Library Acquires Papers of Plant Scientist: Dr. Robert Phillip Upchurch
Contact:
Gregory Raschke, NCSU Libraries, (919) 515-7188
The North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) announces the acquisition of the professional and personal papers of plant scientist Dr. Robert Phillip (Phil) Upchurch.
Dr. Upchurch conducted his research in a variety of settings, and his work has had a deep impact on the country’s agricultural practices. His primary research interests encompassed forage crops, weed control, and the behavior of herbicides in soil. Dr. Upchurch began his professional career as a member of the faculty at North Carolina State College from 1949 to 1965. While serving in the Air Force from 1955 to 1957, he studied vegetation control on bombing ranges and participated in debates about the future of the atomic bomb. From 1965 through 1975 Dr. Upchurch worked for the Monsanto Corporation as the manager of research for its Agricultural Division in St. Louis, Missouri. He played a key role in the development of the herbicide Roundup™, a compound that proved to be extremely effective and benign for the environment. Dr. Upchurch spent the last two decades of his career with the University of Arizona as a professor and in numerous administrative roles, including head of the Plant Sciences Department, associate director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and, at the college level, associate dean, director of development, and director of instruction. As director of the Arboretum Affairs Department, he organized the Desert Legume Program. He served often as a consultant to industry and governmental organizations and led an agricultural improvement program in Yemen for the U.S. State Department. Throughout his career Dr. Upchurch was active in several professional groups and was president of three national societies.
Dr. Upchurch’s personal papers reflect a compelling life story with deep roots in North Carolina—a life marked by overcoming obstacles, seizing opportunities, and being committed to doing the best work possible whatever the circumstances. Born in Wake County, Dr. Upchurch was raised in difficult circumstances on a cotton farm plagued by erosion and the boll weevil. The family lost the farm during the Depression, although they were later able to reclaim the land through one of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. In an oral interview conducted at the University of Arizona in 1994, Dr. Upchurch noted that these early experiences “continued to influence my thinking about agriculture throughout my life.”
During World War II, Dr. Upchurch took a full-time position with the forage crops program at the North Carolina State Agricultural College and did not graduate from high school; nonetheless, he would later enter and work his way through NC State as an agronomy major. He married Eva Sallaine Sledge immediately after completing the requirements for his bachelor’s degree and proceeded to earn a master’s degree from the university in three terms. With Sallaine’s help in collecting data around the clock, Dr. Upchurch took only two years to finish his Ph.D. in plant physiology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Upchurch returned to NCSU as a faculty member, where the lean budgets of the rapidly expanding university meant he had minimal resources with which to work. By the time he left the Department of Crop Science in 1965, he had been so successful in securing grants and other sources of support that his budget represented about 10% of the total department’s. This “can-do” approach and a willingness to take risks would be consistent hallmarks of his distinguished career.
After retiring from the University of Arizona, Dr. Upchurch returned to the St. Louis area to farm and pursue other business interests. He has also been able to dedicate time and energy to his long-standing interest in North Carolina history. He is the ninth generation of the family started by Michael Upchurch, who was born in England around 1624 and migrated to America around 1638. By the time of the American Revolution, the family had relocated to North Carolina and came to play major roles in all walks of life in the central part of the state. In conjunction with his exploration of the family lineage, Dr. Upchurch plans to write a history of the Swift Creek Township, where Upchurches started settling around 1870. The area occupies approximately eight square miles and is nestled between Raleigh, Cary, and Apex.
The Upchurch collection contains reports documenting his research activities, class notes, publications related to the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America, complete runs of the “Upchurch Bulletin” and “Englandia” (quarterlies related to the Upchurch family history), and awards, mementos, and artifacts.
Greg Raschke, Associate Director for Collections and Scholarly Communication, observes that “the collection, with its emphasis on innovation in agriculture and its documentation of NC State and Wake County history, is important for the Libraries, the university, and the state. As a former administrator, Dr. Upchurch realizes that a collection of this magnitude requires resources to make it accessible, and he has established an endowment to support its processing and future growth. We very much appreciate his sustained involvement with the university and the local area.”
The NCSU Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, located in the East Wing of D. H. Hill Library, holds research and primary resource materials in subjects that reflect and support the teaching and research needs of the university. By emphasizing established and emerging areas of excellence at the university and corresponding strengths within the Libraries’ overall collection, the SCRC is strategically developing collections with the aim of becoming an indispensable source of information for generations of scholars.
