William C. Steere records

The William Campbell Steere Records document Steere's career as Director of NYBG from 1958-1972 as well as the history of the institution during this time period.

Series 1, Correspondence, includes subject and individual correspondence. The correspondence documents many of the activities in which NYBG was involved, as well as other projects and organizations that Steere communicated with. This series overlaps with Series 11, Affiliations, and many of the subjects touched on in the other series as well. 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.

Series 2, Administrative Records, includes basic administrative records, drafts of the annual reports, long range planning for the future of the garden, and legal agreements, such as the right to publish Columbia University's John Torrey letters. It also includes more personal material about Steere, such as his speeches, speaking engagements, appointment books, and calendars.

Series 3, Financial Records, includes city budgets, NYBG budgets, and information on admission charges, including attendance rates. There is also a significant amount of material on proposed city budget cuts from 1969-1971, the way these cuts would affect the garden, and attempts to prevent these changes.

Series 4, Education, contains information about educational programs sponsored by and affiliated with NYBG, including graduate student records. A specific focus is the Challenge for Survival Symposium held in 1968.

Series 5, Publications, include 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. It also includes Steere’s publications, including the books “Environmental Challenge” and “This Is Life,” collections of essays that he edited with Willis Johnson.

Series 6, Publicity, documents NYBG's publicity activities during Steere's term as NYBG Director. It includes press clippings, information on Members’ Evenings, a television program with Ruth Alampi, records of financial contributions, and the activities of several committees.

Series 7, Staff, includes individual and general staff records, including hiring and salary information, as well as Staff Meeting minutes. This series also documents the staff's association with labor unions, NYBG's Anti-Poverty Program, the Summer Employment Program, and the Volunteer Program. Series 8, Grants, provides specific details on grant funded projects during the early 1960's to 1970's. This series reveals the extent that NYBG depended on grant funding to carry out research. The series is divided into sub-series based on the institutions that the grant proposals were written for. The major institutions represented at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the United States Military.

Series 9, Buildings and Grounds, contains records of NYBG's planning, building, and other construction activities during Steere's term as director.

Series 10, 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. Much of the series is dedicated to the survey on Systematic Collections in the United States that Steere helped produce and sent to many important institutions. The information in this survey was later published in the book “Systematic Biology Collections of the United States.” Galleys and proofs for this book can be found in the oversized material box, Box 138. Additional information on Systematic Biology can be found in Series 10, Affiliations, sub-series 1 and 3, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). There is also significant material relating to Steere’s work on a style manual for biological journals, as well as documents from the Conferences of Directors of Systematic Collections.

Series 11, 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. The series is divided into sub-series based on the institutions in question. The institutions are the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Association of Museums (AAM), the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), the Council on Biological Sciences (COBSI), and the Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering (SATCOM).

Series 12, Photographs, contains black and white pictures that were taken during Steere’s time at the garden. They include aerial photographs of the garden, promotional photographs with captions, and photographs that were taken by T. H. Everett. Many photographs show construction of buildings in the garden, particularly the library building. Of note is a woodcut block that was removed from a Speaking Engagements folder in the Administrative Records series.

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