Benjamin Chitwood (1907-1972) received his PhD at George Washington University in 1931, and focused his career on zoology and nematodes. He published extensively, writing at least 198 papers. Most of his career was with the USDA, but after 1949 he worked at a succession of positions around the country, included time with the Western Washington Experiment Station, Puyallup beginning in the early 1960s.
The collection consists primarily of approximately 250 black and white glass negatives of agricultural research. Some photographic prints and cellulose negatives are included. The collection is identified as the Chitwood Collection, but it is unclear to whether these were created by or collected by Benjamin Chitwood, and given the differing groups of formats, styles, and labeling, we speculate that some of these likely originate with WSU Plant Pathology and not with Chitwood. Most of the collection includes fairly in-depth labeling for individual images; perhaps one-third is also dated. A majority of the images deal with genus Ustilago, which is a smut fungus.
This is an unprocessed collection. Any arrangement reflects either a pre-existing order from the records' creators or previous custodians, or preliminary sorting performed by staff.
The items remain in the ordering and sleeves that they were in when they were brought to MASC.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright has not been determined. If unpublished, images created by Chitwood are in copyright until 70 years after his 1972 death. Copyright on published images depends on date of publication and other factors.
[Item description]
Preliminary Guide to the Benjamin Chitwood Glass Plate Negatives, circa 1910s-1930s (UPC0038)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The creator was employed with the Western Washington Experiment Station, Puyallup beginning in the early 1960s. Presumably those came into WSU's possession at that time, were subsequently transferred to someone in Johnson Hall at WSU Pullman, then to WSU'
The images will need rehoused during processing, which means efforts will be made to duplicate the information found on or in the fragile (and very acidic) envelopes that they are currently housed in.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.