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Finding Aids to Oral Histories in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 9621

G. Evelyn Hutchinson Biographical Interviews, 1990-2000

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:
Title:G. Evelyn Hutchinson Biographical Interviews
Dates:1990-2000
Quantity:0.5 cu. ft. (1 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 9621
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

As background research for a biography of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, pioneer of American ecology and mentor of S. Dillon Ripley, eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Nancy G. Slack conducted oral history interviews with Hutchinson, family members and colleagues during the 1990s. Hutchinson was on several Smithsonian boards and commissions and was a mentor to several Smithsonian researchers. The interviews were recorded on audio cassette and mini-cassette tapes, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection. A few of the tapes have been remastered in digital audio for preservation purposes. The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Interviews include interviews with Myrdene Anderson, Yemaiel Aris, Anna Aschenbach, Anna Bidder, E. J. Browne, Robert Cook, Dian Deevey, Rosemary Dodd, Peter Dodd, M. J. Dunbar, W. T. Edmondson, Yvette H. Edmondson, David George Furth, Eville Gorham, Paul Hutchinson, Dorothea Hutchinson, A. Hutchinson, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Hannah Hutchinson, Sophie Hutchinson, Penelope Jenkin, Alison Jolly, Susan Soltau Kilham, Alan J. Kohn, Stanley Leavy, Mary Leavy, Estella B. Leopold, Sibyl Marcuse, Clement L. Markert, Ernst Mayr, Ian McLaren, Eric Mills, Jane M. Oppenheimer, Ruth Patrick, Gilbert Poulson, Mary Poulson, Paul Richard, Anne Richard, S. Dillon Ripley, Howard Sanders, Lawrence B. Slobodkin, Sarah Twombly, Peter J. Wangersky, Maxine Watson, and Margaret Wright. The interviews were recorded by Dr. Nancy G. Slack, professor biology at Russell Sage College and a botanist and historian of science. The interviews focus on reminiscences of G. Evelyn Hutchinson and information about their careers in biology and ecology.The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Interviews consist of 38 interview sessions, totaling approximately 56 hours of recordings on audiotape cassettes or mini-cassettes. Note that recording times are approximate. The interviews have not been transcribed.

Historical Note

As background research for a biography of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, pioneer of American ecology and mentor of S. Dillon Ripley, eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Nancy G. Slack conducted oral history interviews with Hutchinson, family members and colleagues during the 1990s. Hutchinson was on several Smithsonian boards and commissions and was a mentor to several Smithsonian researchers. The interviews were recorded on audio cassette and mini-cassette tapes, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection. A few of the tapes have been remastered in digital audio for preservation purposes.

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Introduction

The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives' record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also reminiscences and interviews recorded by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

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Descriptive Entry

The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Interviews include interviews with Myrdene Anderson, Yemaiel Aris, Anna Aschenbach, Anna Bidder, E. J. Browne, Robert Cook, Dian Deevey, Rosemary Dodd, Peter Dodd, M. J. Dunbar, W. T. Edmondson, Yvette H. Edmondson, David George Furth, Eville Gorham, Paul Hutchinson, Dorothea Hutchinson, A. Hutchinson, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Hannah Hutchinson, Sophie Hutchinson, Penelope Jenkin, Alison Jolly, Susan Soltau Kilham, Alan J. Kohn, Stanley Leavy, Mary Leavy, Estella B. Leopold, Sibyl Marcuse, Clement L. Markert, Ernst Mayr, Ian McLaren, Eric Mills, Jane M. Oppenheimer, Ruth Patrick, Gilbert Poulson, Mary Poulson, Paul Richard, Anne Richard, S. Dillon Ripley, Howard Sanders, Lawrence B. Slobodkin, Sarah Twombly, Peter J. Wangersky, Maxine Watson, and Margaret Wright.

The interviews were recorded by Dr. Nancy G. Slack, professor biology at Russell Sage College and a botanist and historian of science. The interviews focus on reminiscences of G. Evelyn Hutchinson and information about their careers in biology and ecology.

The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Interviews consist of 38 interview sessions, totaling approximately 56 hours of recordings on audiotape cassettes or mini-cassettes. Note that recording times are approximate. The interviews have not been transcribed.

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Use Restriction

Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for more details.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9621, G. Evelyn Hutchinson Biographical Interviews

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Container List

Interviews

Interview 1: October 20, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Myrdene Anderson, a Hutchinson student, recorded at Professor [First name?] Conklin’s house in New Haven, Connecticut.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 00:19 hour

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 2: July 24, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Yemaiel Aris, the Hutchinsons' foster child during World War II.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 3: August 28, 1992

Interviews

Interview of Robert Cook, a Yale University faculty member, recorded at Harvard University.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 4: October 5, 1996

Interviews

Interview of Dian Deevey, second wife of Edward S. Deevey, a Hutchinson student and colleague at Yale, recorded at Queechy Lake.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 2.0 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 120-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 5: July 29, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Rosemary Dodd, niece of Hutchinson, and her husband, Rev. Peter Dodd, recorded in Newcastle, England.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 6: June 20, 1993

Interviews

Interview of M. J. Dunbar, Max, Hutchinson student and Professor emeritus at McGill University, recorded at the home of Professor Sarah P. Gibbs, in Montreal, Canada.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 7: April 30, 1991

Interviews

Interview of W. T. Edmondson, Hutchinson student and Professor emeritus at the University of Washington, and his wife Yvette Edmondson, recorded at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D.C.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 8: April 30, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Yvette Edmondson, former editor of Limnology and Oceanography recorded at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D.C.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 9: October 3, 1992

Interviews

Interview of David Furth, systematic entomologist, formerly at Peabody Museum, Yale University, now at the Smithsonian Institution, recorded at Harvard University.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 10: October 6, 1997

Interviews

Interview of John Gilbert, Hutchinson student and Professor at Dartmouth College, and Mary Poulson, former Hutchinson assistant at Yale, recorded at the Biology Department, Dartmouth College.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.25 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 74-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 11: May 2, 1995

Interviews

Interview Eville Gorham, biogeochemist and ecologist, Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, at the University of Minnesota, recorded at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul campus.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 12: April 25, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Andrew Hutchinson, Hutchinson's nephew, and Anna Aschenbach, a long-time Hutchinson assistant, recorded at Yale University.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 13: July 26, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Dorothea Hutchinson, Hutchinson's sister, and Anna Bidder, recorded at Joseph Needham Institute in Cambridge, England.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 00:45:06 hour

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette
Preservation Master: 1 digital .wav file
Reference Copy: 1 digital .mp3 file

Interview 14: July 24, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Francis Hutchinson, nephew of Hutchinson, and his wife, Joyce, recorded in London, England.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 15: October-November 1990

Interviews

Interview of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, recorded at Yale University.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 01:21:38 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape microcassette
Preservation Masters: 2 digital .wav files
Reference Copies: 2 digital .mp3 files

Interview 16: January 31, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Paul Hutchinson, nephew, and Marie Dodd, niece of Hutchinson, recorded in New Haven, Connecticut.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 00:19:01 hour

Interviews
Original Master: 1 60-minute audiotape microcassette
Preservation Master: 1 digital .wav file
Reference Copy: 1 digital .mp3 file

Interview 17: July 28, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Hannah Hutchinson, Hutchinson's sister-in-law and wife of his brother Leslie, and Hannah's sister Sophie, recorded at Owl Cottage, Isle of Wight, England.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 18: August 5, 1993

Interviews

Interview of Penelope Jenkin, limnologist and student with Hutchinson at Cambridge University in 1921 to 1925, recorded in Ruthin, North Wales.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 19: March 17, 1993

Interviews

Interview of Alison Jolly, student of Hutchinson, lemur expert, professor and author, recorded at Russell Sage College, Troy, New York.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 20: May 8, 1996

Interviews

Interview of Susan Kilham, professor at Drexel University and wife of Peter Kilham.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 21: May 3, 1992

Interviews

Interview of Alan Kohn, a student of Hutchinson's and Professor at the University of Washington, recorded at the Edmondsons' house in Seattle, Washington.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 22: September 15, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Stanley Leavy, M.D. psychiatrist and friend of Hutchinson and his wife Mary, recorded in New Haven, Connecticut.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 23: May 4, 1992

Interviews

Interview of Estella Leopold, Yale Ph.D. student and Professor at the University of Washington, recorded at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 24: August 1, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Sibyl Marcuse, Sibyl, authority on musical instruments, formerly at Yale, recorded in San Francisco.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 25: April 24, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Clement Markert, former chairman of the Yale University Biology Department in 1965, recorded at Yale University.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 26: April 4, 1994

Interviews

Interview of Ernst Mayr, Professor Emeritus at Harvard, recorded at the Harvard University Faculty Club.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 00:40:59 hour

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette
Preservation Masters: 2 digital .wav files
Reference Copies: 2 digital .mp3 files

Interview 27: August 21, 1996

Interviews

Interview of Ian McLaren, a student of Hutchinson and Professor at Dalhousie University, recorded at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 28: November 1, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Eric Mills, a student of Hutchinson and Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, recorded at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 29: September 25, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Jane Oppenheimer, Professor Emerita, Bryn Mahr College, who received her Ph.D. at Yale University, and Ruth Patrick, diatom specialist and Hutchinson co-worker, recorded at the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 30: July 17, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Paul Richard, who was a student at Cambridge University with Hutchinson and later Professor emeritus, Cambridge University, and his wife Anne, recorded at the Richards' home in Cambridge, England.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 31: October 16, 1991

Interviews

Interview of S. Dillon Ripley, Director of Peabody Museum at Yale and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1964-1984, recorded at the Ripley home, Litchfield, Connecticut.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 32: August 8, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Howard Sanders, student of Hutchinson and now at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, recorded at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 33: September 12, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Lawrence B. Slobodkin, Hutchinson's student and Professor at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, recorded at a Long Island, New York restaurant.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 34: May 30, 1992

Interviews

Interview of Sarah Twombly, who received her Ph.D. from Yale and became a Professor at the University of Rhode Island, recorded in Rhode Island.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 35: November 6, 2000

Interviews

Interview of Peter Wangersky, a student of Hutchinson's and Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and the University of Victoria, British Columbia, recorded at Victoria, British Columbia.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 36: April 4, 1991

Interviews

Interview of Maxine Watson, student of Hutchinson and Professor at the University of Indiana.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 37: November 29, 1996

Interviews

Interview of Margaret Wright, a former Yale University Ph.D. student and Professor emerita, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, recorded in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Interviews

Audio Recording of Interviews: Total recording time: 1.5 hours

Interviews
Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interview 38: August 2, 1993

Interviews

Interview of E. Janet Browne, historian of science.

Interviews
Total recording time: 0:35:58 hour

Audio Recording of Interviews: Original Master: 1 90-minute audiotape cassette

Interviews
Preservation Master: 1 digital .wav file
Reference Copy: 1 digital .mp3 file