Robert Phillip Upchurch Collection 1941-2016

Summary
Contents
Names/subjects
Using these materials
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Creator
Upchurch, Robert Phillip
Size
93.25 linear feet (134 boxes, 3 card boxes, 13 cartons, 4 flat boxes, 6 flat folders, 1 half box, 1 oversize flat box, 3 slide boxes)
Call number
MC 00029

The Robert Phillip Upchurch Collection contains personal and professional papers of plant scientist Robert Phillip Upchurch. This collection contains annual reports, 1953-1965, written by Upchurch for a project at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, The Development of Principles and Practices for the Control of Weeds in Cotton, Peanuts, Soybeans, Forage Crops, Turf and for the Control of Nutsedge, Johnson Grass and Woody Plants, as well as class notes, 1941-1949, from Upchurch's years as a student in crop science and plant physiology. Robert P. Upchurch's personal military records, 1948-1967, are included in the collection, as are the Upchurch Bulletin, 1980-2006, and Englandia, 1996-1999, family history quarterlies edited and published by Robert Phillip Upchurch. Also included are publications and other materials of the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), and the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

Robert Phillip Upchurch, 1928-2020, was born in Wake County, North Carolina, on February 9, 1928. He graduated from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University) with a B.S. in Crop Science in 1948. He received a master's degree in 1949 and in 1953 was awarded a Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis. Upchurch was a member of the faculty at North Carolina State College from 1949 to 1965. From 1955 to 1957 Upchurch served in the United States Air Force with the rank of second lieutenant. From 1965 through 1975 he worked for the Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. From 1975 to 1990 Upchurch was a professor and head of the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Arizona.

Biographical/historical note

Robert Phillip Upchurch, 1928-2020, was born in Wake County, North Carolina, on February 9, 1928. He graduated from North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University) with a B.S. in Crop Science in 1948. He received a master's degree in 1949. In 1953, he was awarded a Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis.

Upchurch served as an instructor at North Carolina State College from 1949 to 1953, and as an assistant professor from 1953 to 1955 and again from 1957 to 1960. He served in the United States Air Force, Air Research and Development Command, with the rank of lieutenant from 1955 to 1957. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve until 1967, retiring with the rank of captain. Upchurch was active in research that established the principles of the behavior of herbicides in soil and the development of weed control practices for peanuts and cotton.

From 1965 through 1975 Upchurch worked for the Monsanto Corporation as the manager of research for their Agricultural Division in St. Louis, Missouri. From 1975 to 1990 Upchurch was a professor and head of the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Arizona. While at the University of Arizona Dr. Upchurch also served as the Director of Development and Alumni Affairs and as the Director of the College of Agriculture's Arboretum Affairs.

Upchurch retired from teaching at the University of Arizona in 1990, and pursued a career as a farmer and real estate developer in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. He also developed an extensive and thoroughly researched genealogical study of his family origins in America, documenting ancestral ties to an original member of the seventeenth-century Virgina Charter Company, Michael Upchurch, one of the first English colonists to settle in what is now Wake County, North Carolina.

Professional organizations with which Upchurch was involved include Sigma Xi, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Weed Society of America, American Society of Plant Physiology, Arizona Crop Improvement Association, Arizona Academy of Science, the Soil and Water Conservation Society of America, and the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). He founded the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America as well.

Robert Phillip Upchurch died on May 27, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Scope/content

The Robert Phillip Upchurch Collection contains personal and professional papers of plant scientist Robert Phillip Upchurch. This collection contains annual reports, 1953-1965, written by Robert Phillip Upchurch for a project at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, The Development of Principles and Practices for the Control of Weeds in Cotton, Peanuts, Soybeans, Forage Crops, Turf and for the Control of Nutsedge, Johnson Grass and Woody Plants. These reports document Upchurch's research on the principles of the behavior of herbicides in soil and the development of weed control practices for peanuts and cotton. Also included in the collection are class notes from Upchurch's years as a student of crop science and plant physiology. Upchurch's personal military records are included in the collection along with a complete set of the Upchurch Bulletin, a family history quarterly edited and published by Robert Phillip Upchurch. Additionally there is a complete set of Englandia, a quarterly that Upchurch published to chronicle family ties to the Upchurch families in England. There are also extensive records of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, an organization of which Upchurch was a prominent member. Also included are publications and other materials related to the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America and awards, mementos, and artifacts. Materials from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) are also included.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into twelve series:

  • 1. Annual Reports
  • 2. Class Notes and Agromecks
  • 3. Military Records
  • 4. Upchurch Family History
  • 5. Plant Growth Regulation Society Publications and Other Material
  • 6. Awards, Mementos, and Artifacts
  • 7. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) Documentation
  • 8. American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) Files
  • 9. Publications
  • 10. Weed Science Society of America and Other Professional Associations
  • 11. Eras
  • 12. Correspondence and Other Papers

Use of these materials

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert Phillip Upchurch Collection, MC 00029, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Source of acquisition

Gift of Robert P. Upchurch, 2006 October (Accession no. 2006.0165), 2009 May (Accession no. 2009.0089), 2012 December (Accession no. 2012.0312), 2013 May (Accession no. 2013.0211), 2016 May (Accession no. 2016.0222), and 2021 April (Accession no. 2021.0032).

Processing information

Processed by Michael Watts, 2006 November ; revised by Linda Sellars, 2009 April; additional processing by Meaghan Lanier, 2013 May; additional processing by Meaghan Lanier, 2013 July; additional processing by Taylor de Klerk, 2016 September; addition processed by Abigail Leinfelder, Henry Crew, and Kennedy Pierce, 2022 June

Encoded by Michael Watts, 2006 November ; Finding aid updated by Clara Wilson, 2022 July

Please note that some historical materials may contain harmful content and/or descriptions. Learn how we’re addressing it.

Access to the collection

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.

For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.

Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111

Phone: (919) 515-2273

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert Phillip Upchurch Collection, MC 00029, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Use of these materials

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.