Virginia Academy of Science Records Virginia Academy of Science Records, 1920-2005 Ms.1981.096

Virginia Academy of Science Records, 1920-2005 Ms.1981.096


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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech

Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Business Number: 540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu

Gina Ellis, Student Assistant, Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, and Special Collections Staff

Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Identification
Ms.1981.096
Title
Virginia Academy of Science Records 1920-2005
Quantity
68.6 Cubic Feet, 49 boxes and 2 oversize folders
Creator
Virginia Academy of Science
Location
Please note: Boxes 1-49 are located in off-site storage and require 2-3 days notices for retrieval. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.
Language
The materials in the collection are in English.
Abstract
The Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) Records includes VAS publications dating from 1939-2004 and also includes manuscript and published versions of various Academy histories. The Academy Archives also includes correspondence, report, and minutes of section and of ad hoc and standing committees, annual financial statements, photographs and clippings, by-laws, and constitutions, records of special projects such as the visiting scientists program (supported by National Science Foundation grants), the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research and the Virginia Museum of Science.

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Virginia Academy of Science Records, Ms1981-096, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Virginia Academy of Science Records deposited in Special Collections are largely the result of the preservation of the records by the individual officers, section heads, and committee chairs. Throughout the Academy's history these records have been stored in various places around the state. Their being brought together in 1981 in one location is largely the work of the VAS Archives Committee under the leadership of Dr. Boyd Harshbarger. Donations have been made continuously since that time by the Academy and individual members.

Additional donations are expected in the future.

Processing Information

The collection was reorganized, and recent donations incorporated, from September 1998 to March 1999, by Gina Ellis, student assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator. Additional donations were processed in 2010, 2013, and 2015.


Administrative History

In 1923, one hundred and thirty-five scientists chartered the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) and held their first annual VAS meeting in Williamsburg on April 26th. The Academy has continued to meet annually since then (except during World War II), bringing together scientists from every field throughout the state.

The VAS has also published numerous works and serials, including the first VAS journal Claytonia (1934-1939), followed by the Virginia Journal of Science (1940-1943) and the Virginia Journal of Science, New Series (VJS, 1950-present). The Journal often focuses on special topics such as the issue which was devoted to the 1964 Virginia Symposium on Human Resources (held during the annual VAS conference); "Early Virginia," articles on scientific and cultural development in Virginia, was especially reprinted for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1957; and in 1969 the VJS carried a series of articles on Virginia's Dismal Swamp area. The Publications Committee records show that the Dismal Swamp series was the culmination of the work of many Academy members who had originally hoped for a separate work to be published like the James River Basin study. The Flora Committee of the Botany Section also periodically publishes a newsletter which became known as Jeffersonia in 1980.

Scope and Content

The Virginia Academy of Science Records includes VAS publications dating from 1939-present. These include such in-house works as Review of the First Ten Years of the Research Committee (1939), Announcement and a Challenge (1946?), and the Future (1950). The Academy has also published periodicals throughout its history. Claytonia was the first VAS journal (1934-1939), followed by the Virginia Journal of Science (1940-1943) and the Virginia Journal of Science, New Series (VJS, 1950-present). The Flora Committee of the Botany Section also periodically publishes a newsletter which became known as Jeffersonia in 1980; the records contain only scattered issues (11) from 1969-1970, 1980. The Academy Records also has copies of directories, brochures, and membership fliers which the VAS has published since about 1946.

The VAS Records also includes manuscript and published versions of various Academy histories; especially interesting are the early versions by Ivey Foreman Lewis (first VAS president) and E. C. L. Miller. The collection contains quite extensive records of the work of Isabel Boggs and George Jeffers to coordinate the efforts of members to record the Academy's past as well as the resulting master's thesis of Harry J. Staggers, History of the Virginia Academy of Science, 1925-1927 (College of William and Mary, 1966). This history of the VAS appeared in the Winter 1968 issue of the Virginia Journal of Science and in Spring 1973 the Journal carried the more recent VAS history, 1948-1972, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Virginia Academy of Science charter.

The early records of the Academy can be attributed largely to the efforts of E. C. L. Miller who was the only officer (secretary and treasurer) to serve continuously, 1924-1949. During these years, he corresponded widely for the entire Academy, maintained committee reports, compiled the yearly programs, and saw that formal records were published annually in the Proceedings . The strength of the VAS Records lies largely in the historic intuition of such officers, section heads, or committee chairs who maintained the files. Some files are much more complete than others. The early records of the Research Committee, for example, contain applications, papers submitted for consideration for the annual award, and records of the efforts of J. Shelton Horsley to raise an endowment to support these awards, which were later named in his honor. More recent files are limited to minutes and annual reports. The Geology Section has perhaps the most complete set of records of section activities, especially during the leadership of William M. McGill. The activities of other committees and sections are often preserved in the Council's records, however, while the Proceedings through 1966 and/or the annual meeting files often contain reports of committees and sections.

The Academy Records also includes correspondence, report, and minutes of section and of ad hoc and standing committees, annual financial statements, photographs and clippings, by-laws, and constitutions, records of special projects such as the visiting scientists program (supported by National Science Foundation grants), the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research and the Virginia Museum of Science.

Arrangement

The records of the Virginia Academy of Science have primarily been arranged in chronological order by year, then by the principal officers who maintained large quantities of records, and by the scientific sections and committees whose records have survived.

Boxes 1-20 are arranged chronologically by subject files. Boxes 26 and 28-36 contain VAS papers arranged chronologically by creator/collector. Boxes 37-38 are arranged by material type.

Boxes 21-25, 27, and 39-40 contain publications arranged chronologically by title.

Boxes 41-49 are in their original order.

Subjects and Indexing Terms


Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Virginia Academy of Science Records by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).

Container List

box 1
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1920-1938
box 2
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1938-1943
box 3
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1944-1950
box 4
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1949-1976
box 5
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1953-1969
box 6
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1960-1964
box 7
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1963-1966
box 8
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1965-1967
box 9
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1966-1968
box 10
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1968-1970
box 11
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1969-1971
box 12
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1970-1973
box 13
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1972-1975
box 14
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1974-1976
box 15
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1975-1978
box 16
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1977-1980
box 17
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1979-1982
box 18
Administrative Files
1981-1983
box 19
Administrative Files
1983-1991
box 20
Administrative Files and Correspondence
1990-1997, n.d.
box 21
Publications
1923-1966
box 22
Publications
1967-2005
box 23
Publications
1940-1972
box 24
Publications
1925-1987
box 25
Publications
1923-1950
box 26
Memorabilia
1994-1996
box 27
Bound Publications
1938-1976
box 28
Ledgers
1966, 1970
box 29
Arthur W. Burke Papers
1973-1975
box 30
Arthur W. Burke Papers
1975-1978
box 31
Donald G. Cochran Papers
1971-1980
box 32
Boyd Harshbarger Papers
1957-1969
box 33
Boyd Harshbarger Papers
1969-1984, n.d.
box 34
Edgar V. Russell Papers
1941-1971, n.d.
box 35
W. E. Trout Papers
1937-1978
box 36
E. L. Wisman Papers
1973-1974
Administrative Files
1984-1995
Administrative Files
1948-1999, n.d.
box 39
Publications
box 40
Publications
James P. O'Brien Papers
Golde I. Holtzman Papers
1986-1999
Administrative Reports
1959-1998
R. Dean Decker Papers
1995-2001
William Banks Papers
1986-1987
Harold G. Marshall Papers
1997-1998
Administrative Files
1964-1992
Publications
2011-2015
folder 1
Oversize materials
folder 2
Certificate from George Allen