Archives and Manuscript Collections
Personal Papers
JOHN STRONG NEWBERRY PAPERS (c. 1850-1879)
2.5 linear inches (1 box)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
John
Strong Newberry (1822-1892) was born in Windsor, Connecticut on 22 December
1822 but lived in Ohio during his boyhood. Like many naturalists of the
time, he was self-trained in botany and zoology. He graduated from the
Cleveland Medical School in 1848 and traveled to Paris, France to continue
medical studies, but he also took courses in botany at the Jardin des Plantes.
In the 1850s he accompanied several expeditions and surveys to the American
west from which he gained large botanical and geological collections. In
1863 the United States Congress elected him one of fifty original members
of the National Academy of Sciences.
In 1866 he accepted a professorship at the School of Mines of Columbia
University where he taught geology and botany. Soon after he was elected
president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and
president of the Lyceum of Natural History (later the New York Academy
of Sciences) serving for 30 years. Newberry led the Torrey Botanical Club
during the period of its greatest activity and growth. At Columbia, he
was the teacher and mentor of the young Nathaniel Lord Britton who served
as his personal assistant and succeeded him as Professor of Geology and
Botany at Columbia University. Newberry died in New Haven, Connecticut
in 1892.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The John Strong Newberry collection consists of correspondence, lecture
notes, and a manuscript of an address before the New York Academy of Sciences
28 April 1879.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1: Correspondence
Series 2: Lecture Notes
Series 3: Manuscript
Series 1 Correspondence, 1919
0.2 linear in. Arranged by subject
There is one letter, from Professor James F. Kemp to Professor Harper,
of Columbia University, regarding provenance and a packet envelope that
serves as a record of accession. See Provenance below.
Series 2 Lecture Notes, c 1850
1.0 linear in. Arranged alphabetically
Consists of lecture notes, in French, of courses in botany, geology,
paleontology, and microscopy taken by Newberry at the Jardin des Plantes
in Paris, France.
Series 3 Manuscript, 1879
0.5 linear in.
Consists of one hardbound notebook of a presentation by Newberry before
the New York Academy of Sciences, 28 April 1879, entitled "On the Distribution
of Seeds in Plants."
PROVENANCE
As the correspondence from Professor James F. Kemp to Professor Harper
explains: "In some overlooked things in my office I have found the accompanying
notes of lectures on Botany, Fossil Plants, and Geology, taken by Professor
J. S. Newberry when he was student in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris somewhere
about 1850. Will you not take them to Dr. Britton and ask him if he does
not wish to put them in the library of the Botanical Garden."
RELATED COLLECTIONS
New York Botanical Garden
RA Torrey Botanical Club Records
Processed May 1999 by David Rose 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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