William C. Steere records (Chief Executive Officer)

The William Campbell Steere Records document Steere's career as Director of NYBG from 1958 to 1972, as well as the history of the institution during this time period. The records are divided into the eleven series:

Series 1: Administrative Records includes basic administrative records, reports, legal agreements with parties such as Columbia University and New York City Department of Parks, as well as Steere's speeches, personal correspondence, datebooks, and publication materials.

Series 2: Financial Records includes financial statements, city budgets, NYBG budgets, fiscal reports, specific account numbers, purchase orders, and other records that document NYBG's financial activity.

Series 3: Education contains information about educational programs sponsored by and affiliated with NYBG.

Series, 4: Publications includes memos, correspondence, contracts, sales information and manuscript drafts of NYBG publications. A bulk of the material deals with Wild Flowers of the United States and includes correspondence with Mrs. David Rockefeller, who was a major project supporter. This series complements Steere's personal publications found in Series 1: Administrative Papers, Sub-series 2, William Campbell Steere.

Series 5: Publicity documents NYBG's publicity activities during Steere's term as NYBG Director.

Series 6: Staff includes individual and general staff records. This series also documents the Staff's association with Labor Unions, NYBG's Anti-Poverty Program and Summer Employment Program, and the Volunteer Program. Series 7: Grants provides specific details on grant funded projects during the early 1960s to 1970s. This series reveals the extent that NYBG depended on grant funding to carry out research. Additional Grant material can be found in Record Group 12, Special Projects. [* Grant materials may be moved to another Record Group at a later date. See Special Collections Librarian, Susan Fraser concerning the matter]

Series 8: Buildings and Grounds contains records of NYBG's planning, building, and other construction activities during Steere's term as director.

Series 9: Systematic Biology documents Steere's efforts as well as those of the scientific community to coordinate and standardize the study of systematic biology and national systematic resources. Additional information on Systematic Biology can be found in Series 10: Affiliations, sub-series 1 and 3 (AAAS and AIBS).

Series 10: Affiliations documents Steere's participation, as Director of NYBG, in a number of key organizations. These records indicate Steere's involvement in standardization of communication and education in both the scientific and museum communities.

Series 11: Correspondence includes subject and individual correspondence. The correspondence documents many of the activities in which NYBG was involved and the people with whom Steere communicated. This series overlaps with series 9, AFFILIATIONS, and many of the subjects touched on in the other series listed above. Because of this overlap, it is recommended that a user of this collection check both the specific subject file as well as the alphabetical listing in this series. It should also be noted that a Pennsylvania lottery ticket from 1810 has been removed from Box 58, folder "Cultivation of Vines...." The lottery ticket now resides in the Small Collections File housed in the Archives.

In sum, these records reveal Steere's talent as an administrator, and in many instances a bryologist; at the same time, they illustrate what was seen as a progressive period for NYBG.