Descriptive Entry

Roy S. Clarke, Jr., Curator Emeritus, Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), is an authority on meteorites. This accession consists of materials created and collected by Clarke documenting research on the Port Orford Meteorite. Materials include correspondence, drafts, manuscripts, and notes of Clarke; correspondence, drafts, notes, and publications of Erwin F. Lange, a professor at Portland State College, who also was interested in the origin of the Port Orford Meteorite; and collected research materials of Howard Plotkin on the Port Orford Meteorite. The research of Clark and Plotkin was eventually published in "The Port Orford, Oregon Meteorite Mystery," Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences, no. 31. Also included are a few letters of George P. Merrill, William F. Foshag, and Harvey Harlow Nininger dating from 1929. Some materials are in electronic format.