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James R. Slater papers, 1898-1987

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Slater, James R.
Title
James R. Slater papers
Dates
1898-1987 (inclusive)
Quantity
5.8 cubic feet, (14 boxes)
Collection Number
Mss.023
Summary
James R. Slater was the founder and director (1930-1951) of the Puget Sound Museum of Natural History at the College of Puget Sound (now the James R. Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound). The collection contains files, correspondence, photographs, certificates and diplomas, field guides, plant collecting index notes, maps, and materials pertaining to the Stanley G. Jewett mammal collection.
Repository
University of Puget Sound, Archives & Special Collections

Collins Memorial Library
1500 N. Warner St.
CMB1021
Tacoma, WA
98416-1021
Telephone: 2538792669
archives@pugetsound.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is available for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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Biographical Note

James Rodenburg Slater (b. 1890, d. 1989) taught biology at the University of Puget Sound for thirty-two years, from 1919 to 1950. Slater served in the U.S. Air Force during World War I, later receiving his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a graduate degree from Syracuse University (1917). Slater joined the biology faculty of the College of Puget Sound (now University of Puget Sound), in Tacoma, Washington, in 1919. He was founder and director (1930-1951) of the college’s natural history museum, which was later named after him. Professor Slater taught at CPS until the summer 1951, when he began teaching at Florida Southern College. Slater later returned to Tacoma where he continued his research as a herpetologist, focusing on the reptiles and amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. The University of Puget Sound awarded Slater an honorary doctorate.

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Content Description

The James R. Slater papers contain the personal and professional papers, books, photographs, and correspondence of Professor James Slater as well as numerous academic awards and medals of recognition received throughout his career. Slater’s papers offer insight into his involvement in the community of biological research and shows how he was connected to biologists nationwide. Incomplete manuscript papers in the collection include organism inventories and Slater’s graduate thesis. Some books in the collection are academic, though the collection also contains a small bible and literary texts. While most of the photographs are unidentified, a small number of photographs are of family members from the early twentieth century. There are also photographs of biological samples and landscapes. The Slater papers also hold a series of the University of Puget Sound's Slater Musuem papers and pamphlets labeled as the Jewett Collection.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Name of document, date.] James R. Slater papers, Mss.023. University of Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections. Tacoma, Washington.

Restrictions on Use

Property rights reside with the University of Puget Sound. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Collins Memorial Library provides access to its collections in order to support research and education. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the use or reproduction of some items may be restricted by the terms of the gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, or university policy. It is the user's responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or any other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise disseminating materials found in the collections.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Collection is arranged by format.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Maya Steinborn
2011

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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