Central Washington University Faculty Papers, John Munson

Central Washington University Faculty Papers, John Munson, 1834-2003 (bulk 1889-1927)

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Munson, John
Title: Central Washington University Faculty Papers, John Munson
Dates: 1834-2003 (bulk 1889-1927) (inclusive)
18342003
Quantity: 5.75 cubic feet, (10 legal-sized document cases, 1 half-letter-sized document case, 1 oversized flat box) : Diaries, legal and financial papers, correspondence, scrapbook, published and unpublished manuscripts, notebooks, hand-drawn slides and plates, books, certificates, and photographs in good condition.
Collection Number: FP-0023
Summary: This collection comprises the personal papers of John Munson, professor of biology at Washington State Normal School from 1899 to 1928 in Ellensburg, WA.
Repository: Central Washington University, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Central Washington University
400 E University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Telephone: 509-963-1023
Fax: 509-963-3684
archive@cwu.edu
Access Restrictions: Open to the public for educational research.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Science classes were initially taught at Washington State Normal School not long after the school opened in 1891. In 1893, a staff member was appointed to specifically teach science courses, which included zoology and botany. The biological science department was organized in 1899 as a separate department. John Munson was born February 21, 1860 in Jölster, Sunfjord, Norway and died February 27, 1928 in Ellensburg, Washington. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Yale University, and the University of Chicago. He became the head of the biology department at Washington State Normal School in 1899, a position which he held until his death.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of daily diaries written by Munson over a thirty year period, early volumes written in Norwegian, family legal and financial papers including trust fund money managed by Mrs. Sophie Munson after her husband’s death, personal and professional correspondence, scrapbooks with Norwegian newspaper clippings, typed and hand-written manuscripts, notebooks from Munson’s school days and from his research while a professor at Washington State Normal School, slides and plates intended to accompany his research, and two books about his graduating class of Yale University, which include biographical sketches of students.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

Central Washington University began as the Washington State Normal School in 1891. In 1937, the school was rechristened the Central Washington College of Education. In 1961, the school became Central Washington State College and, finally, in 1977, Central Washington University.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number]. FP-0023, Central Washington University Faculty Papers, John Munson. Archives and Special Collections, Brooks Library, Central Washington University.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by material type.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1-1	Daily Diaries	1891-1893
1-2	Daily Diaries	1894-1896
1-3	Daily Diaries	1897-1899
1-4	Daily Diaries	1900-1902
1-5	Daily Diaries	1903-1908
1-6	Daily Diaries	1917-1919
1-7	Diary from journey to Graz, Austria	1910
2-1	Pamphlet of Norwegian Verse	1834
2-2	Family Financial and Legal Papers	1884-1932
2-3	Retirement Application, Illinois Justice of the Peace Certificate, Fire Insurance	1890-1923
2-4	Munson Family Correspondence	1892-1930
2-5	Cash Account Book	1902-1907
2-6	Central Washington State College Letters to Mrs. Sophie Munson	1932-1941
2-7	Mrs. Sophie Munson’s Will	1944
2-8	Trust Fund and Endowment Correspondence	1944-1982
2-9	Munson Family Genealogical Notes
2-10	Mrs. Munson’s Translation of the Icelandic Saga The Saga of Eric the Red
2-11	Correspondence about Photographs	2002-2003
2-12	Photographs
2-13	Loose Norwegian Newspaper Clippings from Scrapbook	19th century
2-14	Scrapbook with Norwegian Newspaper Clippings	19th century
2-15	Small Box containing three copper cut portraits of Munson and an 1876 Bible presented to Munson by friends on his 19th birthday
3-1	Typed manuscript: Anatomy and Habits of Ophioglypha Sarssi	1892
3-2	Notebook with two pen manuscripts: Outline of a Biology Course and Essay on Parental Education	c. 1899
3-3	Typed Manuscript of Address: Biological Factors in the Growth and Interpretation of Language	1900
3-4	Notebook with lecture on flies, discussion of philanthropy, and higher education in America	1900-1905
3-5	Pen manuscript of lecture to newly arrived students	c. 1900-1910
3-6	Pen manuscript: Vital Processes in Education	c. 1901
3-7	Typed outline of lectures for course in biological and cultural evolution at Washington State Normal School	c. 1907-1915
3-8	Unpublished pen manuscript: Social Reveries. My Mind and Yours in the Struggle for Liberty	c. 1910
3-9	Typed manuscript: Social Reveries. My Mind and Yours in the Struggle for Liberty	c. 1910
3-10	Pen manuscript: Nature and Literature (A collection of poems)	c. 1910
3-11	Typed manuscript: Observations on Cytogenesis, Yolk Formation, and Growth of Living Substance in the Chelovian Ovary	c. 1912
3-12	Unpublished pen manuscript: Observations on Cytogenesis, Yolk Formation, and Growth of Living Substance in the Chelovian Ovary	c. 1912
3-13	Pen manuscript: On Permanent Centrosomes, and Their Connection by Means of Astral Rays, Forming Intercellular Bridges	c. 1913
3-14	Typed manuscript: On Permanent Centrosomes, and Their Connection by Means of Astral Rays, Forming Intercellular Bridges	c. 1913
3-15	Pen manuscript: On the Origin of the Neurofibrillae from Permanent Centrospheres in the Nerve Cells of the Chelonian Brain	c. 1913
3-16	Fragment of unidentified cytological essay	c. 1913
3-17	Draft toward an essay: Microscopic Study in Embryology and the Present Limits of Scientific Knowledge	c. 1913
3-18	Pen manuscript: Original Observations and Inferences	c. 1913
3-19	Typed manuscript: On the Origin of the Neurofibrillae from Permanent Centrospheres in the Nerve Cells of the Chelonian Brain	c. 1913-1917
4-1	Typed manuscript: An Essay on Man or Is There a Scientific Basis for a Rational Optimism	c. prior to 1914
4-2	Plates II from unidentified material	1915
4-3	Plates I from unidentified material	1915
4-4	Plates III from unidentified material	1915
4-5	Typed address: Mistakes of Old Believer’s and Young Doubters—An Attempted Solution of the Conflict Between Religion and Science	1915
4-6	Pen essay: The Biological Department, Praise for Pure Science, Criticism for Applied Science	1915-1920
4-7	Unidentified fragment of handwritten egg study	c. 1920-1925
4-8	Hand-drawn plates for unidentified material	1922
4-9	Pen manuscript of essay lecture to WSNS students: Autoanalysis	1923
4-10	Pen manuscript: The Cell and Cell Theory for Menschen and Menschenwerke (Encyclopedia)	1923
4-11	Abstract of paper: Hereditary Transmission of a Sexlimited, Acquired Character, a Teleological Adaptation due to Pressure	1923
4-12	Apology letter regarding conference scheduling error	1923
4-13	Pen essay: Quarter Century of Biology at Washington State Normal School	1899-1924
4-14	Original pen draft: The Cell and Cell Theory	1926
4-15	Correspondence, typed manuscript, promotional pamphlet for Menschen and Menschenwerke	1926
5-1	Notebook containing drawing on frog anatomy	c. late 1880s
5-2	Notebook of botany lectures at University of Wisconsin	1884
5-3	Notebook from Yale lectures on bacteriology, histology, embryology, and botany	1891-1893
5-4	Notebook on invertebrate zoology lectures at Yale	1891-1892
5-5	Notebook on Yale lectures in botany, zoology, psychology, and anthropod zoology	1892-1893
5-6	Notebooks summarizing literature on crystacean egg	c. 1893
5-7	Notebook on literature in cytology	1893-1908
5-8	Notebook on Yale lectures on toxicology and invertebrate structures	c. 1893
5-9	Notebook from reading and lectures at the University of Chicago	1894
6-1	Notebook on literature of reptiles and amphibians	c. 1894 or later
6-2	Notebook, notes, and correspondence on oogenesis from the University of Chicago	1895
6-3	Notebook from University of Chicago lectures	1896
6-4	Notebook cytological literature through 1913	1898-1913
6-5	Notebook examining journal articles on cytology	1865-1901
6-6	Notebook summarizing 19th century writers on spermatogenesis	c. 1904 or later
6-7	Notebook on history and literature of biology	1925-1926
6-8	Notebook on zoology and cytology	1926
6-9	Notebook on older cytology literature	1926
6-10	Notebook on literature of sex and cytology	1926
6-11	Cell drawings, article
7-1	Final publication: The Ovarian Egg of Limulus	1898
7-2	Final publication: The Ovarian Egg of Limulus	1898
7-3	Final publication: The Ovarian Egg of Limulus (dedicated to Sophie Munson)	1899
7-4	Final publication: Lectures on Education	1901
7-5	Pen draft: Education through Nature Study, Foundations and Method	1903
7-6	Part 1 manuscript: Education through Nature Study, Foundations and Method	1903
7-7	Part 2 manuscript: Education through Nature Study, Foundations and Method	1903
7-8	Promotional pamphlet for Education through Nature Study, Foundation and Method	1903
8-1	Published book: Education through Nature Study, Foundation and Method	1903
8-2	Final publication: Researches on the Oogenesis of the Tortoise, Clemmys Marmorata	1904
8-3	Six plates from Researches on the Oogenesis of the Tortoise, Clemmys Mormorata	1904
8-4	Incomplete draft: Researches on the Oogenesis of the Turtle	c. 1904
8-5	Final publication: Spermatogenesis of the Butterfly, Papilio Rutulus	1906
8-6	Notes taken in preparation for Generation and Degeneration of Sex Cells	1909
8-7	Pen manuscript: Generation and Degeneration of Sex Cells	1909
8-8	Final publication: Anatomy of the Arms of Ophiloglypha Sarsii	1909
8-9	Pen manuscript: Organization and Polarity of Protoplasm	1911
8-10	Final and conference publications: Organization and Polarity of Protoplasm	1911
8-11	Three plates from Organization and Polarity of Protoplasm	1911
9-1	Draft of Walker Prize Essay: A Comparative Study of the Structure and Origin of the Yolk Nucleus	1911
9-2	Draft fragment of A Comparative Study of the Structure and Origin of the Yolk Nucleus	c. 1911
9-3	Five plates from A Comparative Study of the Structure and Origin of the Yolk Nucleus	1912
9-4	Final publication: A Comparative Study of the Structure and Origin of the Yolk Nucleus	1912
9-5	Draft and final publication: Chelonian Brown-Membranes, Brain-Bladder, Matapore and Metaplexus	1913
9-6	Draft and final publications: Sociological and Biological Aspects of the European War	1914
9-7	Mary Summerfield Gardiner: "Oogenesis in Limulus Polyphemus," Journal of Morphology and Physiology 44, no. 2	September 5, 1927
9-8	Cell study slides, 1-5
9-9	Cell study slides, 6-11
9-10	Cell study slides, 12-16
9-11	Cell study slides, 17-21
9-12	Cell study slides, 23-27
9-13	Norwegian (?) letter with official seal	1851
10-1	Original letters of recommendation	1887-1900
10-2	Copies of recommendation letters	1887-1888
10-3	Copies of recommendation letters	1892-1893
10-4	Copies of recommendation letters	1893
10-5	Correspondence to Munson	1893-1931
10-6	Copies of recommendation letters	1896-1897
10-7	Conference and congress programs	1907-1920
10-8	Professional society awards and certificates	1909-1918
10-9	Honor society certificates	1910-1926
10-10	Biography booklet, extracts from “Men of America”	1910
10-11	Loose newspaper clippings from scrapbook	1922-1932
10-12	Obituary record of Yale graduates	1927-1928
10-13	Miscellaneous papers
11-1	History of the Class of 1893, Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, Compiled for the Class by Frederic Bogart McMullen, Class Secretary, New Haven, CT: Press of the Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company	1914
11-2	Twenty-five Year Record, Class of Ninety-Three, Sheffield Scientific School, Compiled for the Class by Frederic B. McMullen, Class Secretary, New Haven, CT: Press of the Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co.	1920
12-1	Diploma--Bachelor of Science, University of Wisconsin	1887
12-2	Diploma--Master of Science in Biology, University of Wisconsin	1892
12-3	Diploma--Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Yale University	1893
12-4	Diploma--Doctorate in Zoology and Philosophy, University of Chicago	1898
12-5	Marriage certificate--John V. Munson and Sophie Mikkelsen	1894
12-6	Photograph--Faculty of Washington State Normal School (?)
12-7	Plate II of Munson's manuscript, Organization and Polarity of Protoplasm, VIII International Zoological Conference	circa 1911
12-8	Plate III of Munson's manuscript, Organization and Polarity of Protoplasm, VIII International Zoological Conference	circa 1911

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Biological Sciences
Central Washington University--History

Corporate Names

Washington State Normal School (Ellensburg, Wash.)

Geographical Names

Ellensburg (Wash.)

Occupations

Educators

Other Creators

Personal Names
- Munson, John (creator)

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