The collection consists of records describing the administrative function of and research projects undertaken by the North Carolina State University Department of Plant Biology. In addition, there are also items regarding departmental seminars, reviews, a study guide, and a history of the department written by L. A. (Larry Alston) ...
MoreThe collection consists of records describing the administrative function of and research projects undertaken by the North Carolina State University Department of Plant Biology. In addition, there are also items regarding departmental seminars, reviews, a study guide, and a history of the department written by L. A. (Larry Alston) Whitford in 1970. The collection is arranged in four series: Administrative Records, Research and Development, Maps, and Artifacts. The Administrative Records series contains correspondence, course material, and departmental review items. The Research and Development series contains project proposals and reports concerning research in botany. Most of the projects contained in the latter series were federally sponsored by such agencies as NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Maps series contains a small group of field maps used by botany faculty and/or students. The Artifacts series contains a lantern used by B.W. Wells while doing fieldwork. Botanical work at North Carolina State began in concert with the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, which was established in the 1870s and later became part of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University). The first courses were offered at the college in 1889. Botany appears to have been a part of biology instruction until approximately 1912, when the two disciplines were separated. In 1945, a Plant Pathology section was created within the School of Agriculture, resulting in a new Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. With the creation of the Division of Biological Sciences in 1950, the two sections were split, creating two separate departments. Both operated under the administration of the Division of Biological Sciences. The division was abolished in 1958, and the Department of Botany and Bacteriology was established from those two curricula. In 1962 the Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS) was created, with Botany becoming one of five departments under its aegis. The IBS was dissolved in 1971. In the meantime, in 1966 the bacteriology program was split off from Botany, becoming the Department of Microbiology. In 2006 the Department of Botany changed its name to Plant Biology. In 2013 it became the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology.
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