Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection bears no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Martha K. Roane Papers, Accession 10553-ac, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the University of Virginia Library by Martha K. Roane 's husband, Curtis Roane , Blacksburg, Virginia , on May 27, 1997 .

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the papers of Dr. Martha K. Roane (1921-1996), retired Adjunct Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, and member of the American Rhododendron Society , Middle Atlantic Chapter, ca. 1901-1989, containing 740 items (4 Hollinger boxes, 1.5 linear shelf feet), pertaining to her study of rhododendrons, and containing manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, negatives and photographs of microscopic views of rhododendrons, news clippings, and electrostatic copies of printed journal articles. The earliest dated materials are copies of articles and monographs about rhododendron research by leading experts in the field.

There are also individual files on publication by Martha K. Roane concerning rhododendrons which include: "Chromosome Numbers for Ericaceae in Virginia , " Compendium of Rhododendron & Azalea Diseases , "The Ericales of Virginia , " "The Lycopodiums -Running Pine, Ground Cedar and Other Club Mosses" in The Virginia Explorer , "Native American Rhododendrons: A Botanical Treasure," "A Revision of Kalmia, Menziesia, and Rhododendron in Virginia " and "The Species of Rhododendron Native to North America . " Other notable files include one with general correspondence about rhododendrons; the American Rhododendron Society Meeting in 1988; Diseases of Rhododendron and Azalea Slide Set Syllabus file; a miscellaneous papers file containing a vita for Roane, a copy of the notice of her death in the Mid-Atlantic Rhododendron News and Notes , news clippings, organizational bulletins, and a press release regarding the publication of a monograph on Chestnut Blight by Roane and two other researchers; and two folders of correspondence between Martha K. Roane and Miss Josephine de N. Henry of the Henry Foundation for Botanical Research , who co-authored "The Species of Rhododendron Native to North America" with Roane.

Martha Ann Kotila Roane (1921-1996) was born in Munising, Michigan , to John Ernest Kotila (1893-1951), who was also a plant pathologist, and Matha Olsen Kotila (d.1941). She attended Michigan State University (1940-1944, B.S.), the University of Minnesota (1945-1946, M.S.), the University of Michigan (1946-1947, graduate studies), and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1968-1971, Ph.D.). Roane taught mathematics at both Radford College and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from 1956-1968, and biology, botany, and plant pathology at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from 1970 until her retirement.

She was a member of the American Phytopathological Society , the Mycological Society of America , the American Rhododendron Society , the Virginia Academy of Science , Botany Section, and lists her major areas of interests as the taxonomy of higher plants (Ericaceae, especially rhododendron) and fungi (plant pathogenic fungi, especially endothia).