LibGuides: Special Collections: Science Resources: Archival Material

Searching for Primary Source Materials

Archival material includes unpublished records such as letters, diaries, financial records, and photographs. Information about our archival collections may be found online in the Subject Guides to the Collections. You can also browse the A-Z list of archival collections (the link is below). Our finding aids are processed at different levels. Some include item-by-item level descriptions and others are processed at the folder or box level.

We are excited to announce that the new public user interface for the University of Rochester's Archives & Special Collections is live! The new interface is more user-friendly and includes more robust search and filter options to help you find what you are looking for. If you currently use our A-Z lists, please note that they will be replaced with the search and filter functionality but will remain up until Monday 8/12 for your convenience during the transition. If you require a full list of all collections in alphabetical order you can find one by following these steps:

Scroll down to “Our Collections” section
Click on “Search Our Collections”
Click on the “Collections” tab in the blue bar at the top of the page

A-Z list of RBSCP archival collections

Chemistry

Gates (Marshall D.) Research Notebooks
The Marshall Gates Research Notebooks collection is comprised of four manuscript boxes recording fifty years of Marshall Gates, Jr.'s laboratory activities, including his notes pertaining to the synthesis of morphine in 1952.

Physics, Optics, and Astronomy

Harkness (William) Papers
The papers consist of Harkness' records, charts, photographs, and drawings from his various scientific observations and experiments.
Kingslake Family Papers
The Kingslake Archive contains the papers and related items of two giants in the field of optics, Rudolf Kingslake and his wife Hilda Conrady Kingslake. Dr. Kingslake kept detailed records of almost everything he did, much of which is preserved in this Archive.
O'Brien (Brian) Papers
Brian O'Brien (1898-1992) was the first director of the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics, a position he held from 1938 to 1953 after serving eight years as chair of physiological optics.
Optical Society of America, Rochester Section papers
The Optical Society of America Papers consist of meeting minutes, Secretary's Reports, handbooks, correspondence, and other documentation relating to the Society's Rochester Section.

Natural Sciences

Special Collections holds a wide variety of sciences-related manuscript collections from the 19th and 20th centuries, on topics ranging from Anthropology to Zoology.

Links to Collection Finding Aids

Akeley, Carl
Material relating to Akeley's interests in the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago Natural History Museum); the American Museum of Natural History; the Cement Gun Construction Company; Akeley Camera, Inc.; the General Engineer Depot, U.S. Army; the Roosevelt Monument; and his African expeditions
Fairchild (Herman LeRoy) Papers
The collection includes correspondence and notes, and the manuscripts of his published and unpublished books, articles and addressee. The collection has been expanded with the acquisition of photographs, photographic glass plates, scrapbooks, additional notes, miscellaneous papers and memorabilia.
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The final additions to the Fairchild papers were made after the Professor's death, when his wife gave the residue of his personal papers to the Library.
Howell (Edwin Eugene) Papers
The collection includes detailed and illustrated field notes of Howell's geological expeditions in the years 1872-1874, a loose-leaved geological report, personal diaries 1867-1911, account books and miscellaneous notes, newspaper clippings, etc.
Morgan (Lewis Henry) Papers
The papers include correspondence to and from Morgan, manuscripts of articles and speeches, manuscript notebooks and travel diaries, and the manuscripts of several of his books. Correspondents include Henry Adams, Adolph F. Bandelier, Charles Darwin, Joseph Henry, Francis Parkman, and Herbert Spencer.
Ward (Charles Howell) Papers
The collection consists of correspondence and business records of the Charles H. Ward Anatomical Laboratory, Rochester, New York; personal correspondence, diaries and accounts;
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; notes on the chemical and other technical processes involved in the preparation of anatomical models, and other scientific subjects; photographs relating to osteology and the preparation of models; published articles written by Charles H. Ward and catalogues of the Charles H. Ward Anatomical Laboratory; personal memorabilia; and a collection of pamphlets on osteology and related scientific subjects.
Ward (Henry A.) Papers
The Henry Augustus Ward Papers contain indexed correspondence from many famous contemporary scientists, and letters from P. T. Barnum, for whom Ward did much work including the taxidermy of Jumbo the elephant.
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There are also family letters, travel diaries, photographs, catalogs from the Science Establishment and material relating to Ward's meteorite collections.

Librarian

Erin Fisher

She/ Her/ Hers

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Contact:

Rush Rhees Library
755 Library Rd, Rochester, NY 14627

585-274-0459

Medicine

Please note: The papers of many physicians and staff of the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Strong Memorial Hospital are held at the Miner Medical Library Special Collections

Shapiro (Dr. Morris) papers
The Shapiro Papers contain correspondence, personal papers, and materials related to his service in World War II.