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Records of the American Fern Society

 Collection
Identifier: RA-001

Scope and Contents

Records consist of constitutions, annual reports, minutes, incoming and outgoing correspondence of officers, general correspondence, membership lists, and financial records. Specific items include Treasurer's reports for numerous years, budget details, administrative decisions made on Council Orders, Curator's reports, lists of library reference questions, and billing and production issues concerning The American Fern Journal.

Dates

  • 1893-1990

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research with permission from Mertz Library staff.

Conditions Governing Use

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be submitted in writing to the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical Garden.

Biographical / Historical

The American Fern Society was organized in 1893 as the Linnaean Fern Chapter of the Agassiz Association. The group published the journal Linnaean Fern Bulletin, which contained original research, field notes, various discoveries, and Society news. Most members were not professional botanists, but rather amateurs with mutual interests. By mid-1905 the Society voted to create an independent group and became the American Fern Society, which received incorporation in 1936.

By 1910, the AFS established The American Fern Journal and ceased publication of the Linnaean Fern Bulletin in 1912. In time, because The American Fern Journal published more scientific papers the Society began to release a newsletter called Fiddlehead Forum to inform members of general Society news, field trip reports, and horticultural issues. In 1979, the Society began to publish an occasional monograph series called Pteridologia that contained even more scientific information due to the increase in membership by professional botanists.

In addition to the availability of professional and amateur papers, the Society provides an exchange program of fern spores that are provided to both botanical scholars and horticulturists.

Extent

30.75 Linear Inches (6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The collection is organized into eleven series by subject or activity within annual segments:

  1. Series 1: 1890-1899.
  2. Series 2: 1900-1910.
  3. Series 3: 1911-1920.
  4. Series 4: 1921-1930.
  5. Series 5: 1931-1940.
  6. Series 6: 1941-1950.
  7. Series 7: 1951-1960.
  8. Series 8: 1961-1970.
  9. Series 9: 1971-1980.
  10. Series 10: 1981-1990.
  11. Series 11: Library Correspondence. 1940-1946.

Physical Location

Archives, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden.

Other Finding Aids

Please note that the legacy finding guide is outdated and may contain incorrect information.

Legacy finding guide

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records of the American Fern Society were accessioned on 25 September 1980 [Accession # 239] by Scott Mori, and on 20 June 1989 [Accession # 89-12], by John Mickel. One volume, Progress in Pteridologia was received in 1993 [Accession # 93-2].

Related Materials

HUNT INSTITUTE FOR BOTANICAL DOCUMENTATION:

Collection #147-- American Fern Society, Records 1918-[1933-1958]

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ARCHIVES:

U.S. National Museum, Division of Plants, Records 1899-1947, Record Unit 223-- American Fern Society

Processing Information

Processed July 2005 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-50678-04.

Creator

Status
Completed
Author
Kathleene Konkle
Date
July 2005
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Processed July 2005 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-50678-04.

Repository Details

Part of the The Archives of the New York Botanical Garden Repository

Contact:
New York Botanical Garden, Mertz Library
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx NY 10458 United States