Skip to main content

James G. Needham papers

 Collection — Box: 1 (unprocessed)
Identifier: 21-23-479

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Includes correspondence pertaining to the taxonomic study of dragonflies; correspondence, typed reports, and printed material pertaining to the organization and administration of the Department of Entomology at Cornell; Needham's log of his trip to China (1927-1928) and papers concerning his teaching career and educational philosophy; extensive correspondence with American and foreign scientists, former students, and friends and family, concerning description and identification of insect specimens, publication of Needham's books and articles, establishment of the Okefenokee Society, attempts to get gasoline from the rationing board during World War II, tax matters, alumni activities at Knox College, accounts of friends' collecting expeditions, acknowledgments and remarks on his printed work, both scientific and literary, the purchase of land in Michigan, the establishment of Reed College, recommendations for students and friends, the creation of an Inter-American Wildlife Preserve in British Honduras (Belize), and his PLAN FOR PEACE; course outlines; class schedules; lab worksheets; field trip instructions and assignments; diaries and address book; logs of collecting expeditions; scrapbooks and photograph albums; including photographs of China; glass plate negatives; notes and manuscripts of Needham's writings; price lists of collections; lists of publications of Needham and others; pencil sketches and pen and ink drawings of insects and of a proposed limnological field station on Cayuga Lake; oversized geological survey map of East Ithaca, New York; diagrams of orchards and geodetic survey maps of pond and lake soundings; maps; and printed matter on a variety of subjects. Also included is correspondence of C.P. Alexander, George T. Atkinson, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Nathan Banks, Philip Calvert, T.D.A. Cockerell, John Henry Comstock, Thomas A. Edison, Alice Ferguson, Mrs. Leonora K. Gloyd, David Starr Jordan, Mrs. Elsie B. Klotts, M.A. Lieflinck, B. Elwood Montgomery, Edwin Mumford, Ira La Rivers, F. Ris, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Will Sargent, Ernest Robert Tinkham, Henry K. Townes, Minter Jackson Westfall, Jr., and others.

Dates

  • 1884-1957.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

James G. Needham was born on March 16, 1868 in Virginia, Illinois. He studied with John Henry Comstock at Cornell University, 1896-1898. From 1898-1907 he taught biology at Lake Forest University and then returned to Cornell as assistant professor of limnology. In 1914 when Professor Comstock retired, Needham succeeded him as head of the Department of Entomology at Cornell, a position he held until his retirement in 1935. He published numerous scientific articles, educational papers, and textbooks; he also wrote poetry and philosophical writings. Memberships included the Entomological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Limnological Society of America, and other scientific societies.

Extent

6 cubic feet. (6 cubic feet.)

Abstract

Correspondence and documents describing the career of James G. Needham.

SERIES LIST

Series I. Correspondence Boxes 1-3, 8

Series II. Miscellaneous Boxes 3-4, 7-10, mapcase

Series III. Photographs Boxes 5-6

Available Copies:

Letters from James Needham to Hortense Butler Heywood are photocopies. Original letters to Heywood are located in Special Collections/Archives, Parks Library, Iowa State University.

Physical Description

Letters, legal documents, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, course materials

General

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
Mary Warren
Date completed:
July 1984
EAD encoding:
Peter Martinez, November 2001
Date modified:
Jude Corina, February 2017
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by Mary Warren
Date
November 2001
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
ENG

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)