Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Albert N. Steward Papers, 1940-1991
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Steward, Albert Newton, 1897-
- Title
- Albert N. Steward Papers
- Dates
- 1940-1991 (inclusive)19401991
1951-1958 (bulk)19511958 - Quantity
- 0.25 cubic foot, (1 box)
- Collection Number
- MSS Steward
- Summary
- The Albert N. Steward Papers consist of correspondence, course materials, and related documents created and assembled by Steward, primarily during his years as Curator of the Oregon State College Herbarium in the 1950s. Steward earned a BS in Agriculture from Oregon Agricultural College in 1921.
- Repository
-
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Albert N. Steward was appointed by Oregon State College as Associate Professor of Botany, Herbarium Curator, and Associate Botanist for the Agricultural Experiment Station in 1951. He held these positions until his death in 1959. He specialized in systematic, economic, and geographic botany, the flora of central China, and aquatic plants of northwestern America.
Steward attended Oregon Agricultural College in 1917-1918 and 1919-1920 and earned a BS in Agriculture in 1921. In 1921, he became a faculty member in botany at the University of Nanking in Nanking, China, and he and his wife, Celia Belle Speak Steward, were appointed as educational missionaries by the Methodist Board of Missions. He returned to the United States for several years in the late 1920s to complete AM and PhD degrees in biology at Harvard University. Steward spent most of the 1930s and 1940s in China and was interned at Chapei Camp in Shangai from 1943 to 1945. He returned to the United States permanently in 1950.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Albert N. Steward Papers consist of correspondence, course materials, and related documents created and assembled by Steward. The bulk of the materials reflect his work at Oregon State College in the 1950s. The correspondence documents his role as Herbarium Curator; plant identification, especially of pine tree varieties; his participation in professional associations; and advising of graduate students from China.
The course materials include examinations, quizzes, and class handouts for courses taught (and perhaps taken) by Steward. Lecture notes, student papers, and literature reviews written by students are also part of the collection, as well as records of the botany seminar series in 1956-1957. A text, Principles of Plant Classification, written by Helen M. Gilkey and Frank H. Smith for the Field Botany course (Botany 203) is included.
The Papers also include meeting notices for the Oregon State chapter of Sigma Xi; newspaper clippings, including a 1991 obituary for Steward's widow, Celia Belle Steward; and an obituary for Steward written by Helen M. Gilkey and published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
The materials were transferred from the Botany and Plant Pathology Department in 2004 and donated by Steward's daughter in 2005.
Related Materials
The Memorabilia Collection includes additional information about Steward (MC-Steward, A.N.). The Herbarium Records (RG 117) and Photographs (P 093) include extensive materials pertaining to the Herbarium. In addition, the Archives holdings include the Helen M. Gilkey Papers; the Botany and Plant Pathology Department Records (RG 054) and Photographs (P 075); and the papers of several Oregon State botany faculty, including Harold J. Evans, Henry P. Hansen, William Evans Lawrence, Harry K. Phinney, and Donald B. Zobel. The Albert and Celia Steward Papers, held by the Yale University Divinity Library Special Collections, document the Stewards' missionary work, daily activities, and political and social conditions in China.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Botany--Research--Northwest, Pacific.
- Botany--Study and teaching (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
- Herbaria--Oregon--Corvallis.
- Students, Foreign--Oregon--Corvallis.
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Gilkey, Helen Margaret, 1886- (creator)
- Smith, Frank H. (creator)
Corporate Names
- Oregon State College. Dept. of Botany. (creator)
- Oregon State College. Herbarium. (creator)
Finding
aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen.
2009
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
