Winthrop John Van Leuven Osterhout (2 August 1871 – 9 April 1964) was an American botanist, physiologist, professor, author, and editor. He was a significant figure among American biologists in the early 20th century -- one of the few botanists to use physical chemistry -- and participated in a larger movement to establish these methods in the life sciences. As a long-time academic, he promoted general physiology as a discipline, and investigated the cellular structure of algae, as well as its properties and behavior in reaction to biochemical elements. He held positions at Brown University, the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, as well as editing the Journal of General Physiology. Born in Brooklyn NY, Osterhout was the son of Reverend John Van Leuven Osterhout and Annie Loranthe Beman. Shortly after he was born, his mother and sister died in 1873, and his father struggled with raising his remaining child. Young Osterhout was sent to live with his grandmother in Baltimore until the age of eight. When his father remarried in 1879, the new family came together to live in Providence, RI. In 1889, Osterhout began his collegiate studies at Brown University, where he developed an interest in botany. He studied with W. A. Setchell at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he started to work with algae. Upon completion of his bachelor's degree in 1893, he was hired by Brown to teach botany during his graduate studies and earned a M.A. in 1894. After a year-long academic sojourn at the University of Bonn in Germany from 1895-1896, Osterhout returned to America. Following in Setchell's footsteps, Oesterhout relocated to Berkeley and began his doctorate work in 1896 the University of California. His dissertation focused on the algae species Rhabdonia and he received a Ph.D. in 1899. Around this time, he met and married his first wife, Anna Maria Landstrom. The couple had two daughters (Anna Maria and Olga). In 1903, physiologist Jacques Loeb arrived at UC Berkeley and his work influenced Osterhout's understanding of "salt effects," or how the physiology of protoplasm could be affected by changes in its ionic composition. This research had implications for the flora of both land and sea, so he began to investigate the influences of both simple and complex salt solutions on the growth of plants. After earning his doctorate, Osterhout continued at the University of California, serving as an assistant professor from 1901 to 1907, and then as an associate professor of botany for a year. In 1909, he received a job offer from Harvard University, given his teaching ability and innovative use of physical chemistry with his research. While the position was temporarily a step down to the level of assistant professor, he was eventually promoted to the level of professor by 1913. The change in location allowed him to resume his research at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, where he continued his work with ions and cellular permeability, which proved to be anextensive project. He maintained contact with the lab over the years and served as a trustee from 1919-1949. Described as a mild-mannered and supportive colleague to both his peers and students, Osterhout gained prominence at Harvard. He became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement for Science in 1910 and elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1919. He also became a trustee at the Rockefeller Institute, in 1920, where he was later employed. In addition to these accomplishments, he received an honorary doctorate from Harvard in 1925 and from Brown University in 1926. As a prolific writer, Osterhout contributed 120 articles to the Journal of General Physiology, which he co-founded with his mentor Loeb in 1919, and they served together as co-editors. Beyond this collaboration, the scientists' careers were linked in other ways. Loeb worked at the Rockefeller Institute until he passed away in 1924; Osterhout was later hired to fill his position as chief general physiologist; he continued to edit the journal they co-founded until 1964. While at the Rockefeller Institute, Osterhout was a productive researcher; his team worked with giant algal cells and investigated their electric conductivity (or how electrolytes are able penetrate organic tissues). He was the first to theorize that the active transport mechanisms in carrier molecules could move solutes across cell membranes. He maintained contact with colleagues at Harvard, some of whom followed him to work at the institute, such as Marian Irwin, his research associate. Osterhout was divorced by this time, and the two later married in 1933. Osterhout's team also conducted research at a branch laboratory in Bermuda. Irwin proved to be a steady partner in both work and life. Osterhout suffered from glaucoma and his vision started to fail shortly after his second marriage. He relied on his new wife for assistance, but was able to conduct research with her and their lab assistants until his eighties. Upon his retirement in 1939, he became a Member Emeritus at the Rockefeller Institute. Additional health issues surfaced in 1951, and he later died at St. Barnabas Hospital in 1964 at the age of 92.

The papers of Winthrop John Van Leuven Osterhout (2 August 1871 – 9 April 1964) contain correspondence, drafts of papers, the manuscript of an unpublished book, and photographs. Osterhout's interest in the electrophysiology of plants is documented, as well as his professional career at the University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; and the Rockefeller Institute.

The bulk of the collection is arranged alphabetically by author. Materials created or collected by Osterhout are listed under his name and further organized by subject. Photographs are arranged by subject featured in the image, then in chronological order.

The earliest materials date from his undergraduate years at Brown University, as well as his time abroad in Germany, studying under Eduard Strasburger in Bonn (Box 5, 1 file, c. 5 letters, 1895 ). Later interactions with European scholars who visited the University of California, Berkeley campus include correspondence with Svante Arrhenius (Box 1, 27 letters, 1906-1924, mainly personal correspondence all from Arrhenius) and Hugo deVries (Box 1, 1902-1935, 15 letters, personal correspondence).

In particular, letters with Jacques Loeb provide insight into their friendship, Loeb's frustration with UC-Berkeley, and his influence on Osterhout's scientific research (Box 2, 1909-1922, 18 letters). Discussions between Osterhout and other university staff are reflected in letters with Edmund O'Neill of the Chemistry Department in 1910 (Box 2, 4 pages 1910), which contains information about various departments and larger political forces at work at the institution.

As for Osterhout's time at Harvard, his initial hire is discussed In a letter with Lawrence A. Lorrell at Harvard, July 1,1909, which includes an outline of Osterhout's job description and teaching requirements (Box 2, 1909-1928, 7 letters). For correspondence concerning Osterhout's scientific research, the following files provide the most documentation: (J. Reynold Green, Box 2, 2 letters, 1912-1913), (Dennis Robert Hoagland, Box 2, 2 letters, 1923-1936), (Hudson Hoagland, Box 2, 3 letters, 1940-1963), (John Jack Kirkwood, Box 2, 1942-1955, 5 letters) and (Walter Widerbrandt, Box 5, 3 letters, 1935-1958).

The overlap between Osterhout's work at the Rockefeller Institute and his ongoing interactions with former Harvard colleagues can be found among letters from George Howard Parker (Box 5, 50 letters, 1913-1956), Harlow Shapley (Box 5, 5 letters, 1928-1954) and William J. Crozier (Box 1, 9 letters, 1933-1955). Included are discussions concerning financial arrangements between the two organizations to create a new Biological Institute.

For Osterhout's direct work at the Rockefeller Institute, documentation can be found in Box 3, which include reports of the Division of General Physiology and research conducted between 1926 and1960. This box also contains a Rockefeller Institute Report on the Bermuda Laboratory (9 pages, 1925). The rest of Box 3 and part of Box 4 contain drafts of Osterhout's many publications, speeches, and some unpublished works, such as twenty-one chapters of an unpublished book. Materials relating to Osterhout's 70th, 80th, 90th, and 92nd birthday celebrations are also housed in this box.

For Osterhout's research about the penetration of electrolytes into the cells of algae, see his correspondence with collaborators Lewis Gibson Longsworth (Box 2, 4 letters, 1927) and W.M. Stanley (Box 5, 4 letters, 1937-1955), as well as Duncan MacInnes and Theodore Shedlovsky. Later topics from the Rockefeller years, such as Osterhout's failing eyesight, staff departures, and dissolution of the Bermuda laboratory are discussed in the Simon Flexner correspondence (Box 2, 200 letters, 1924-1940).

Photographs in the collection include representative images from Osterhout's work in Bermuda and Harvard, as well as a number of personal and family photographs. Images are arranged roughly in the following order: Osterhout portraits in chronological order; portraits of family, friends and coworkers; images of laboratories and equipment; and miscellaneous.

While there is not much documentation concerning Osterhout's professional associations, he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, serving on the Academy's Board of Directors for the Alexander Dallas Bache Fund (Box 3, NAS, 7 letters, 1963-1964). He was made a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1910, serving on the Committee of 100 for Scientific Research from 1925 (Box 1, AAAS, 10 letters, 1913-1958). He was also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and served as Chairman of a special program on Plant Chemistry in 1917 (Box 1, ACS,10 letters, 1917-1918).

While context can be determined for most of the materials in this collection, there is one item that contains great informational value, yet its purpose is unclear. It is a letter from William B. Brierly at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in England, which provides a detailed account of the institutional organization of the station and its subsidiaries (Box 1, dated November 1925). It refers to how the station was financed and how these finances were appropriated to the individual departments. It also detailed the hierarchical structures of the station and how and through whom disputes were dealt. Brierly then goes on to describe in greater detail his own department of Mycology. Why Osterhout requested this information is not known, it may be related to research for the Biological Institute at Harvard, which was the subject of much discussion with former colleagues (see letters with Parker, Shapley, and Crozier, as mentioned above).

Physical description

Ca. 2500 items, 3 linear feet.

Provenance

Presented by Marion Irwin Osterhout and accessioned, 12/--/1962 (1962 2280ms). Additional papers donated by Marion Irwin Osterhout and accessioned, 11/20/1968 (1868 2717ms).

Processing information

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note

The Osterhout Collection records the scientific career of Winthrop John Van Leuven Osterhout from the 1890s to the 1950s. The correspondence, drafts of papers, lectures, and photographs document significant trends in American life sciences. Having begun at the botany department at Brown University, Osterhout continued working in botany at Berkeley (where he completed his doctorate in 1899) on problems of cell division in plants. While a professor of botany at Harvard (1909-1924) he began his innovative research program on the physico-chemical properties of membranes and cytoplasm of algae cells. He expanded this program (related to neurophysiology) after succeeding his late mentor Jacques Loeb in 1924 as head of the physiology department at the Rockefeller Institute. During these years Osterhout was also associated with the marine laboratories in Pacific Grove, Woods Hole, and Bermuda, and with the Agassiz Museum; he was also a founding editor of the Journal of General Physiology. As his papers show, Osterhout's scientific path bridged two major intellectual traditions: the agricultural and the medical, linking studies in botany and zoology with the new discipline of general physiology. His research program also reflected the shift in emphasis from morphological to physico-chemical problems in physiology. Indeed, his studies at the Rockefeller Institute of membrane permeability and bio-electric phenomena merged important areas in biochemistry, biophysics, and physiology (especially neurophysiology), as is reflected in his correspondence with other leaders in these fields.

Svante Arrhenius received the Nobel Prize in 1903 for his studies of electrolytic dissociation in solutions, work which was on the borderland of physics and chemistry. Two years later he assumed the directorship of the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry, a post he held until his death. His proclivity for interdisciplinary topics led him to apply principles from physical chemistry to immunology and to advance theories of cosmology and the origin of life (Worlds in the Making, 1908). His broad scientific interests and his position in the Nobel Institute placed him at the center of international communities of physical and life scientists.

W. J. V. Osterhout met Arrhenius at Berkeley, where Arrhenius was a visiting professor shortly after being awarded the Nobel Prize. The friendship which developed between the two men is reflected in their correspondence.

• Harvard University
• Rockefeller Institute
• Rothamsted Experimental Station.
• University of California, Berkeley

• Manuscripts (for publication).
• Photoprints.

• Arrhenius, Svante, 1859-1927
• Blinks, L. R.
• Brierley, William B.
• Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975
• Burbank, Luther, 1849-1926
• Crozier, William John, 1892-1955
• Fenn, Wallace O.
• Flexner, Simon, 1863-1946
• Gasser, Herbert Spencer, 1888-
• Loeb, Jacques, 1859-1924
• Northrop, John Howard, 1891-1987
• Osterhout, W. J. V. (Winthrop John Van Leuven), 1871-1964
• Parker, George Howard, 1864-1955
• Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972
• Shedlovsky, Theodore, 1898-1976
• Strasburger, Eduard, 1844-1912
• Vries, Hugo de,1848-1935.
• Wheeler, Benjamin I. (Benjamin Ide), 1854-1927

• Agricultural experiment stations -- England.
• Electrophysiology of plants.
• Plant cells and tissues -- Electric properties.
• Plant physiology.
• Science publishing.