Arrangement

Indexing Terms

Series 1. Correspondence

Scope and Content:

There are 10 boxes of correspondence files identified by individual, organization, and subject. One sequence (see Box #4, #5, and #6), entitled "General Correspondence" includes 30 files from the period 1938 to 1949; 6 files from 1940; and 9 files from 1952 to 1957. These are organized alphabetically within each chronological period. Notable correspondents are Henry F. Du Pont, Rene d'Harnoncourt (UNESCO), Blanche Hooker, Frank Kingdon-Ward, Robert Moses, Kenneth Raper, Jonas Salk, and R.Gordon Wasson. Subjects include antibiotics, cultures, General Electric "Science Forum" radio broadcasts (1940), Kingdon-Ward's expeditions to Nyasaland (1947) and India/Burma (1948-49), research for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, and a worldwide search for cortisone-bearing plants in the genus Strophantus

Series 2. American Philosophical Society.

Scope and Content:

Dr. Robbins was president of the American Philosophical Society, 1956-59. This series contains 32 files of correspondence and papers relating to his administration of committees and programs. These include the Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Committee on Research, a research grant to E. J. Alexander to complete John Kunkel Small's unfinished Manual of the South Central Flora, the construction of a library building, and the Michaux Fund. Robbins was also involved in planning a commemorative event in 1959 for the 100th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and extended an invitation to Sir Charles Darwin, the author's grandson, as a speaker for the occasion.

Series 3. Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.

Scope and Content:

As Board of Directors member Robbins directed the activities of the Boyce Thompson Institute's Scientific Advisory Committee. There are 18 files of correspondence, minutes, and reports. One file pertains to a search for a successor to Boyce Thompson's director, Dr. William Crocker, in 1948.

Series 4. Fairchild Tropical Garden.

Scope and Content:

As president of the Fairchild Tropical Garden Robbins was involved in all aspects of the direction and progress of the institution. There are 30 files of correspondence and institutional records. Twelve general correspondence files (1940-78) are arranged chronologically. The material includes correspondence with officers and benefactors of the garden, including founder Dr. David Fairchild and director John Popenoe.

Series 5. Japan Scientific Advisory Group.

Scope and Content:

There are 33 files of presentation material and reports used by Robbins as a member of a Scientific Advisory Mission to Japan in 1947 organized by the National Academy of Sciences to assist the rehabilitation of scientific and educational institutions in post-war Japan. Included are prospectuses on the history, faculty, and curricula of major universities; status/progress reports of governmental entities; and records of scientific activities of private research laboratories. There are also reports from the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers to the Imperial Japanese Government and to the Japan National Research Council, some with Robbins' annotations.

Series 6. Research Papers.

Scope and Content:

This series consists of 7 boxes of notes and records of experiments and research findings. Subject matter includes antibiotics and their action, cultures, plant morphology and biochemistry, floral and fungal growth, pathogens, chemical derivatives, and a variety of botanical topics. There are written notes, tables, lists, graphs, chemical formulae and processes, lab procedures, annotated reprints, photographs, and correspondence. Robbins received inocula for experimental cultures from his associates and subsequently named several series of experiments for these individuals. These include Baxter, Cardoso, Davidson, Gray, Jackson, Lopes, Nobles, Whetzel, White, and Wilkins series. Additional information may be found in related correspondence files and laboratory notebooks under these names.

The research records fall into the following categories: (a) species of organism; (b) plant physiology and biochemistry; (c) plant forms and functions; (d) named culture experiment series, (as above); (d) named and/or numbered experiments; (e) laboratory methods and procedures; and (f) bibliographic notes. See also Series 7: Abstracts; Series 8: Laboratory Notebooks; Series 9: Manuscripts & Typescripts; and the photographic media for related information. Also included is Robbins' personal, annotated copy of Asa Gray's Flowering Plants and Ferns.

Series 7. Abstracts.

Scope and Content:

Robbins compiled a series of abstracts of the botanical and biological literature pertinent to his research. Each abstract entry cites name, title, date, and publication together with Robbins' summaries and annotations. There are 73 files of abstracts arranged by research topic.

Series 8. Laboratory Notebooks.

Scope and Content:

There are 187 laboratory notebooks containing detailed records of laboratory research conducted over the course of Dr. Robbins' career. Some notebooks were created and maintained by students or associates under his direction. Records of Annette Hervey and Frederick Kavanaugh appear in notebooks associated with their published articles. Robbins titled and numbered the notebooks using Roman numerals. In some cases dating is absent or experiments from disparate years appear in a single notebook. These records document the conditions, progress, status, and findings of laboratory experiments. Data in the notebooks include experimental conditions, tables, graphs, lists, charts, and summaries. In some cases, photographs and correspondence are attached within, e.g. see "Potato Factor Z, Book II" (Box #34) for correspondence with George W. Beadle, 20 February 1942.

Series 9. Manuscripts & Typescripts.

Scope and Content:

There are 70 files of manuscripts and typescripts of published articles. In some cases, research notes and annotated reprints are attached. Four files consist of notes for speeches and conference presentations and one for a radio talk. Most of the material relates to research findings, and some with subjects of botanical history. There is a small selection of manuscripts of other authors including two by Dr. Robbins' wife, Christine Chapman Robbins.

Series 10. Research Grants.

Scope and Content:

There are 6 files of applications, correspondence, and reports on grants from the National Science Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation. Information on grants may also be found in the correspondence, especially that of the American Philosophical Society and the Rockefeller Foundation and Institute.

Series 11. NYBG Administration.

Scope and Content:

There are 7 files pertaining to administrative activities, including NYBG Planning Committee and staff publications.

Series 12. Certificates & Awards.

Scope and Content:

There are four items: National Victory Garden Institute award (1943), National Academy of Sciences certificate of delegation for International Botanical Congress VIII (1954), Certificate of Merit, Botanical Society of America (1956), and NYBG Distinguished Service Award (1959).

Series 13. Photography.

Scope and Content:

There are 14 boxes of photographs of cultures and laboratory subjects that supplement the research record (see Series 6). Major subjects include Acacia, Bryophyllum, Coleus, Hedera, dermatophytes, Drosophila, Euglena, Morchella, Penicillium, Phycomyces, Polyporus, Poria, Stereum, Tomato roots, Trichophyton, and various species of fungi. Photographs are cross-referenced with corresponding negatives. There are some microphotographs of microscopic organisms as well as portraits of Dr. Robbins and colleagues.

Series 14. Negatives.

Scope and Content:

There are 19 boxes of photo negatives that correspond to the photographic record as described in Series 13. Negatives are cross-referenced with positive prints where applicable.

Series 15. Lantern Slides.

Scope and Content:

There are 31 boxes of lantern slides largely duplicating the photo record of Series 13 see above. There is also a sequence on topophysis and on Robbins' trip to Japan in 1947.

Series 16. Reprints.

Scope and Content:

This series consists of Robbins' and his colleagues' reprints collected in four bound presentation volumes titled Operae Laboratorii Horti Noveboraci e Conlegio Robbinsii. Robbinsiaceae presented to him on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 28 February 1980.