Archives West Finding Aid

Series 1 is comprised of correspondence between Gilkey and professional associates, publishers, Oregon State College (OSC) administrators, and representatives of various educational and research organizations. The majority of this correspondence relates to plant species identification, specimen exchanges, and sharing of professional literature and includes correspondence from both professional botanists and members of the general public, both within the United States and abroad.

While most of the correspondence is organized into general files by correspondent's name and date, several files document prolonged exchanges with friends and professional associates including Binford & Mort Publishing, Inc., Patricia Peck (Gilkey's friend and coauthor), and Morton Peck (founder of the Peck Herbarium at Willamette University).

Series 2 includes materials collected and generated by Helen Gilkey for research purposes. The series consists of several notebooks and a collection of research notes comprised of species descriptions, partial draft manuscripts and typescripts of numerous publications, bibliographic notes, and sketches. Of particular note is a field notebook documenting Gilkey's travels through central and northern Oregon during the summer of 1924. The notebook details Gilkey's travel, social and professional interactions, presence of various weeds and other vegetation, agricultural activities in the area, character of the landscape, and observations of Native Americans from the Wapinitia area near The Dalles, Oregon,

The series also includes specimen photographs, many of which may have been taken by Gilkey and other collected materials used as reference sources, including photocopies, two photographs of Oregon dendrologist Oliver Matthews, and a hand-tinted illustration of Lilium Washingtonianum. Also present is a relatively large quantity of scientific illustrations created by Gilkey or traced from Edward's Botanical Register, including ink, pencil, and watercolor works. Some of the illustrations appear to have been prepared for publication, including two pages containing border illustrations for Willis Linn Jepson's Manual of Flowering Plants in California.

Also present is a small group of materials documenting research funding received by Gilkey from Oregon State College, the American Philosophical Society, the Mycological Society of America, and other organizations. Additionally, the series contains collected records of the OSC greenhouses, possibly as reference material for Gilkey's unpublished "History of Botany at Oregon State College."

Series 3 is comprised predominately of notes, correspondence, and drafts related to the production of numerous publications authored by Gilkey. Included are materials for two of Gilkey's books: Tuberales of North America and Weeds of the Pacific Northwest; a copy of Gilkey's master's thesis, "Oregon Mushrooms"; and several other publications mostly relating to Tuberales. The series also includes copies of a number of articles by Gilkey published in The Oregonian (many of which appeared as part of the "Outlawed Weeds" column) and transcripts of three radio talks given by Gilkey on truffles and plant identification.

Of particular note is a small notebook featuring more than a dozen one-stanza poems composed and hand-lettered by Gilkey. The poems are related to plant identification and appear to have been created as educational tools or mnemonic devices. The series also includes newsclippings about Gilkey's professional efforts and Dr. Helen Margaret Gilkey: Her Life, Her Family and Her Poems, a memoire edited and published by her sister, Beulah, which features other poetry by Gilkey.