Archives and Manuscript Collections
Personal Papers
ALFRED TENNYSON BEALS PAPERS (1882-1946)
5 linear inches (1 box)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
A. T. (Alfred Tennyson) Beals (1870-1955) was an amateur bryologist
and a professional photographer. He recorded events and persons in the
educational and civic worlds of New York City and New Jersey. He succeeded
E. B. Chamberlain as Secretary-Treasurer of the Sullivant Moss Society
in 1925 and was active in the organization through the early 1930's. Beals
also belonged to the Torrey Botanical Club and the American Fern Society.
He donated his personal herbarium of 2,000 specimens to The New York Botanical
Garden.
The name of the Sullivant Moss Society was changed to the American Bryological
Society in 1948. Currently, it is the American Bryological and Lichenological
Society. Its collections were donated to the University of Pennsylvania.
Beals was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1870. He attended the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, graduating in 1892.
In 1897, he married Jessie Tarbox Beals, the first female photojournalist,
whose work is represented in many major photographic collections in the
United States. The Beals traveled the country as peripatetic photographers,
and then separated in the 1920's. In her later years, Jessie Beals
became known for her garden photography.
As a professional photographer, Beals was known as A. Tennyson Beals.
His studio was located at 2929 Broadway, New York City. His correspondence
from the Sullivant Moss Society bears this address as well.
A. T. married again to Marie Victoria (M.V.) Beals, and they had one
daughter, Mrs. Henry Brainerd. They lived at 274 Summit Ave., Hackensack,
New Jersey. In 1951, Beals won a special citation from the Union
County (N.J.) Park Commission for his work in providing park museum exhibits.
A. T. Beals died in November 1955.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The A. T. Beals collection consists of lists, manuscripts, correspondence,
translations, photographs, and one field notebook relating to his position
as Secretary-Treasurer of the Sullivant Moss Society, its publication The
Bryologist, and his collections of North American bryophytes. Much
of the material originated with E. B. (Edward Blanchard ) Chamberlain,
who preceded Beals as Secretary-Treasurer of the Sullivant Moss Society
and who was eulogized by Beals in The Bryologist, Vol. 23, July
and September, 1925, p. 42-51. Photographs of Chamberlain, taken by Beals,
are found in the E. B. Chamberlain folder in the Vertical Files. Beals'
field notebook is no. 628 in the Field Collectors' Notebooks Collection.
The collection is arranged into five series.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1: Sullivant Moss Society
Series 2: E. B. Chamberlain
Series 3: The Bryologist
Series 4: Musci
Series 5: Photographs and Art
Series 1 Sullivant
Moss Society, 1882-1946
0.5 lin. in. Arranged chronologically.
Three files of lists of Musci and Hepaticae collected in North America
by various members of the Sullivant Moss Society, and specimens sent from
around the world to the Moss Exchange. The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium,
now owns the Sullivant Moss Society lichen herbarium, which came to the
Garden along with the papers of Gladys Anderson.
Series 2 E. B. (Edward
Blanchard) Chamberlain, 1908-1924
1.5 lin. in. Arranged by subject.
Three files of material from The Bryologist, abstracted by Chamberlain
for inclusion in Botanical Abstracts and instructions for abstractors.
Other materials are translations of works by Okamura Shu and a typescript
of the list of plants collected by Elisha Kent Kane on his polar expeditions.
The correspondence file contains invoices for advertisements run by the
Sullivant Moss Society. These are countersigned by Elizabeth Britton. Correspondence
with A. J. Grout relates to the Sullivant Moss Society and his scientific
bookshop.
Series 3 The Bryologist,
1921-1925
1.5 lin. in. Arranged by subject.
Contains cover proofs, correspondence with the printing company, and
manuscripts for Vol. 28, 1925.
Series 4 Musci, n.d.
1 lin. in. Arranged by subject.
Contains typewritten charts of moss families from Engler and Prantl,
and photographic reproductions of those charts.
Series 5 Photographs and Art, 1888-1935
.5 lin. in. Arranged by subject.
Contains photographs of plates illustrating pre-20th century
botanical works and the Hortus Deliciarum from the 12th
century. Other photographs are of unidentified people and architecture
and specimens. Also in this series is a pastel drawing of an iris, illegibly
signed, and dated 1888.
RELATED COLLECTIONS
The New York Botanical Garden
CFN Number 628
PP Gladys P. Anderson Papers
Processed July 1999 by Laura Zelasnic under a grant from
the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-23141-98 and a grant
from the Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation.
For more information and a complete description contact:
Susan Fraser, NYBG
Archivist
The LuEsther T. Mertz Library
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
(718) 817-8879
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