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COLLECTION Identifier: HUGFP 112

Papers of Martin Huldrych Zimmermann

Overview

Martin Huldrych Zimmermann (1926-1984) was Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Forest. Zimmermann’s biological and botanical research included topics such as long-distance transport in higher plants, structure and physiology of trees, and translocation of nutrients in plants. The Papers of Martin Huldrych Zimmermann reflect his career as a researcher and teacher from 1948 to 1983. The collection documents his research, lectures, teaching, publishing, administrative responsibilities at Harvard, and correspondence with colleagues, researchers, students, and others.

Dates

  • Creation: 1948 - 1983

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English. May include some materials in German.

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. Requires review by archivist.

Extent

6.44 cubic feet (16 document boxes, 3 half document boxes, 3 folders, 1 card box, and 1 pamphlet folder)

The Papers of Martin Huldrych Zimmermann document Zimmermann’s career as a researcher and teacher at Harvard from 1948 to 1983. The collection contains correspondence, lecture and teaching papers, research and publishing materials, and administrative records. Correspondence is with colleagues, research scientists, publishers, and others. Topics include Zimmermann’s and others’ biological and botanical research, publications, grant proposals, teaching, and Zimmermann’s administrative responsibilities at Harvard. Lecture and teaching materials are for the fields of forestry, biology, and botany, and include transcripts and notes for talks and papers presented at conferences, class notes, syllabi, student comments and grades, and letters of recommendation. Also included are audio tapes of talks and discussions from two symposia sponsored by the Maria Moors Cabot Foundation. Research materials include notes, results, grant proposals, and correspondence on topics including plant and tree physiology, fluid transport in trees, growth increments, plant anatomy, diseases, and other biological and botanical research topics. Includes material related to research work Zimmermann performed while Forest Physiologist and Lecturer on Forest Physiology for the Maria Moors Cabot Foundation for Botanical Research at the Harvard Forest. Publishing materials include correspondence, notes, reviews, and other papers related to Zimmermann’s published books and articles. Also included are reprints and pamphlets.

Biographical Note on Martin Huldrych Zimmermann

Martin Huldrych Zimmermann was Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Forest. Zimmermann was born in Bulach, Switzerland on November 27, 1926 to parents Rudolf Emanuel Zimmermann and Ella Wunn Zimmermann. He was educated at Freies Gymnasium in Zurich and received a diploma in the section for national sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. His thesis was in plant physiology written under the direction of Professor Albert Frey-Wyssling. Zimmermann was an assistant in the Department of Plant Physiology from 1951 to 1954 and received his doctorate in natural science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1953. He came to Harvard as a Maria Moors Cabot Foundation for Botanical Research Fellow in 1954 and was Forest Physiologist and Lecturer on Forest Physiology in a joint appointment with the Department of Biology. He gained tenure in 1960 and became the Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry and Director of the Harvard Forest in 1969. Zimmermann became a U.S. citizen in 1977. He died on March 7, 1984 in Cambridge, MA.

Zimmermann’s research was on long-distance transport in higher plants, the process whereby water moves from roots to leaves and assimilated sugars are distributed. His early research was on phloem transport and used the then newly developed technique of paper chromatography. His later research tended increasingly towards the study of the water transport mechanism within the xylem tissue and particularly the way this mechanism could be upset as the result either of freezing or pathological conditions. The concept of the vascular system of plants as a compromised between “safety” and “efficiency” was a central theme of Zimmermann’s later research, which he wrote about in the book Xylem Structure and the Ascent of Sap (1983). He also studied the structure and physiology of trees and the translocation of nutrients in plants.

Zimmermann published many articles and books on his research, including Anatomy of the Palm Rhapis Excelsa (1965-1984), Trees: Structure and Function (1971), Transport in Plants (1975-1976), and Artificial Key to the Common Marine Algae of New England North of Cape Cod (1977), and was co-editor for the series Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series (1975-1993). Zimmermann was active in many professional organizations. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1962 and the International Association of Wood Sciences in 1971. He received an honorary Master of Arts from Harvard in 1970 and received the Barrington Moore Memorial of the Society of American Foresters in 1978. He was elected an Honorary Member of the Polish Botanical Society in 1983. He was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the Botanical Society of America.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in nine series. The collection follows the arrangement of call numbers given to series upon receipt at the Harvard University Archives.

  1. General correspondence, 1953-1983 (HUGFP 112.7)
  2. Papers relating to conferences and lectures, 1954-1982 (HUGFP 112.45)
  3. Papers relating to Maria Moors Cabot Foundation experiments and research, 1955-1963, 1979-1982 (HUGFP 112.47)
  4. Papers relating to reviews, 1961-1983 (HUGFP 112.50)
  5. Papers relating to Harvard, 1948, 1966-1983 (HUGFP 112.52)
  6. Correspondence and other papers relating to published works, 1969-1982 (HUGFP 112.53)
  7. Nine reel-to-reel tapes of Maria Moors Cabot Foundation Symposia, circa 1959, 1963 (HUGFP 112.55)
  8. Papers relating to Harvard courses, 1970-1983 (HUGFP 112.61)
  9. Reprints, pamphlets, etc. (HUGB Z400.72)

Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. [Elvira] Martin H. Zimmermann, received 1985-06-25; accession 10468.

Related Materials

In the Harvard Forest Archive
  1. Records of the Harvard Forest, 1904-1986. http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990006025580203941/catalog

Inventory update

This document last updated 2022 April 22.

Processing Information

The finding aid was created by Erin Clauss in May 2021. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy inventories and container management data. Titles are transcribed, except those in square brackets. The collection was not re-examined.

Title
Zimmermann, Martin Huldrych, 1926-. Papers of Martin Huldrych Zimmermann, 1948-1983 : an inventory
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua46021

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.

Contact:
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