Archives and Manuscript Collections
Personal Papers
HOWARD E. BIGELOW PAPERS (1957-1983)
6.4 linear feet (10 boxes)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Howard
E. Bigelow (1923-1987), a mycologist whose specialty was the agaric mycota
of the New England area, was a very active member of the Mycological Society
of America and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Department
of Botany from 1957 to 1983.
Dr. Bigelow was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and he attended Oberlin
College from 1941 to1943. He left to fight in World War 2 and returned
to Oberlin in 1946. He received his B.A. in 1949 and his M.A. in 1951.
He went on to study botany at the University of Michigan under the guidance
of Alexander H. Smith and received his Ph.D. in 1956.
He is best known for his monograph on the Clitocybe and Tricholomataceae
genera.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection is concerned with Dr. Bigelow's fungi collections and
especially his monograph on the Clitocybe and Tricholomataceae genera.
It was donated to The New York Botanical Garden by Dr. Roy Halling along
with Bigelow's
herbarium from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of
Botany, whose fungi collection it is also concerned with. It consists of
photographs, newspaper clippings, index cards, notebooks, and research
notes.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1: Clitocybe Collection Lists
Series 2: Host Index Cards
Series 3: Photographs
Series 4: Description of Species
Series 5: Accession Notebooks
Series 6: Oberlin Newspaper Clippings
Series 7: Research Notes
Series 8: Powdery Mildews of Massachusetts
Series 1 Clitocybe Collection Lists
2 lin. in.
Research notes for Dr. Bigelow's monograph on the Clitocybe and his
specimens.
Series 2 Host Index Cards
16 lin. in. Arranged alphabetically.
This index-card file lists the fungi name, host, and collection number
for the University of Massachusetts fungi collections.
Series 3 Photographs
26 lin. in.
The majority of these photographs are mounted and cropped for publication.
Species names are written on most of them. There are separate files on
the Amanita muscaria, Clitocybe leucoparilloides, Laccaria
laccata, Melanoleuca albiflaviola, laccaria trullesata,
Leucopaxillus,
Tricholomataceas spores and 1 of electron microscope spore photographs.
Series 4 Description of Species
10 lin. in. Arranged alphabetically.
These descriptions are arranged by species and most were not written
by Dr. Bigelow.
Series 5 Accession Notebooks
2 lin. in. Arranged by number.
These 3 notebooks record 3,829 specimen numbers. The first 2,000 numbers
are for pre-1917 specimens for which there are no accession cards. Collectors
associated with these specimens include: H. W. Ravenel, W. W. Denslow,
B. D. Halsted, J. B. Ellis, W. G. Farlow, and J. E. Humphrey.
Series 6 Oberlin Newspaper Clippings
There are 3 newspapers articles from the Oberlin College newspaper written
by Dr. Bigelow concerning Dutch elm disease and its prevention.
Series 7 Research Notes
These notes are on various mushroom species and fungi from diverse geographic
areas of the Americas and include annotated reprints. Also included are
files concerned with the Massachusetts State College Fungus Herbarium,
and an unpublished manuscript list of 400 West American fungi compiled
by David Griffiths.
Series 8 Powdery Mildews of Massachusetts
This series is an unpublished manuscript written by Mrs. May Holden
Wheeler. Included are illustrations and research notes for the planned
publication.
RELATED COLLECTIONS
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Botany
Processed January 2000 by Stephen Sinon 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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