Records of the Herbarium Office (RG4)

The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. © 2005; 2006.

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Historical Note:

An 1896 agreement between the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) and the Trustees of Columbia University made it possible to deposit, on permanent loan, the large and historic Columbia College (University) Herbarium at the NYBG. The Columbia College Herbarium was begun in the early 19th century and included the historically significant private herbarium of Dr. John Torrey, which included specimens from many early explorations of the United States. The collections contained over 400,000 specimens at the time of the transfer and included the collections of Professor F. Meisner of Basle, Switzerland, A.W. Chapman of Apalachicola, Florida, the mosses and hepatics accumulated by C. F. Austin, and the famous collection of mosses by Dr. J.G. Jaeger of Switzerland.

As the NYBG Museum building neared completion in 1899, the accumulation of mounted herbarium specimens was moved from temporary offices into newly installed oak herbarium cases. During the early years, the herbaria of the College of Pharmacy of Columbia College, consisting of the collections of Alphonso Wood, W.M. Canby, and Henry Hurd Rusby and those of Princeton University and Hunter College were added. The Garden's herbarium incorporated the J.B Ellis collection, at the time the largest accumulation of fungi in American, as well as the John J. Crooke herbarium of North American and West Indian plants, the F.M. Hexamer herbarium of European and North American plants, the H.E. Hasse herbarium of plants from North America, Greenland and Mexico, and the Per Axel Rydberg herbarium of specimens from the Sweden and the Rocky Mountain region.

Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton, the first Director in Chief, and his associates, continually secured new collections from all parts of the world by either exploration or exchange, and the collections continued to grow under the direction and leadership of the Head Curators and other herbarium administrators. In 1944, Bassett Maguire inaugurated a landmark exploration program in Venezuela and the Guianas, where he made extensive collections for the next 30 years. In 1964, Ghillean Prance began the garden's program in the Brazilian Amazon, which continued until 1988. Exploration programs continue to this day and Garden scientists have led more than 800 expeditions to botanically unknown areas, mainly to the West Indies, the United States, northern South America, especially Brazil, the Guyana Highland area, and the Andes.

As one of the nations largest herbaria, the NYBG has a responsibility to rescue the smaller herbaria being abandoned by many universities, and to make these valuable specimens available for taxonomic research throughout the world. Orphaned herbaria collections are added to the Herbarium, as they are available, continually strengthening the scope and breadth of the collections.

The collections continue to grow by acquisition of exchange specimens and collecting activity of current staff. The geographical emphasis has always been on the flora and mycota of the New World. The collections of vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, lichens and algae are among the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Scope and Content

The herbarium records were organized as a central file for routine Herbarium activities, from the inception of the herbarium to 1997. Large gaps in the files exist, but additional administrative papers of the Herbarium may be found within the records or papers of individuals who served in an administrative capacity. The records encompass the work of various head curators and administrators as well as curatorial and other herbarium staff, including Richard Cowan, Arthur Cronquist, Patricia Holmgren, Avery Howe, Henry Allan Gleason, Howard Irwin, David Keck, Frank McKeever, Bassett Maguire, Harold Moldenke, Joseph Monochino, Iain Prance, David Rogers, Clark Rogerson, Fred Jay Seaver, Albert Charles Smith, William Steere, Gustav Ludwig Wittrock and John J. Wurdack.

These records consist of incoming and outgoing correspondence pertaining to business matters, travel, botanical exploration, and taxonomy and; records regarding the overall operations and policies of the herbarium; minutes of meetings; internal staff memorandum; requests for identifications, and general botanical information; documentation of specimens offered for sale, purchase, or received from collectors affiliated with, or sponsored by the NYBG; annual reports; personnel files; and grant applications.

In September 2000, Dr. Patricia Holmgren retired her position as Director of the Herbarium. Her records have been transferred to the archives but not yet included in this guide.

Restrictions

Access restrictions

This collection is open for research with permission from Mertz Library staff, with the exception of Series 4: Personnel records (Staff and graduate students). 1959-1973.

Copyright

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be submitted in writing to the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical Garden.

Related Material

The New York Botanical Garden

RG2--Records of the Board of Managers

RG3--Records of the Chief Executive Officers

RG4--Records of Nathaniel Lord Britton

RG4--Records of Arthur Cronquist

RG4--Records of Bassett Maguire

RG4--Records of Ghillean Prance

RG4--Records of Fred Seaver

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Records of the Herbarium Office (RG4), Archives, The New York Botanical Garden.

Acquisition Information

This collection was transferred to the New York Botanical Garden Archives.

Processing Information

Originally processed by Susan Fraser, Head, Information Services, NYBG Archivist. February 2000, with grant funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities. (NEH-PA 23141-98). Converted to EAD in October 2006 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH-PA 50678-04).

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