Elisabeth Wheeler Collection of Wood Anatomy Glass Negatives 1939-1940, 1987-2003

Dr. Elisabeth Wheeler (born in 1944) is professor Emerita of Forest Biomaterials at NC State University. Her groundbreaking research has made her a nationally recognized expert in wood anatomy and identification.

Dr. Wheeler received a B.A. in Biology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1965. She continued with graduate studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where she received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Botany. She then worked as a research fellow at the Bailey-Wetmore Laboratory of Plant Anatomy and Morphology at Harvard University and became a professor in what was then the Department of Wood and Paper Science at North Carolina State University. She retired in 2008.

Dr. Wheeler's research centers on identifying microscopic characteristics of both hardwoods and softwoods as well as both wood fossils and modern trees. Identifying cellular characteristics of these woods helps wood scientists understand tree behavior in various environments. This line of study, also called wood anatomy, has led to breakthroughs in practices of tree harvesting and logging.

Dr. Wheeler was instrumental in establishing InsideWood, an online wood anatomy database, to support research, teaching, and identification. Some of the images within this collection can be found digitally at InsideWood.

Dr. Wheeler likely received the glass slides from Dr. Herbert Eric Dadswell and Dr. H.D. Ingle, two researchers in wood anatomy who published together frequently with the Division of Forest Products at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australian Government), formerly CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research).

The Elisabeth Wheeler Collection of Wood Anatomy Glass Negatives primarily contains glass negatives depicting microscopic views of wood characteristics. Each negative has an ID number, although there is no key or index included. Many are accompanied by a photographic print of the image. A small number of negatives are film. Many glass negatives are dated from 1939-1940, and the large number of undated negatives can be assumed to have been taken during a similar time period. The negatives are primarily of trees found in Australia, including a large number of eucalyptus species.

Also included is a dataset for a manuscript, "Fossil Dicotyledonous Wood Database," 1989-1990, as well as an index of different United States woods and some photographic negatives, 1987-2003.

This collection is arranged in the order received.

The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.

The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.

[Identification of item], Elisabeth Wheeler Collection of Wood Anatomy Glass Negatives, MC 00758, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Transferred from Elisabeth Wheeler, 2024 June (Accession 2024.0069).

Finding aid written by: Cathy Dorin-Black, 2024 July; Full processing by: Katie Bushman, 2025 June; Finding aid updated by: Katie Bushman, 2025 June.