Collections

The collection contains 34 black and white photographs taken in 35mm black-and-white film of marine landscapes, taken in Guinea, Virginia, in collaboration with Big Island Aquaculture. The photographs include the owner of Aquaculture, Cathy Vogt, her husband Bruce, their son Daniel (manager of the farm), and their employees, Robert and Kate. The photographs depict fishing boats, oysters, as well as family and employees working on boats.

Dates; 1881-1984; personal and professional papers of Sewell Hepburn Hopkins (1906-1984), a marine biologist and Professor of Biology at Texas A & M University (1935-1972), best known for his research into the effects of oil spills on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. His papers document his professional career, but focus on Research Project 9 (1947-1950), headed by Hopkins and sponsored by the Texas A & M University Research Foundation, regarding abnormally high mortality rates in oyster beds harvested by Louisiana oystermen. One of at least four major research projects initiated as a result of lawsuits filed in 1946 by Louisiana oystermen against major oil companies active in offshore drilling in the Gulf Mexico, Project 9 resulted in the identification and published description (1950) of a newly discovered parasite called Dermocystidium marinum. The lawsuits against the oil companies were subsequently dropped or settled out of court.

Collection is stored off-site: Researchers need to give a minimum of 72 hours notice for records retrieval. Papers, ca. 1940s-1950s; of Sewell H. Hopkins, professor of Texas A&M University. Includes correspondence, reports, biographical data, photographs, administrative files, certificates, and other research papers. Papers concerning Project 9, San Antonio Bay Projects, and other.