Guide to the James R. Troyer Collection on North Carolina Botanists, 1834 - 2002

Collection Number MC 335

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Collection Information
Contact Information:
Processed by
Jaime L. Margalotti
Date Completed
August, 2003
Encoded by
Jaime L. Margalotti

Descriptive Summary

Creator

James R. Troyer

Title

James R. Troyer Collection on North Carolina Botanists, 1834 - 2002

Call Number

MC 335

Extent

3 archival storage box, 1.5 linear feet

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff.

Information for Users

Restrictions to Access

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Acquisitions Information

Gift of J. R. Troyer.
Provenance

Unknown
Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], James R. Troyer Collection on North Carolina Botanists, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Copyright Notice

North Carolina State University does not own copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections Research Center are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Biographical Note


The North Carolina Botanists Collection was assembled by North Carolina State University Professor, James R. Troyer, during his research and production of articles about each of the individuals represented here. These men made notable contributions to the state of North Carolina through their work as educators, administrators, and devoted scientists.

Donald B. Anderson had a distinguished career as a teacher and administrator, during his many years of involvement in the North Carolina system of higher education. Born in Schoolcraft, Michigan, in 1899, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as his PhD. at Ohio State University. He served as a botany professor at the University of Wisconsin from 1923-1924, but left for North Carolina in 1925, after completing his PhD. work. Anderson worked at North Carolina State College until 1958, teaching courses on plant physiology and other botanical topics. During this era, Anderson also published much scholarship on the wall structure of cotton fibers and coauthored the textbook, Plant Physiology, with B.S. Meyer, in 1939. Anderson also served as Program Director in Education in the Sciences at the National Acience Foundation, from 1956-1957. Anderson's administrative role in North Carolina's higher education system was also significant. During his time at North Carolina State College he held the positions of department head, head of the Division of Biological Sciences, and dean of the Graduate School. Anderson's contributions to the state of North Carolina were recognized in 1951, with the O. Max Gardner Award. In 1958, he moved to Chapel Hill, taking the position of provost of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, an entity which supervises all public universities and colleges in the state. From 1960-1968, he worked as vice president of academic affairs for the Consolidated University. After his retirement, he continued to teach courses at the universities in Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Greensboro. Dr. Anderson in 1994, at the age of 94.

Hardy Bryan Croom was born to a prominent family in Lenoir County, N.C., in 1797. Croom married Frances Henrietta Smith in 1821 and became involved in politics. He moved to Florida in 1830, to manage the estate of hs deceased father and developed a keen botanical interest. In 1833 he and Dr. H. Loomis produced the Catalogue of Plants Observed in the Neighborhood of New Bern, North Carolina. Croom is also credited with discovering one of the rarest coniferous trees, the Torreya taxifolium, named for Dr. John Torrey. Another species discovered by Croom was named Croomia pauciflora, in his honor. Croom, along with his wife and children, died in 1837, when the steamboat on which they were travelling sank off the coast of North Carolina.

North Carolina's Hyams family produced three important botanists. Mordecai E. Hyams was born in Charleston, S.C., in 1819. In 1861 he moved to Charlotte to purchase botnical materials to be used in the production of medication for Confederate soldiers. Hyams himself enlisted, ran the medical supply department in Charlotte, N.C., and then moved to Statesville. Hyams continued in the drug manufacturing business. most notably, he was botanist and manager for the Wallace Brothers Herbarium. Charles Walter and George often accopanied their father on expeditions to gather and identify plants. M.E. Hyams is known to be responsible for discovering 166 new plant species in North Carolina. In 1878, the Hyams' fmaily rediscovered the rare Shortia galacifolia along the Catawba River in McDowell County. M.E. Hyams died in 1891 and George did not contunue to be involved in science, but C.W. Hyams remained involved in botany. Charles worked as an instructor in botany and entomology at the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and also worked at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Dismissed by the college's board of trustees, in 1901, Hyams went to prison for reselling stolen books, in 1907. When released, he became a recluse, occasionally contributing articles to the local newspaper and died in 1941. George spent his career as the postmaster and owner of a general store in Old Fort, N.C. and died in 1932.

Detailed Description of the Collection


  • MC 335 Series 01:Anderson, Donald B., 1899 - 1996


    .5 Archival Boxes , .25 linear feet
    • Personal, 1899 - 1996
      • Biographical Information - General, 1899 - 1996 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder1]
      • Biographical Information - Family, 1926 - 1990 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder2]
    • Professional, 1925 - 1978
      • Administrative Work, 1933 - 1964 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder3]
      • North Carolina State University Botany Department History, 1977 - 1978 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder4]
      • Research, 1952 - 1979 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder5]
      • Teaching, 1925 - 1978 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder6]
    • Photographs, ca. 1950s
      • Portrait, ca. 1950s [MC 335 Box 1, Folder7]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]


  • MC 335 Series 02:Croom, H.B., 1834 - 2002


    .5 Archival Boxes , .25 linear feet
    • Personal, 1883 - 2002
      • Biographical Information, 1883 - 2002 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder8]
    • Professional, 1834 - 1983
      • Research - Torreya and Croomia, 1834 - 1983 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder9]
      • Publications, 1834 - 1954 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder10]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]


  • MC 335 Series 03:Hyams, C.W., 1894 - 2001


    1 folder , .02 linear feet
    • Personal, 1890 - 1995
      • Biographical Information, 1894 - 2001 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder11]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]

  • Hyams, Mordecai E., 1890 - 1995


    1 folder , .02 linear feet
    • Personal, 1890 - 1995
      • Biographical Information, 1894 - 2001 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder12]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]


  • MC 335 Series 04:McCarthy, Gerald, 1882 - 2002


    1 Archival Box , .5 linear feet
    • Personal, 1857 - 2000
      • Article - Stopped Ears Open Mind, Gerald McCarthy (1858-1915), North Carolina Botanist, 1999 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder13]
      • Biographical Information, 1897 - 1995 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder14]
      • Deafness, 1893 - 1989 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder15]
      • McCarthy Family Records, 1888 - 1982 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder16]
      • Troyer's Correspondence with Family, 1990 - 2002 [MC 335 Box 1, Folder17]
      • Education, 1882 - 1999
        • Gallaudet College, 1882 - 1982 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder1]
        • Cornell University, 1897 - 1983 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder2]
        • University of Chicago, 1898 - 1983 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder3]
        • Troyer's Correspondence with Colleges, 1989 - 1999 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder4]
    • Professional, 1884 - 1997
      • Smithsonian Institution (located in box 3), 1884 - 1898 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder5]
      • North Carolina Experiment Station, 1888 - 1997
        • General, 1896 - 1937 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder6]
        • Station Work, 1888 - 1987 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder7]
        • Crop Pest Control, 1898 - 1930 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder8]
        • Seed Testing, 1889 - 1997 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder9]
        • Southern Pines, 1896 - 1900 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder10]
        • Fusion Politics, 1897 - 1987 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder11]
        • Lawsuits and Complaints, 1897 - 1987 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder12]
      • North Carolina Horticultural Society, 1886 - 1895 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder13]
      • Publications, 1884 - 1904
        • 1884 - 1894 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder14]
        • 1897 - 1904 [MC 335 Box 2, Folder15]
        • Bibliography and Notes, n.d. [MC 335 Box 2, Folder16]
        • Bibliography and Statistics, n.d. [MC 335 Box 2, Folder17]
    • Photographs, ca. 1880s
      • Portraits, ca. 1880s [MC 335 Box 2, Folder18]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]


  • MC 335 Series 05:Oral Histories, 1925 - 1996


    1 Archival Box , .5 linear feet
    • Audio Cassette Indexes, 1978 - 1981 [MC 335 Box 1]
    • H.T. Scofield (1-2), 22 January 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 1]
    • H.T. Scofield (3-4), 22 January 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 2]
    • H.T. Scofield (5-6), 22 January 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 3]
    • H.T. Scofield (7), 22 January 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 4]
    • D.B. Anderson (1-2), 11 February 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 5]
    • D.B. Anderson (3), 11 February 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 6]
    • L.A. Whitford (1-2), 16 February 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 7]
    • L.A. Whitford (3-4), 16 February 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 8]
    • B.W. Wells, Maude Barnes Wells, 1971, 22 September 1979, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 9]
    • B.W. Wells, Maude Barnes Wells, 1971, 22 September 1979, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 9 Copy]
    • G.R. Noggle, ca. 1978 ?, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 10]
    • B.W. Wells, A Memorial, 31 December 1978 [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 11]
    • Dedication of Bostian Hall, 17 December 1980, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 12]
    • Wells/Harkema Dedication, 9 March 1981, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 13]
    • Wells/Harkema Dedication, 9 March 1981, [MC 335 Box 3, Cassette 13 Master Copy]

    [Return to Descriptive Summary]