William Codman Sturgis Papers (PP)

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Biography of William Codman Sturgis

William Codman Sturgis (1862-1942) is best remembered for his collections and studies of the Myxomycetes, especially those of Colorado. He also studied plant pathology, forestry and mycology. Additionally, he had a long career as a lay educator within the Protestant Episcopal Church.

He was born in Boston, Mass. on November 15, 1862. He studied Botany at Harvard College, receiving his A.B. in 1884, A.M. in 1887 and his Ph.D. in 1889. His first position was as assistant in the Cryptogamic Laboratory at Harvard, followed by a position as vegetable pathologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and lecturer at the Yale School of Forestry(1891-1901). It was in Connecticut that he first became interested in the Myxomycetes. This interest was reinforced through a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Lister in England. A lifelong correspondence ensued. After Lister’s death, Sturgis continued to correspond with his daughter Gulielma Lister. He received many rare specimens, especially types materials for the many new species proposed by them.

From 1904-1917 he was Dean of the School of Forestry at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO. While in Colorado, Sturgis made extensive collections of Myxomycetes of the area, among which were several forms which he proposed as new species.

He moved to New York City in 1917 to assume the position of Educational Secretary of the Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church in New York. He held this position until 1927. From 1929-1931 he was a lecturer at the College of Preachers, Washington D. C. From 1934-1938 he served as warden at St. Martin’s House, Bernardsville, N. J.

Sturgis was married to the former Carolyn Hall. They had four children, Norman, Alanson, Margaret (Mrs. John W. Suter), and Julie. He died at their winter home in New York City on September 29, 1942.

Scope and Content

The collection documents the myomycete collections and professional correspondence of William Codman Sturgis. It contains notebooks, watercolors and correspondence. The collection is arranged into two series.

Restrictions

Access restrictions

This collection is open for research with permission from Mertz Library staff.

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

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William Codman Sturgis Collection

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

William Codman Sturgis Papers (PP), Archives, The New York Botanical Garden.

Acquisition Information

The William Codman Sturgis Papers was acquired with the purchase of his 3200 myomycete collections by the New York Botanical Garden on April 26, 1938 on the recommendation of Robert Hagelstein, Honorary Curator of Myxomycetes at the New York Botanical Garden. The addition of Sturgis’s 3200 collections, his notes, drawings and correspondence to the Ellis and Hagelstein Myxomycetes established the New York Botanical Garden as the largest such collection in North America and one of the important collections in the world.

Processing Information

Originally processed by Laura Zelasnic, Project Archivist, June 1999, with grant funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities. (NEH-PA 23141-98). Converted to EAD in August 2006 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH-PA 50678-04).

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