Howard S. Irwin records
Scope and Contents
The Howard S. Irwin Records cover the entire period of his employment at the NYBG. There are also papers from the late 1950’s concerning the NYBG Brazilian expedition specimens, from which he helped to identify while in graduate school as well as a file called parting thoughts written to Board member Thomas Hubbard, which Dr. Irwin wished to have included with this collection. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence. Included herein are also maps, manuscripts, field notebooks, photographs and newspaper clippings. The NYBG Archives contain 20 of Dr. Irwin’s field notebooks.
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN:
CFN-- Collector’s Field Notebooks
RG4-- Records of the Herbarium
RG3-- Records of the Chief Executive Officer
Dates
- 1944 - 1980
- Majority of material found within 1957 - 1980
Biographical / Historical
Howard Samuel Irwin, a taxonomic botanist specializing in the study of Cassia, began his career at the NYBG in 1960 as a Research Associate and worked his way up to the position of President from 1973-1979.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1928, he received his undergraduate degree from the College of Puget Sound in 1950. A Fulbright teacher of botany and zoology at Queen’s College in British Guiana from 1952-1956, he returned to the USA to study at the University of Texas for his PhD in taxonomic botany from 1956-1960.
Dr. Irwin began his association with the NYBG as early as 1956 as a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin during which time he went to collect specimens in Brazil (primarily in 1958). He joined the staff and served as Research Associate from 1960-1963, Associate Curator from 1963-1966, Curator and Administrator of the Herbarium from 1966-1968, Head Curator from 1968-1971, Executive Director from 1971-1972 and finally as President from 1973-1979.
During his time at the NYBG, Dr. Irwin led eight expeditions to Brazil and one to Surinam between 1960-1972 and is most known for initiating the Planalto do Brasil Program for the botanical study of this isolated region of Brasil. Dr. Irwin was also responsible for administering the NYBG through its most difficult financial period.
After his departure from the Garden, Dr. Irwin was appointed Vice Chancellor of Long Island University (1980-83) and Director of Clark Botanic Garden of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1983-1991).
Extent
3 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
- Title
- Howard S. Irwin records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Stephen Sinon
- Date
- January 2000
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Originally processed in January 2000 by Stephen Sinon. Finding aid was converted to EAD in May 2006 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-50678-04.
Revision Statements
- May 2006: Converted to EAD by Kathleene Konkle.
Repository Details
Part of the The Archives of the New York Botanical Garden Repository
New York Botanical Garden, Mertz Library
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx NY 10458 United States
ssinon@nybg.org