MS 5 Charles Russell Orcutt Papers
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- San Diego History Center Document Collection
- Creator
- Orcutt, Charles Russell
- Title
- Charles Russell Orcutt Papers
- ID
- MS 5
- Date
- 1878-1952
- Extent
- 2.5 Linear feet (5 boxes)
- Language
- English
- Language of Materials
- Collection materials are in English.
- Abstract
- This collection contains materials related to Charles Russell Orcutt’s work in Jamaica, Haiti, Mexico and the American Southwest as well as his family history.
Preferred Citation
Charles Russell Orcutt Papers, MS 5, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Charles Russell Orcutt, born in Vermont in 1864, was a pioneer naturalist of the American Southwest. He was a resident of San Diego from 1879 until his death in 1929, but spent much of his time traveling and collecting botanical and zoological specimens for supply houses and research organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution. His travels took him throughout the American Southwest, Mexico and to the islands of the Caribbean, where he died. Self-educated, Orcutt was an entrepreneur and an editor of his own scientific journals, and made significant contributions to the fields of botany and malacology.
Scope and Content
This collection contains materials related to Charles Russell Orcutt’s work in Jamaica, Haiti, Mexico and the American Southwest as well as his family history. The materials consist of correspondence, journals, writings, research and field notes and personal items. Orcutt often reused paper from letters he had received, creating several instances of more than one piece of correspondence on a single sheet. Some correspondence is transcribed. The best collection of Orcutt materials extant, the collection chronicles the last few years of the naturalist’s life. The completeness and format of the correspondence in particular, provide an almost daily record of his activities during this period. The collection also includes volumes of Orcutt’s two major journals, the Jamaica Naturalist and the West American Scientist. There is genealogical information on the Orcutt family and materials regarding other family members, including his wife Olive Eddy Orcutt, a San Diego physician and the first woman M.D. graduated from the University of Michigan, his mother, and his children and grandchildren.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by series:
Series I: Charles Russell Orcutt Professional Papers
Series II: Charles Russell Orcutt Family Papers
Administrative Information
Publication Information
San Diego History Center Document Collection May 31, 2013
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number 810606 and 831025A.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Jennifer Vanoni on May 15, 2013.
Controlled Access Headings
Geographic Name(s)
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- West Indies
Personal Name(s)
- Bartram, Edwin B.
- Ivec, Eunice Orcutt
- Orcutt, Charles Eddy
- Orcutt, Eliza
- Orcutt, Heman
- Orcutt, Mary
- Orcutt, Olive Eddy
- Vendryes, Henry
Subject(s)
- American Southwest
- Botany
- Butterflies
- Cactus
- Conchologists
- Ferns
- Malacologists
- Mollusks
- Phanerogams
- San Diego Society of Natural History
- Shells
- Smithsonian Institution
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Most of the papers including datebooks, journals and field notes are fragile and some have water stains. The more fragile pieces have been placed in protective sleeves or envelopes. (May 2013)
Comments
Photographs were removed to the Photograph Department. See Collection #82:14189.
Collection Inventory
Series I Charles Russell Orcutt Professional Papers |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| Journal – “Review of the Cactacae” Part 1, Vol. I Nos. 2-4, Vol. 2 Nos. 5-7 1897-1902 | 1:1 | |||
| Journal – “Botany of Southern California” (with review) 1901, (1903) | 1:2 | |||
| Journal – “American Plants” Vol. I No. 6, Vol. 2, Vol. 3 (various pages of each) 1907-1910 | 1:3 | |||
| Journal – “Orcutt’s Mexico” Vol. I No. 1 Aug 1913 | 1:4 | |||
| Journal – “Molluscan World” Vol. I 1915 | 1:5 | |||
| Journal – “Jamaican Naturalist” Vol. I Nos. 1-4, various loose pages, “The American Botanist with reference to “Jamaica Naturalist”, Notes. 1927-1928 | 1:6 | |||
| Journal – “West American Scientist” Index to Volumes I, II, III and IV, Vol. XXIV No. 177 1884-88, 1928 | 1:7 | |||
| Other writings – 1885, 1889, 1909, 1918
Includes: “Notes on the Mollusks of the Vicinity of San Diego, Cal., and Todos Santos Bay, Lower Cal.”; “The Oaks of San Diego”; “Helix Areolata”; “In Baja California”; “Impressions of Jamaica”. |
1:8 | |||
| Research Notes (handwritten)
Includes: “Mosses of Jamaica”; “Butterflies of Jamaica”; “Land Snails of Jam.”; “Shells of Jamaica (Terrestrial); “Shells of Jamaica (Marine); “Shells of Jamaica (Fresh Water); “Notes on Cacti, Chiefly West Indian”; “Jamaican Phanerogams Collected by C.R. Orcutt”; “List of the Determinations of Jamaican Phanerogams Collected by C.R. Orcutt”; “Collections Made in the West Indies by Charles Russell Orcutt”. |
1:9 | |||
| Journal Advertisement – “Science and Horticulture” 30 Oct 1892 | 1:11 | |||
| Miscellaneous Specimen Notes | 2:1 | |||
| Miscellaneous Lists | 2:2 | |||
| Field Notes (Fragile, Unbound Notebook) | 3:1 | |||
| Fields Notes (Loose Pages) | 2:4 | |||
| Datebook/Diary 1927-1929 | 2:5 | |||
| Correspondence – Smithsonian Institution, Re: Collecting 4 Feb 1927 – 8 Dec 1930 | 2:6 | |||
| Correspondence – Re: Specimen and Order Information 1921-1929 | 2:7 | |||
| Correspondence – Fr. De Laet, Belgium, Re: Specimens 1926-1928 | 2:8 | |||
| Correspondence – Re: Requests for Journals 1926-1929 | 3:1 | |||
| Correspondence – Miscellaneous Professional Correspondence 1895, 1922-29 | 3:2 | |||
| Correspondence – Re: Travel and Introductions 1894-1928 | 3:3 | |||
| Ephemera – Caribbean Islands | 3:4-5 | |||
| Ephemera – Mexico | 3:6 | |||
| Ephemera – Texas | 3:7 | |||
| Ephemera – Professional Associations | 3:8 | |||
| Miscellaneous Professional Notes | 3:9 | |||
| Newspaper Clippings | 3:10 | |||
| Receipts | 3:11 | |||
| Letters to Henry Vendryes (not from Orcutt) | 3:12 | |||
| Writings of Edwin B. Bartram | 3:13 | |||
| Miscellaneous Addresses | 3:14 | |||
|
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Series II Charles Russell Orcutt Family Papers |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| Correspondence – To Olive Orcutt (Wife) from C.R. Orcutt 1922-1929 | 4:1-5 | |||
| Correspondence – From Olive Orcutt to C.R. Orcutt 1922-1928 | 4:6 | |||
| Correspondence – To & From Orcutt Children and Grandchildren | 4:7-8 | |||
| Correspondence – To & From C.R. Orcutt’s Parents | 4:9 | |||
| Correspondence – From Acquaintances | 4:10 | |||
| C.R. Orcutt Birth Certificate, Biography and Orcutt Geneology | 5:1 | |||
| C.R. Orcutt Death 1929 | 5:2 | |||
| San Diego Society of Natural History Library Donation 1922-1929 | 5:3 | |||
| Eliza Orcutt (Mother) | 5:4 | |||
| Olive Eddy Orcutt (Wife) | 5:5 | |||
| Charles Eddy Orcutt (Son) – Writings and Short Stories 1930-1950
Includes: Listing of “Saturday Evening Post” Articles; “The Army Worm”; “The Army Worm Turns”; “Andrada’s Jewel Case” (x2); “Super Champ vs Super Challenger”; “The Mongolian Mastoid”; “The Grizzly and the Rat”; “Something About Cossacks”; “Even a Cat”. |
5:6 | |||
| Mary Orcutt (Daughter) | 5:8 | |||
| Eunice Orcutt Ivec (Daughter) | 5:9 | |||
| Heman Orcutt (Son) | 5:10 | |||
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