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Department of Biology Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The study of biology began at the College of New Jersey with the appointment in 1830 of botanist John Torrey into a part-time faculty position; it expanded with the formation of the School of Science in the 1870s; and was established as a department in 1904. Four years after the department was formed under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson and William Berryman Scott, Blair Professor of Geology, Edwin Grant Conklin was appointed as the first full-time chair of the department. With the completion of Guyot Hall in 1910, the Department of Biology was given an official home, which it soon outgrew after a period of rapid growth. In 1960 the Moffett Laboratory was added to the building, and a biology library was formed soon after. Over the years the course of study offered by the Department of Biology has changed frequently to reflect advances in the field and the particular strengths of faculty, and in 1990 the Department was divided into the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and the Department of Molecular Biology.
The collection primarily consists of the records of the Department of Biology assembled during the tenures of Department Chairmen Edwin G. Conklin and Elmer Butler. Included are correspondence, general subject files, and records pertaining to grants, research endowments, publications, and administrative matters such as budgets and staffing. Also includes sponsored research reports and student grade cards. A group of photographs was added to the collection in 2021.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
There is no processing information for this collection prior to 2021. Series 5, Photographs, was added in 2021 by Phoebe Nobles. Series 6, Molecular Biology Department Records, was added in 2022 by Phoebe Nobles.
People
Organization
- Princeton University. Dept. of Biology
- Princeton University. Dept. of Biology Faculty.
- Princeton University. Dept. of Biology.
Subject
- Biology -- Research -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Biology -- Research grants
- Biology -- Study and teaching -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Biology -- Study and teaching (Graduate) -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Scientific research -- Endowments
- Research grants -- New Jersey -- Princeton
- Universities and colleges -- New Jersey -- Princeton -- Departments
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Date
- 2001
- Access Restrictions
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Records are closed for 30 years from the date of their creation. Materials older than 30 years that do not pertain to student academic performance, trustee issues, or faculty personnel matters are open.
Series 4 Grade Cards, are restricted for 75 years from the date of their creation. Series 5, Photographs, are open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. For instances beyond Fair Use, if copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of materials from the Princeton University Archives.
For instances beyond Fair Use where the copyright is not held by the University, while permission from the Library is not required, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
The order of the materials at the time of transfer has been maintained.
Consists of Edward G. Conklin records and correspondence.
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The order of the materials at the time of transfer has been maintained.
Consists of Elmer Butler files.
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Includes faculty research reports from 1970/71 to 1980/81 and a notebook of abstracts for grants, 1969-1972.
The order of the materials at the time of transfer has been maintained.
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Undergradate and graduate student grade cards with information about Biology Deparment and other science coursework.
The order of the materials at the time of transfer has been maintained.
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Include senior thesis and junior paper titles.
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Photographs arrived without a coherent order, mixed in a box. Many had been stored in interoffice folders, and those were replaced with folders during processing.
Photographs are primarily of faculty Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, as well as some photographs of graduate students, field trips, research interests and subjects (plants, animals, microorganisms), diagrams and the occasional campus building. Many seem to have been used for the purposes of printing newsletters and brochures, and are marked up and/or duplicated for such use. The box contains a mix of older material (photographs of faculty of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) and somewhat more recent material dating from the 1960s to the 1990s, with the bulk probably originating in the 1980s-1990s. The box also contains two small cases of metal instruments, one labeled as being John Bonner's.
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Includes information on faculty, graduate and undergraduate programs, course assignments, postdoctoral fellows, core facilites, and a financial review.
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Nominations for the Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year Award.
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