Descriptive Entry
These records primarily document the operation of the Department of Botany under Head Curators Ellsworth Paine Killip, 1947-1950, and Jason Richard Swallen, 1950-1964, and Chairmen William L. Stern, 1965-1967, Mason E. Hale, Jr., 1967-1970, Edward S. Ayensu, Dieter C. Wasshausen, Mark M. Littler, and Laurence E. Skog. Records created prior to the formation of the Department of Botany in 1947 are those of its predecessor, the Division of Plants. They include incoming and outgoing correspondence with United States and foreign botanists, curators of museums and herbaria, Smithsonian staff, and botanical collectors concerning the identification, acquisition, loan, and exchange of specimens; research and publications; professional affairs; and administrative matters.
Also included are administrative and program files concerning collection management, exhibitions, space and facilities, budget and fiscal matters, grant proposals, and departmental reviews; correspondence documenting Hale's field work in Antarctica, 1981; records concerning the death of E. Yale Dawson in 1966; records and audio tapes from memorial services for Hale, Thomas R. Soderstrom, and Richard H. Eyde; annual reports, circa 1960-1989; plans of operations, circa 1950-1960; and records of the Department's Herbarium Services Unit, 1970-1980, which mostly concern collection management and the identification of specimens.
