abstract:

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One of the principle figures of turn of the century anti-Darwinian evolutionism, William Bateson (1861-1926) was a professor at Cambridge University for 23 years before leaving to become first director of the John Innes Horticultural Institute (1910-1926). Developing a unique "vibratory theory" of organismal variability during the 1890s that envisioned evolutionary change as a discontinuous process, Bateson became well known as the first English advocate of the recently rediscovered theories of Gregor Mendel. For a man inclined to drama and disputation in science, it was Bateson's family life that took on the airs of Greek tragedy. The two linear feet of correspondence, diaries, and photographs that comprise the Bateson Family Papers provide valuable insight into the social milieu of the Batesons and their decidedly unorthodox upper middle class academic life, as well as their responses to the tragic deaths of two of their sons.

Call #:

Mss.Ms.Coll.2

Extent:

2 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Henry Howard Houston, II Papers

Dates:

1903-1918

Abstract:

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Henry Howard Houston II (1895-1918) was the son of a prominent Philadelphia family, the Houstons. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing, graduating from Chestnut Hill Academy in 1912 and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1916. Upon his graduation date, he enlisted in Battery C of the First Field Artillery, Pennsylvania National Guard, and was sent to the Texas and New Mexico borders in response to Pancho Villa's raids from Mexico. In January 1917, he volunteered with the American Field Ambulance Service in France during World War I, stationed near Verdun, where he was constantly under fire when performing his duty to pick up wounded soldiers from the trenches. Henry took a commission in the French Army and enrolled in its transportation school. The French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre for gallantry under fire. When the U.S. entered the war, Henry resigned his commission in the French army and rejoined the Pennsylvania National Guard, his unit being the 53rd Field Artillery Brigade, 28th Division. He returned to the U.S. and received training as an aerial observer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Early in 1918 he returned to France as a staff member of the 53rd Field Artillery Brigade, commandedn by General William Price. In August 1918, Lt. Houston was killed south of Arcis-le-Ponsart while returning from an air field. He was 23. The bulk of this eight linear feet collection reflects Henry's personal life as a son, soldier, friend and lover, during the last three years of his life 1916 to 1918.

Call #:

Mss.Ms.Coll.76.17

Extent:

8 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Thomas M. Rivers Papers

Dates:

1887-1963

Abstract:

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The bacteriologist and virologist Thomas Milton Rivers spent over thirty years at the Rockefeller Institute as a researcher in the Department of Bacteriology and from 1937-1955, as Director. Working on measles and pneumonia, Rivers discovered the parainfluenzae bacillus and cultivated vaccine virus for human use, and during the 1950s, he played an important role in coordinating research on poliomyelitis as head of the National Institute for Infantile Paralysis. During the Second World War, Rivers led the Naval Medical Research Unit in the South Pacific, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. The Rivers Papers contains correspondence, laboratory notes, speeches, and photographs documenting Rivers' activities at the Rockefeller Institute, the development of polio vaccine, and Rivers' Navy experience in the Pacific during World War II.

Call #:

Mss.B.R52

Extent:

10 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

O. H. (Oswald Hope) Robertson Papers

Dates:

1917-1969

Abstract:

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A physician and naturalist, Oswald Hope Robertson worked at the Rockefeller Institute, the Peking Union Medical College, and at the medical school of University of Chicago (1927-1951). With a broad range of research interests, Robertson contributed important work on the transmission of pneumonia, the disinfection of air with glycol vapors, and later in his career, on the physiology and ecology of salmonid fishes. He is best remembered, however, as the creator of the first blood bank, established for use by British and American forces during the First World War. The Robertson Papers contain correspondence, notes, articles, and notebooks on many of Robertson's major research interests, including his work on blood. His early work on salmonid ecology is represented in a journal and eleven notebooks stemming from fieldwork in the lakes of the Wind River Range in northwestern Wyoming, 1942-1951. There is also interesting material on the Research Corporation (New York City) concerning patents on glycol vapors and air sterilizers, as well as notes and manuscripts of papers on morphine experiments, canine pneumococcus, bacteremia, and the effects of hydrocortisone.

Call #:

Mss.B.R546

Extent:

7 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

William Jacob Robbins papers, 1896-1974

Dates:

1896-1974

Abstract:

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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.

Call #:

Mss.B.R538

Extent:

4 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Raymond Pearl Papers

Dates:

1895-1946

Abstract:

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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.

Call #:

Mss.B.P312

Extent:

28.5 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Frederick Henry Osborn Papers

Dates:

Circa 1903-1980

Abstract:

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Frederick Henry Osborn was an administrator, humanist, and scientist. This collection includes letters, diaries, reports, speeches, drafts of articles and books, oral history interviews, and photographs. There are diaries and letters for his service in Europe with the American Red Cross during World War I. There are some letters and documents, such as patent applications and plans for inventions, from his "business career" period prior to 1928, after which he became a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History studying anthropology and population. This study led to his later important contributions to the redirection of eugenics study in the U.S. and the reorganization of the American Eugenics Society. His other related organizational work and publications relating to human and population genetics are also documented in this collection. There is significant material (letters, diaries, reports) related to Osborn's World War II contributions as the chairman of the Civilian Committee on Selective Service in 1940, and as head of the Morale Branch of the U.S. Army (later, the Information and Education Division of Special Services) in 1941. Also included are important documents, especially his diary, from his work as deputy representative on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the U.N. Commission for Conventional Armaments. His letters, writings, and speeches relating to foreign policy are extensive, spanning the period from the 1940s until his death, much of it from the Vietnam War years. The correspondence with Kathleen Harris is particularly rich in this respect. There is family correspondence reflecting his dynamic philosophy of life, with long series of letters to his parents (1917-1945) and to his children and grandchildren. His later civic and regional interests, as a long-time resident of Garrison, N.Y., are evidenced in the work he did on the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.

Call #:

Mss.Ms.Coll.24

Extent:

8.5 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

William Francis Gray Swann Papers

Dates:

1900-1961

Abstract:

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The physicist W.F.G. Swann was a pioneer in high energy physics and the study of cosmic rays. Climbing the academic ranks from the University of Sheffield to the Universities of Minnesota, Chicago, and Yale, Swann was selected as the first director of the Bartol Research Foundation of the Franklin Institute in 1927, and remained there until his retirement in 1959. An able administrator and excellent mentor, he was best known for his popular work on the new physics, The Architecture of the Universe (1934) and for his research on cosmic rays. Avocationally, he was an accomplished cellist and in addition to performing, he helped organize and support the Swarthmore Symphony Orchestra and other local groups. He died at his home in Swarthmore in 1962. The Swann Papers consist of 41 linear feet of correspondence, class notes, lectures, and photographs documenting Swann's career at the Bartol Research Foundation from 1927 until the end of his life. The collection is wide ranging, touching on atmospheric electricity, particle acceleration, atomic bomb defense, atomic energy, electrets, electrodynamics, magnetism, music, quantum theory, radiation, relativity and Einstein, science and civilization, stratospheric flights (by balloon and airplane), thermodynamics, psychic science, and wave mechanics. It is particularly rich for study of the history of cosmic ray research and the Bartol Institute, and for study of the popularization of modern physical sciences.

Call #:

Mss.B.Sw1

Extent:

62 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Elsie Clews Parsons Papers

Dates:

1880-1980

Abstract:

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Elsie Clews Parsons (1875-1941) was trained as a sociologist at Columbia University, but made her greatest achievements in the fields of anthropology and folklore. Parsons' early works in the field of sociology dealt primarily with gender roles, conventions of society, and the effect of society's pressures on the individual. After a trip to the American Southwest with her husband in 1910, Parsons' interests turned to anthropology. She began making field trips to Arizona and New Mexico and, under the influence of her friend Franz Boas, Parsons recorded in meticulous detail data on social organization, religious practices, and folklore of the Southwest Indians. Concurrently, Parsons conducted research in folklore, concentrating on folk tales of Afro-Americans and Caribbean peoples. She was active in a number of professional associations and was the associate editor of the Journal of American Folklore from 1918 until her death. The Parsons Papers were acquired as two separate accessions and remains organized in two distinct subcollections. Subcollection I (572 P35), acquired in 1949, contains approximately 12 linear feet of materials focused on Parsons' career in anthropology. Subcollection II, acquired in 1985, consists of 26.25 linear feet of materials divided into ten series, covering a larger scope of Parsons' life, including family and personal correspondence.

Call #:

Mss.Ms.Coll.29

Extent:

38.25 Linear feet

Subjects:

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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

Title:

Phillips Fund for Native American Research Collection

Dates:

1605-2022

Abstract:

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The Phillips Fund Collection consists of materials submitted to the APS by recipients of grants from its Phillips Fund for Native American Research. The materials vary in scope, ranging from linguistics to ethnography, musicology, religion, ethnobotany, and ethnohistory, and including studies of Indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Materials in this collection include brief project reports, dissertations, published and unpublished manuscripts, dictionaries and vocabularies, field notes, and audiovisual materials.

Call #:

Mss.497.3.Am4

Extent:

27.5 Linear feet

Subjects:

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