Virginia Academy of Science Records

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Virginia Academy of Science Records, Ms1981-096, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
68.6 Cubic Feet 49 boxes and 2 oversize folders
Creator:
Virginia Academy of Science
Abstract:
The Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) Records includes VAS publications dating from 1939-2004 and also includes manuscript and published versions of various Academy histories. The Academy Archives also includes correspondence, report, and minutes of section and of ad hoc and standing committees, annual financial statements, photographs and clippings, by-laws, and constitutions, records of special projects such as the visiting scientists program (supported by National Science Foundation grants), the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research and the Virginia Museum of Science.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Virginia Academy of Science Records, Ms1981-096, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The Virginia Academy of Science Records includes VAS publications dating from 1939-present. These include such in-house works as Review of the First Ten Years of the Research Committee (1939), Announcement and a Challenge (1946?), and the Future (1950). The Academy has also published periodicals throughout its history. Claytonia was the first VAS journal (1934-1939), followed by the Virginia Journal of Science (1940-1943) and the Virginia Journal of Science, New Series (VJS, 1950-present). The Flora Committee of the Botany Section also periodically publishes a newsletter which became known as Jeffersonia in 1980; the records contain only scattered issues (11) from 1969-1970, 1980. The Academy Records also has copies of directories, brochures, and membership fliers which the VAS has published since about 1946.

The VAS Records also includes manuscript and published versions of various Academy histories; especially interesting are the early versions by Ivey Foreman Lewis (first VAS president) and E. C. L. Miller. The collection contains quite extensive records of the work of Isabel Boggs and George Jeffers to coordinate the efforts of members to record the Academy's past as well as the resulting master's thesis of Harry J. Staggers, History of the Virginia Academy of Science, 1925-1927 (College of William and Mary, 1966). This history of the VAS appeared in the Winter 1968 issue of the Virginia Journal of Science and in Spring 1973 the Journal carried the more recent VAS history, 1948-1972, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Virginia Academy of Science charter.

The early records of the Academy can be attributed largely to the efforts of E. C. L. Miller who was the only officer (secretary and treasurer) to serve continuously, 1924-1949. During these years, he corresponded widely for the entire Academy, maintained committee reports, compiled the yearly programs, and saw that formal records were published annually in the Proceedings. The strength of the VAS Records lies largely in the historic intuition of such officers, section heads, or committee chairs who maintained the files. Some files are much more complete than others. The early records of the Research Committee, for example, contain applications, papers submitted for consideration for the annual award, and records of the efforts of J. Shelton Horsley to raise an endowment to support these awards, which were later named in his honor. More recent files are limited to minutes and annual reports. The Geology Section has perhaps the most complete set of records of section activities, especially during the leadership of William M. McGill. The activities of other committees and sections are often preserved in the Council's records, however, while the Proceedings through 1966 and/or the annual meeting files often contain reports of committees and sections.

The Academy Records also includes correspondence, report, and minutes of section and of ad hoc and standing committees, annual financial statements, photographs and clippings, by-laws, and constitutions, records of special projects such as the visiting scientists program (supported by National Science Foundation grants), the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research and the Virginia Museum of Science.

Biographical / historical:

In 1923, one hundred and thirty-five scientists chartered the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) and held their first annual VAS meeting in Williamsburg on April 26th. The Academy has continued to meet annually since then (except during World War II), bringing together scientists from every field throughout the state.

The VAS has also published numerous works and serials, including the first VAS journal Claytonia (1934-1939), followed by the Virginia Journal of Science (1940-1943) and the Virginia Journal of Science, New Series (VJS, 1950-present). The Journal often focuses on special topics such as the issue which was devoted to the 1964 Virginia Symposium on Human Resources (held during the annual VAS conference); "Early Virginia," articles on scientific and cultural development in Virginia, was especially reprinted for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1957; and in 1969 the VJS carried a series of articles on Virginia's Dismal Swamp area. The Publications Committee records show that the Dismal Swamp series was the culmination of the work of many Academy members who had originally hoped for a separate work to be published like the James River Basin study. The Flora Committee of the Botany Section also periodically publishes a newsletter which became known as Jeffersonia in 1980.

Acquisition information:

The Virginia Academy of Science Records deposited in Special Collections are largely the result of the preservation of the records by the individual officers, section heads, and committee chairs. Throughout the Academy's history these records have been stored in various places around the state. Their being brought together in 1981 in one location is largely the work of the VAS Archives Committee under the leadership of Dr. Boyd Harshbarger. Donations have been made continuously since that time by the Academy and individual members.

Additional donations are expected in the future.

Processing information:

The collection was reorganized, and recent donations incorporated, from September 1998 to March 1999, by Gina Ellis, student assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator. Additional donations were processed in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Arrangement:

The records of the Virginia Academy of Science have primarily been arranged in chronological order by year, then by the principal officers who maintained large quantities of records, and by the scientific sections and committees whose records have survived.

Boxes 1-20 are arranged chronologically by subject files. Boxes 26 and 28-36 contain VAS papers arranged chronologically by creator/collector. Boxes 37-38 are arranged by material type.

Boxes 21-25, 27, and 39-40 contain publications arranged chronologically by title.

Boxes 41-49 are in their original order.

Physical location:
Please note: Boxes 1-49 are located in off-site storage and require 2-3 days notices for retrieval. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard