Smithsonian Institution Archives

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

Record Unit 7279
Helmut Karl Buechner Papers,
1939-1975

By Gerald J. Rosenzweig

Historical Note

Descriptive Entry

Series Descriptions

  Series 1. SCHOOL NOTES, EXAMS, LECTURES, AND TERM PAPERS, 1939-1947. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

  Series 2. CORRESPONDENCE, 1946-1975. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

  Series 3. GENERAL OFFICE FILES, 1950-1975. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

  Series 4. RESEARCH PROJECTS, 1946-1975.

  Series 5. THESES BY FORMER STUDENTS, COLLECTED BY HELMUT K. BUECHNER. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, 1951-1960.

  Series 6. ABSTRACTS, ARTICLES, AND BOOK REVIEWS, 1942-1974.

  Series 7. LECTURES, SEMINARS, AND SYMPOSIA. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, 1949-1974.

  Series 8. AUDIO RECORDINGS, 1959-1972.

  Series 9. PHOTOGRAPHS. ARRANGED BY SUBJECT.

  Series 10. NOTEPADS AND DIARY, 1965, 1970-1971.

  Series 11. OBSERVATION AND MACHINE READABLE DATA ON THE KOB.

  Series 12. DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES, 1938-1966.

  Series 13. OVERSIZE CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, BLUEPRINTS, AND MAPPINGS.


HISTORICAL NOTE

Helmut Karl Buechner (1918-1975) was born in Scotia, New York. He received his B.S. degree from New York State College of Forestry, Syracuse University in 1941, and his M.S. degree from Texas A&M College, College Station in 1943. After completing military service, Buechner continued his education at Texas A&M College. For his Ph.D. thesis, Buechner did research on the range ecology of the pronghorn antelope in the Trans-Pecos region in southwest Texas, 1946-1947. Buechner taught herpetology at Texas A&M College during the Fall of 1947. In 1948, Buechner transferred to Oklahoma A&M College, Stillwater, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1949. From 1948-1965, Buechner taught zoology and botany at Washington State College (now University), Pullman. In 1965, Buechner joined the Smithsonian Institution as the first director of the Office of Ecology. Buechner was Senior Ecologist for the Office of Environmental Sciences, 1969-1972, and from 1972 to 1975, he was Senior Ecologist for the National Zoological Park (NZP).


DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY

For the most part, these papers document Buechner's primary research interest, the ecology of terrestrial vertebrates, with emphasis on relationships to vegetation and social behavior. Included are Buechner's research on the pronghorn antelope, which contains field notes, journals, photographs, and reports to the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Unit, which sponsored Buechner's research; a study of elk and deer in relation to livestock and range in the Blue Mountains region of southeastern Washington, 1949-1960; and research on the bighorn sheep, 1954-1960, which contains correspondence with personnel at the bighorn sheep animal refuges, photographs, field notes, journal, and a manuscript of Buechner's book, The Bighorn Sheep in the United States, Its Past, Present, and Future, 1959.

From 1956 to 1958, Buechner, as a Fulbright Scholar, conducted research in Uganda, on the elephant census and migration, the relationship of elephants to vegetation at Murchison Falls National Park, and reproduction of the Uganda kob. These papers include reports on aerial counts of elephants, photographs, field data and notes.

During Buechner's stay in Uganda, he became interested in the unique territorial and mating behavior of the Uganda kob. Buechner made trips to Uganda's Toro Game Reserve to study the Uganda kob in 1959, 1962-1963, and 1972. Materials documenting these trips include maps, field observation data, transcriptions, audio recordings, photographs, machine readable data and analytical computations of kob movements by Buechner and H. Daniel Roth, 1965-1972.

In addition, these papers contain photographs documenting Buechner's study of the ibex in Switzerland, taken when Buechner was consultant to the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research during the summer of 1961; a report when Buechner was consultant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to study the elephants in relation to the Tana River Irrigation Project in Kenya in 1965; and reports when Buechner was consultant to Troy Meadows, in 1966, and to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, in 1970, (both are located in New Jersey) to study the environmental impact of animals in relation to land within the parks.

Additional material documents Buechner's feasibility studies on tracking free-roaming animals, such as elk, with the Interrogation Recording Location System (IRLS) satellite, 1969-1971, and includes incoming correspondence critical of the project, manuscripts, progress reports, and photographs; and a study of Indian rhinoceros mating behavior at the NZP, 1972, which led to the first successful live birth of this species in the Western Hemisphere, 1974, and includes photographs, tape recordings, and transcripts of observations made by volunteers and National Zoo staff.

Other materials contained in these papers include general correspondence, mostly with university faculty, conservationists, park wardens, and naturalists, pertaining to Buechner's research; reading files, 1968-1972; Buechner's school notes and term papers when he was a student, 1939-1947; lecture material when Buechner taught herpetology at Texas A&M College, 1947; research proposal evaluations Buechner did for the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society; handbook written in conjunction with Lee H. Talbot for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; survey on usefulness of night vision devices; Buechner's proposed research projects at Washington State College (University); materials pertaining to various zoological and conservation organizations; theses by Buechner's former students; articles, abstracts, and book reviews written or co-authored by Buechner; information on projects in Ceylon, Israel, and Korea when Buechner was the head of the Office of Ecology; diplomas and certificates; audio recordings on elk immobilization, 1972, Earth Week Symposium, 1969, and a Panel on the Environment and Development, undated; group photographs of professional scientific organization meetings; Buechner's family photographs; photographs of NZP; and oversize material consisting of blueprints of the new deer area at NZP, 1972, and charts and graphs.


SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

SERIES 1.
SCHOOL NOTES, EXAMS, LECTURES, AND TERM PAPERS, 1939-1947. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Box 1 of 35

SERIES 2.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1946-1975. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Box 1 of 35

Box 2 of 35

Box 3 of 35

Box 4 of 35

Box 5 of 35

Box 6 of 35

Note: Interrogation, Recording and Location System Satellite, 1966-1971 (see Box 21)

Note: Satellite tracking of elk, criticism of project, 1970-1971 (see Box 20)

Box 7 of 35

SERIES 3.
GENERAL OFFICE FILES, 1950-1975. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

Box 7 of 35

Box 8 of 35

Box 9 of 35

Box 10 of 35

Note: National Zoological Park (NZP): Blueprints of deer area, 1965 (see Oversize)

Box 11 of 35

Box 12 of 35

SERIES 4.
RESEARCH PROJECTS, 1946-1975.

Box 12 of 35

Bighorn Sheep Project

Box 13 of 35

Elk Census and Vegetation Study (Note: Diagrams and graphs, see Box 35)

Box 14 of 35

Note: Photographs: jaw bones of elks of different ages, see Box 28; vegetation, see Boxes 28-31

Ibex

Note: Ibex Photographs, see Box 30

Box 15 of 35

Indian Rhinoceros

Note: Indian Rhinoceros Photographs, see Box 28

Kob, 1956-1974

Note: Kob Charts and graphs, see Box 35 and Oversize; also photographs, see Boxes 28-31

Box 16 of 35

Box 17 of 35

Note: Kob whistling, March 1972, 2 reels tape, see Box 26

Box 18 of 35

Box 19 of 35

Mule Deer

Pronghorn Antelope

Box 20 of 35

Note: Pronghorn Antelope Photographs, see Boxes 28-31

Roan and Sable Antelope Study

Satellite Tracking of Animals

Box 21 of 35

Note: Satellite Tracking Photographs, see Boxes 28-31

Box 22 of 35

Box 23 of 35

SERIES 5.
THESES BY FORMER STUDENTS, COLLECTED BY HELMUT K. BUECHNER. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, 1951-1960.

Box 23 of 35

SERIES 6.
ABSTRACTS, ARTICLES, AND BOOK REVIEWS, 1942-1974.

This series consists of published abstracts, articles, and book reviews written or co-authored by Helmut K. Buechner, and is arranged chronologically. Some folders contain only correspondence and notes. See "List of Publications" (Box 23) for titles.

Box 23 of 35

Abstracts

Articles

Box 24 of 35

Box 25 of 35

Book Reviews

SERIES 7.
LECTURES, SEMINARS, AND SYMPOSIA. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, 1949-1974.

Box 25 of 35

SERIES 8.
AUDIO RECORDINGS, 1959-1972.

Box 26 of 35

Box 27 of 35

Dictabelts (See Box 16 for transcripts)

SERIES 9.
PHOTOGRAPHS. ARRANGED BY SUBJECT.

Box 28 of 35

Prints

Negatives

Slides

Box 29 of 35

Box 30 of 35

Prints

Negatives

Box 31 of 35

SERIES 10.
NOTEPADS AND DIARY, 1965, 1970-1971.

These volumes contain entries about Buechner's day to day activities; travel; names and addresses of personal acquaintances; notes pertaining to Buechner's projects; and miscellaneous notes of personal interest.

Box 31 of 35

SERIES 11.
OBSERVATION AND MACHINE READABLE DATA ON THE KOB.

Box 32 of 35

IBM Data Sheets - data on the Uganda kob collected between 1962 and 1964. Data is arranged into "Card" 1-4. "Card" 1-3 consists of the physical measurements. "Card" 4 consists of data on the locations of the Uganda kob within the territorial grounds. For explanation of numbers, see chart in Computer, Box 15.

Box 33 of 35

Box 34 of 35

SERIES 12.
DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES, 1938-1966.

Box 35 of 35

SERIES 13.
OVERSIZE CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, BLUEPRINTS, AND MAPPINGS.

Box 35 of 35

Oversize


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Revised: September 21, 2007