Overview
Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf, a botanist, was the Fisher Professor of Natural History and director of the Botanical Museum at Harvard University. Mangelsdorf was known for his pioneering research on the origins and breeding of corn. The inexpensive cord seed that he developed became widely used in the American southwest and Latin America. The Papers of Paul C. Mangelsdorf document his professional career chiefly from 1935 to 1984. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, research files, photographs, and biographical material.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-1984
Creator
Researcher Access
Open for research with the following exceptions: Harvard University records are restricted for 50 years. Personnel and student records are closed for 80 years. Specific restrictions are noted at the series level.
Extent
14.45 cubic feet (41 document boxes, 3 folders, 1 flat box, 1 portfolio folder)The Papers of Paul C. Mangelsdorf document the professional career of Paul C. Mangelsdorf chiefly from 1935 to 1984. This collection is a valuable resource for research in botany and agronomy and chronicles Mangelsdorf's study of the origins and hybridization of maize. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence documenting Mangelsdorf's interaction with prominent scientists in anthropology, geology, botany, zoology, genetics, and biology and his association with professional organizations and societies. Other records include research files, biographical materials including a transcript of an interview given by Mangelsdorf to the Rockefeller Foundation Program in Agriculture, photographs of Mangelsdorf, his family, friends, and colleagues, and an honorary degree given to Mangelsdorf by Harvard University.
Biographical note on Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf
Paul Christoph Mangelsdorf, a botanist, was the Fisher Professor of Natural History and director of the Botanical Museum at Harvard University. Mangelsdorf was known for his pioneering research on the origins and breeding of corn. The inexpensive cord seed that he developed became widely used in the American southwest and Latin America.
Mangelsdorf received his bachelor's degree from Kansas State College (now Kansas State University) in 1921. After graduation, he joined the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station and entered Harvard University's graduate school program, receiving his master's degree in 1923 and his doctorate in 1925. In 1927, Mangelsdorf accepted a position as an agronomist at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in College Station, where he developed hybrid corn for Texas and new varieties of wheat, oats, and barley. In 1940, Mangelsdorf joined the Harvard faculty as a professor of economic botany, and from 1945 to 1967 was director of the Harvard Botanical Museum. In 1962, Mangelsdorf was appointed Fisher Professor of Natural History. From 1947 to 1966, Mangelsdorf was chairman of Harvard's Institute for Research in Experimental and Applied Botany. He supervised the Arnold Arboretum, the Atkins Garden and Research Laboratory in Cuba, the Bussey Institution, the Maria Moors Cabot Foundation for Botanical Research, and the Harvard Forest. In 1941, Mangelsdorf became a consultant in agriculture to the Rockefeller Foundation, an association that continued until 1968. After retiring from Harvard in 1968, Mangelsdorf joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, continuing his botany research and cross-pollination experiments with corn.
Mangelsdorf was the author of numerous articles for scientific journals on plant breeding. In 1974, Mangelsdorf published Corn: Its Origin, Evolution and Improvement, where he reviews the research on the origin and development of various varieties of corn and the attempts to develop strains with high yield and superior food value. Mangelsdorf was the president of the Genetics Society of America (1955), the American Society of Naturalists (1951), and the Society for Economic Botany (1962).
Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series:
- Autobiographical and biographical material, [circa 1900-1984] (HUGFP 37.1)
- Correspondence files, 1935-1984
- _____ Pre-Harvard correspondence, 1935-1940 (HUGFP 37.6)
- _____ Correspondence files, 1941-1949 (HUGFP 37.8)
- _____ Correspondence files, 1949-1955 (HUGFP 37.10)
- _____ Correspondence files, 1955-1978 (HUGFP 37.12)
- _____ Correspondence files, [circa 1970s-1984] (HUGFP 37.15)
- Research files, 1935-1949
- _____ Pre-Harvard research and notes, 1935-1940 (HUGFP 37.41)
- _____ Research and notes, 1941-1949 (HUGFP 37.51)
- Photographs, 1900-1983
- _____ Photographs of Mangelsdorf, family, friends and colleagues, 1900-1983 (HUGFP37.85p)
- _____ Miscellaneous photographs, 1936-1967 (HUGFP 37.85p pf)
- Harvard honorary degree diploma, 1972 (HUGFP 37.90)
Acquisition Information
Specific acquisition information, when available, is noted at the series level.
- Gift of Paul C. Mangelsdorf, 1977 March 15; Accession 8070.
- Gift of Paul C. Mangelsdorf, 1979 August 17; Accession 8734.
- Gift of Paul C. Mangelsdorf, 1986 March 7; Accession 10684.
Inventory update
This document last updated 2022 April 22.
Processing Information
This finding aid was created in April-May 2021 by Dominic P. Grandinetti.
Information for this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories, reference sources, and container management data. The collection was not re-examined.
Processing and arrangement details of each series are noted at the series level.
Dates and titles supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.
In all respects, the archivist attempted to retain and preserve the original arrangement and existing relationships of the documents, as established by Paul C. Mangelsdorf.
Creator
- Title
- Mangelsdorf, Paul C. (Paul Christoph), 1899-1989. Papers of Paul C. Mangelsdorf, 1900-1984: an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua39021
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu