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Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7235

Wilson, Charles Branch, 1861-1941

Charles Branch Wilson Papers, 1881-1941 and undated

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Wilson, Charles Branch, 1861-1941
Title:Charles Branch Wilson Papers
Dates:1881-1941 and undated
Quantity:6.34 cu. ft. (6 document boxes) (2 half document boxes) (4 16x20 boxes) (1 oversize folder)
Collection:Record Unit 7235
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These papers consist of incoming correspondence of Wilson, 1901-1941; research material, manuscripts, and miscellaneous writings, 1894-1941 and undated; and photographs of Jamaica taken while Wilson worked at the Johns Hopkins University marine laboratory at Port Antonio, 1897.

Historical Note

Charles Branch Wilson (1861-1941) was born in Exeter, Maine. He received his A.B. and A.M. degrees from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and the Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1910. While completing his A.M., Wilson worked as a tutor in Botany at Colby. In 1891, he was appointed Professor of Science at the State Normal School, Gorham, Maine. He became Professor of Natural Science at the State Normal School, Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1896 and the following year was made Professor of Biology and the Head of the Science Department. Wilson held the positions at Westfield until his retirement in 1932.

Wilson participated in several biological field trips during his career. He spent the summer of 1897 working at the Johns Hopkins University marine laboratory at Port Antonio, Jamaica. During the summer of 1899, Wilson worked at the United States Fish Commission's laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he undertook the investigation of parasitic copepods found in common foodfish. This began a long association between Wilson and the Fish Commission and its successor, the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Other work under the auspices of the Bureau of Fisheries included an economic survey of Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana, in 1906; a survey of the fresh water mussels indigenous to the Mississippi River, 1907; and economic surveys of the Maumee River in 1908, the Kankakee River in 1909, and the Cumberland River in 1911. In 1912, he made a similar survey of the lakes of northern Minnesota. From 1913 to 1923, he served as an economic investigator for the Bureau of Fisheries at Fairport, Iowa. Wilson assisted in an economic survey of Lake Erie for New York State during 1928 and 1929.

Wilson's main zoological interest was the study of free swimming and parasitic copepods. His association with the United States National Museum (USNM) began in February 1901 when the entire USNM collection of parasitic copepods was turned over to him for identification. In recognition of his work on the USNM collections, Wilson was made Honorary Collaborator in Copepoda in 1933. His bibliography numbered more than 85 titles, with three of his major works being published posthumously. His most important work concerned the copepods collected by the Carnegie Institution's non-magnetic yacht, Carnegie, in 1928 and 1929. The study, for the first time in the history of oceanography, gave the directly comparable results of simultaneous three-level tows made in all oceans with identical gear, accompanied by full station data, including temperature, salinity, density, phosphates and hydrogen ion concentration.

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Descriptive Entry

These papers consist of incoming correspondence of Wilson, 1901-1941; research material, manuscripts, and miscellaneous writings, 1894-1941 and undated; and photographs of Jamaica taken while Wilson worked at the Johns Hopkins University marine laboratory at Port Antonio, 1897.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7235, Charles Branch Wilson Papers

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Container List

Series 1

INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE, 1901-1941. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

This series consists of incoming correspondence of Charles Branch Wilson, 1901-1941. Correspondents include domestic and foreign naturalists and marine biologists; United States National Museum and United States Bureau of Fisheries administrators and staff; family members, and friends. The correspondence concerns the identification of free swimming and parasitic copepods; the publication of scientific monographs; and Wilson's field work for the United States Bureau of Fisheries (see under Barton Warren Evermann). Also included are shipping invoices for specimens sent to Wilson by the United States National Museum.

Box 1

Folder 1 Abbot-Atkinson. Correspondents include Charles G. Abbot, 1934-1935, 1941; Edmund A. Andrews, 1931-1937; Roy Chapman Andrews, 1914.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 2 Bailliere-Baylis. Correspondents include Paul Bartsch, 1919-1920, 1934; H. A. Baylis, 1915.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 3 Bean-Bere. Correspondents include Tarleton Hoffman Bean, 1908-1909; William Beebe, 1923, 1934, 1937, 1941; Ruby Bere, 1928-1938.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 4 Bieala-Byers. Correspondents include Henry Bryant Bigelow, 1921, 1936; Charles Henry Blake, 1928; Rolf Ling Bolin, 1937-1938; Alexandre Brian, 1908, 1913-1915, 1918, 1926-1927, 1936; William Bridges, 1936.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 5 Calman-Clayton. Correspondents include George Clifford Carl, 1935-1936; Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1930-1933; Casimir Cepede, 1909, 1915; Fenner A. Chace, Jr., 1935-1940; Austin H. Clark, 1918; Frances Naomi Clark, 1934-1935; George Leonard Clarke, 1934-1935; Lillian E. Clayton, 1932-1937.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 6 Cobb-Cunnington. Correspondents include Robert Ervin Coker, 1914-1915, 1918, 1932-1936; Gerald P. Cooper, 1941; Ergasto H. Cordero, 1928-1929; Ira E. Cornwall, 1926; Rheinart Parker Cowles, 1921-1923, 1930; Guy Chester Crampton, 1924; W. A. Cunnington, 1914-1915, 1920, 1936.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 7 Dahlgren-Duck. Correspondents include Ulric Dahlgren, 1927, 1932-1935, 1939; William A. Dill, 1931.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 8 Edmondson-Ewers. Correspondents include Charles Howard Edmondson, 1923, 1940; Barton Warren Evermann, 1906-1913.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 9 Fall-Fysche. Correspondents include Charles John Fish, 1923, 1929-1933.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 10 Galtsoff-Gurney. Correspondents include Charles Henry Gilbert, 1906-1908, 1911, 1916; Harry Carr Godsil, 1933, 1940; Caswell Grave, 1902, 1905-1906; George M. Gray, 1920, 1924; Peter Gray, 1926, 1933, 1938; Robert Gurney, 1927-1929, 1932, 1934.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 11 Hall-Hurlbut. Correspondents include John Lawson Hart, 1927-1928; Arthur Wilbur Henn, 1922-1925; George William Hunter, III, 1928-1929, 1940; Wanda Sanborn Hunter, 1930; Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman, 1920-1923, 1926, 1934-1936; Herbert S. Hurlbut, 1937.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 12 Ibbotson-Just. Correspondents include Arthur Paul Jacot, 1918-1922, 1929, 1937; P. Jespersell, 1932-1934, 1938; Fritz Johansen, 1917-1926; Chancey Juday, 1908, 1925-1926, 1931; Theodore Just, 1935-1936.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 13 Kane-Krull. Correspondents include Clarence Hamilton Kennedy, 1920, 1924, 1935-1936; Taku Komai, 1935-1936; Sidney Isaac Kornhauser, 1936-1937.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 14 Langlois-Lynch. Correspondents include W. H. Leigh-Sharpe, 1916, 1924-1929, 1934-1935; Alexander Henry Leim, 1921-1924, 1927, 1935-1936; Sol Felty Light, 1932-1938; Edwin Linton, 1906.

Box 1 of 12

Folder 15 MacCollum-Markewich. Correspondents include Jesse Francis McClendon, undated; George Eber MacGinitie, 1926-1927, 1930-1937; Harold W. Manter, 1932-1937.

Box 1 of 12

Box 2

Folder 1 Medcof-Myers. Correspondents include Otis Lloyd Meehan, 1935-1940; Ida M. Mellen, 1918, 1922; Roy Waldo Miner, 1918-1923, 1928.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 2 Needham-Norton. Correspondents include Albert George Nicholls, 1935-1937.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 3 Oakley-Osburn. Correspondents include T. Odhner, 1919-1922.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 4 Pack-Pruvot. Correspondents include Albert Eide Parr, 1932; Arthur Sperry Pearse, 1918, 1921, 1929-1935, 1940; Robert W. Pennak, 1937-1938, 1941; Earle Bryant Perkins, 1935-1936; Henry Sherring Pratt, 1931-1934; George Prefontaine, 1933-1934.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 5 Quidor-Russell. Correspondents include A. Quidor, 1913, 1933; Lewis Radcliffe, 1916, 1931; Mary Jane Rathbun, 1903, 1907-1908, 1913, 1931, 1935, 1937; Richard Rathbun, 1901-1905, 1908; Jacob Ellsworth Reighard, 1902-1903; E. F. Ricketts, 1925, 1928, 1935; William Emerson Ritter, 1901, 1907.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 6 Salter-Schmidt.

Box 2 of 12

Folders 7-10 Schmitt, Waldo LaSalle, 1921-1941 and undated.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 11 Schneider-Surber. Correspondents include William Charles Schroeder, 1927, 1936, 1940; Andrew Scott, 1909, 1915, 1929; Leo Shapovalov, 1937; Clarence R. Shoemaker, 1926-1927, 1931-1941; Hugh McCormick Smith, 1902, 1920-1926; Knud Stephenson, 1919-1920, 1925, 1929-1936.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 12 Tanaka-Tressler. Correspondents include George W. Taylor, 1908-1909; Sister M. Theodosia, 1940; William Francis Thompson, 1914-1915, 1919.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 13 United States National Museum. Shipping Invoices, 1905-1941.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 14 Van Cleave-Vroschke. Correspondents include Harley Jones Van Cleave, 1919-1920, 1928, 1937; Willard G. Van Name, 1936; Deogracias V. Villodolid, 1925-1927, 1931.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 15 Wade-Wu. Correspondents include Owen Leighton Williams, 1935; L. A. Williamson, 1906-1907; Stillman Wright, 1927-1929, 1932, 1935-1937.

Box 2 of 12

Folder 16 Yamaguti-Zinn. Correspondents include Shou-Chie Yu, 1931, 1934; Donald Joseph Zinn, 1936-1941.

Box 2 of 12

Series 2

RESEARCH MATERIAL, MANUSCRIPTS, AND MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS, 1881-1914 AND UNDATED. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

This series consists of research material, manuscripts, and miscellaneous writings of Charles Branch Wilson. The research material is mostly data compiled by Wilson and used in the preparation of scientific monographs. The material consists of station data, maps, notes, and specimen lists. Also included is research data made by Wilson on the New York State Lake Erie Survey, 1928-1929. The miscellaneous writings include unpublished observations on the flora and fauna of Gorham, Maine, 1894 and religious essays and poetry composed by Wilson.

Box 3

Folder 1 "Spring Notes, 1894." Consists of observations, by Charles Branch Wilson, on the flora and fauna of Gorham, Maine.

Box 3 of 12

Folder 2 "The Plants of Maine," circa 1895. Unpublished handwritten manuscript.

Box 3 of 12

Folder 3 "The Classification of the Copepods." Zoologischen Anzeeger, BDXXXV. Nr. 20, pp. 609-620, 1910. Handwritten manuscript.

Box 3 of 12

Folder 4 "Mussel Beds of the Cumberland River in 1911," by Charles Branch Wilson and H. Walton Clark. Bureau of Fisheries, Economic Circular No. 1, 1912. Reprint.

Box 3 of 12

Box 4

Folder 1 "The Copepod Crustaceans of Chesapeake Bay." Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. 80, no. 2915, 1932. Partial copy of manuscript, with corrections by Rheinart Parker Cowles.

Box 4 of 12

Folder 2 "Two New Parasitic Copepods from Cuban Fish." Memorias de la Sociedad vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 107-112, 1936. Typed manuscript.

Box 4 of 12

Folder 3 "Parasitic Copepods in the United States National Museum." Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. 94, no. 3177, 1944. Partial copy of manuscript.

Box 4 of 12

Folders 4-11 "Scientific Results of Cruise VII of the Carnegie during 1928-1929 under the command of Captain J. P. Ault." Carnegie Institution of Washington, publication #536, 1942. Includes manuscript, station data, data on relative density of plankton, and specimen lists.

Box 4 of 12

Box 5

Folders 1-5 "Copepods Gathered by the United States Fisheries Steamer Albatross from 1887 to 1909, chiefly in the Pacific Ocean." United States National Museum Bulletin #100, vol. 14, pt. 4, 1950. Include manuscript, station data, research notes, and specimen lists.

Box 5 of 12

Box 6

Folder 1 "Between the Lights," undated. Contains religious essays and poetry.

Box 6 of 12

Folder 2 "Copepods of the Mount Desert Island Region." Unpublished handwritten manuscript.

Box 6 of 12

Folders 3-8 Miscellaneous Research Material. Includes photographs of copepods, line drawings, specimen lists, and unidentified research data.

Box 6 of 12

Folder 9 Miscellaneous Material. Includes writings on nature, original poetry, theology, and thoughts on science education (Accession 06-155)

Box 6 of 12

Folders 10-23 Line drawings used in "Parasitic Copepods in the United States National Museum." Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. 94, no. 3177, 1944.

Box 6 of 12
Oversize

Folder 1 Station Data from Fisheries Steamer Albatross (removed from Box 5)

Oversize

Series 3

PHOTOGRAPHS OF JAMAICA, 1897.

This series consists of photographs of Jamaica taken while Charles Branch Wilson worked at the Johns Hopkins University's marine laboratory at Port Antonio in 1897.

Box 7

"Mango Tree" 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph on 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Coffee Plant. Hope Gardens" 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph on 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Coffee Tree. Full Page Illustration to face p. 220. Coffee Plant. Hope Gardens." 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph in 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Tree Ferns. Castleton Gardens." 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph in 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Pine apple plantation" 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph on 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Shelling Cocoa. Full Page Illustration to Face p. 344" 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph on 11" x 14" presentation mount

Box 7 of 12

"Coffee Plantation. Residence in suburbs of Kingston" 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" photograph on 11" x 14" mount

Box 7 of 12

Box 8

"Women Washing Clothes" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" mount thin undecorated cardboard

Box 8 of 12

"A Cottonwood Tree" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 8 of 12

"Gathering Bananas" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" a thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 8 of 12

"Loading Bananas at Port Antonio" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 8 of 12

Box 9

"A Mountainbrook" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 9 of 12

Untitled Photograph 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount (depicts a house, hidden partially by tall grass and weeds, with broken windows situated on the left-hand side of the photograph and banana trees and water on the right side)

Box 9 of 12

Box 10

"Women Breaking Stone" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 10 of 12

"A Native Village Showing Cocoanut Palms" 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" photograph on 13 1/2" x 16 1/2" thin undecorated cardboard mount

Box 10 of 12

Box 11

Photographs of Jamaica (82 4" x 6" black-and-white photographs)

Box 11 of 12

Box 12

"Photographs" Album with mounted photographs of scenes in Jamaica (album measures approximately 11" x 14" x 3")

Box 12 of 12