William Conklin Cusick Papers

William Conklin Cusick Papers, 1906-1924

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Cusick, William C. (William Conklin), 1842-1922
Title: William Conklin Cusick Papers
Dates: 1906-1924 (inclusive)
19061924
Quantity: 0.5 Linear feet of shelf space, (1 Box), (24 Items)
Collection Number: Cage 316 (collection)
Summary: Cusick’s extant papers consist primarily of his field books, which doubled as the catalog for the second herbarium, and the draft list of the floral surveys he conducted about 1910.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Additional Reference Guides: Northwest Botanical Manuscripts : an Indexed Register of the Papers, 1867-1957, of Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, William Conklin Cusick, Charles Vancouver Piper, Rolla Kent Beattie, and Harold St. John in the Washington State University Library. Washington State University; 1976.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

William C. Cusick was born in Illinois in 1842 and emigrated to Oregon while a youth. He had a modest "collegiate" education and worked as a teacher for a time. Most of his adult life he spent as a rancher in the area of the Wallowa Mountains. He began botanical collecting and distribution sometime in the 1870s, encouraged by Harvard’s Asa Gray. Most of his plants came from the area of the Wallowa and Blue Mountains and were arranged in two successive herbariums, one of which he transferred to the University of Oregon, while the second went to Washington State University.

Encouraged by C. V. Piper, Cusick’s second herbarium project included extensive and exhaustive botanical surveys of the area in the two mountain ranges. Unlike his earlier efforts, this second phase did not include large distributions of plants. Cusick died in 1922.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

William C. Cusick’s extant papers consist primarily of his field books, which doubled as the catalog for the second herbarium, and the draft list of the floral surveys he conducted, circa 1900-1910. A few surviving items of correspondence with C. V. Piper, and a biographical sketch of Cusick by W. W. Eggleston are also included.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

William Conklin Cusick Papers, 1906-1924 (Cage 316)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The Cusick papers are arranged to content, with the meager extant correspondence segregated. The field books follow Cusick’s numbering system.

Custodial History

The papers of William C. Cusick, 1842-1922, of Union County, Oregon, were acquired by the Washington State University Herbarium about 1921, along with Cusick’s Second Herbarium

Acquisition Information

The materials in this collection of botanical documents were transferred to the Washington State University Library in 1975 from the university’s Ownbey Herbarium.

Bibliography

Cusick’s life and botanical experiences are discussed in Irwin F. Lange, Pioneer Botanists of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon Historical Quarterly, 57 (1956) 115-118 and Harold St. John, William Conklin Cusick, Rhodora, 25 (1923) 101-105.

Related Materials

Northwest Botanical Manuscripts : an Indexed Register of the Papers, 1867-1957, of Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, William Conklin Cusick, Charles Vancouver Piper, Rolla Kent Beattie, and Harold St. John in the Washington State University Library. Washington State University; 1976.

Washington State University Botanical Papers, 1881-1973 (Cage 53)

Xerpha Mae Gaines Papers, 1948-1970 (Cage 122)

Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf Papers, 1867-1935 (Cage 315)

Charles Vancouver Piper Papers, 1888-1926 (Cage 317)

Rolla Kent Beattie Papers, 1899-1956 (Cage 318)

Harold St. John Papers, 1912-1957 (Cage 319)

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Correspondence, letters from C. V. Piper, 1914-1921Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 1

3 items.

Biographical Sketch of Cusick by Willard W. Eggleston, 1924Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 2

1 item.

A Catalogue of Grasses of Eastern Oregon, 1908Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 3

1 item.

A List, From Memory, of the Plants to be Seen Near at Hand in Crossing the Canyon of the Immaha Near its Source, 1911Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 4

3 items.

An Annotated List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Northeastern Oregon: Wallawa, Union, Baker and Umatilla Counties , 1909Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 5

2 items.

Distribution of Characteristic Alpine and Hudsonian Plants of the Wallowa Mountains, undatedReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 6

2 items.

Distribution of Characteristic Alpine and Hudsonian Plants of the Wallowa Mountains, undatedReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 7

2 items.

Field Books/Catalogs 1906-1916Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
1	7	Specimen Number 2739-2783
1	8	Specimen Number 3060-3145
1	9	Specimen Number 3150-3339
1	10	Specimen Number 3340-3420
1	11	Specimen Number 1 (3509)-51 (3560)
1	12	Specimen Number 3422-3709
1	13	Specimen Number 3710-4038
1	14	Specimen Number 4039-4241
1	15	Specimen Number 4242-4435
1	16	Specimen Number 4436-4522
1	17	Specimen Number 4546-4783
1	18	Specimen Number 4604-4883
1	19	Specimen Number 4884-4935

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