Easter Ellen Cupp Papers
Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
858-534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Copyright 2015
Descriptive Summary
Title: Easter Ellen Cupp Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0097
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
9.8 Linear feet
(8 archives boxes, 1 card file box, 5 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1899-1980
Abstract: The collection consists of papers and photographs documenting the life and career of marine biologist Easter Ellen Cupp, including
her graduate studies and research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Creator:
Cupp, Easter Ellen, 1904-1999
Preferred Citation
Easter Ellen Cupp Papers, SMC 0097. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Digital Content
Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list.
OFF-SITE STORAGE
SIO ARCHIVES COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Acquisition Information
Acquired, 1999 and 2003
Biography
Marine biologist Easter Ellen Cupp (1904-1999) was born in Neola, Iowa. Her family moved to Whittier, California in 1910.
Cupp attended Whittier College (A.B. 1926) and earned a master's degree in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley
in 1928. In 1934, Cupp became the first woman in North America to receive a PhD in oceanography when she was awarded her doctorate
from the University of California for research on plankton completed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Cupp remained
at Scripps and worked initially as an associate oceanographer, then instructor, from 1934-1939, but departed in 1940 when
a faculty position proved elusive. During this period she completed work on her book,
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, published in 1943. Cupp became an assistant biologist for the Naval Biological Laboratory from 1940-1943; when that assignment
ended, she taught English and science at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in San Diego until her retirement in 1967. She
passed away in San Diego at the age of 95.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of papers and photographs documenting the life and career of marine biologist Easter Ellen Cupp, including
her graduate studies and research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The papers are arranged in six series:
SERIES 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Personal documents from Easter Ellen Cupp and her family, including her parents' marriage
certicate, Cupp's grades, transcripts and diplomas, and curriculum vitae, accomplishment certificates, and materials from
her employment with Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.
SERIES 2) CORRESPONDENCE: Personal and professional correspondence with friends and research collaborators, including letters
regarding Cupp's dissertation and some of her publications. Arranged in chronological order.
SERIES 3) STUDENT NOTES: Course notes and laboratory manuals with notes from junior high school to graduate studies, as well
as teacher certication courses. Arranged alphabetically.
SERIES 4) RESEARCH MATERIALS: Notes, summaries, data collection, and illustrations by Cupp. Subjects include diatoms, fouling
organisms, and plankton hauls; also includes three sets of miscroscope slides and three rock samples.
SERIES 5) WRITINGS: Drafts, typescripts, galley prints, and original drawings and figures for Cupp's dissertation and research
articles. Original negatives of figures used in Cupp's dissertation are located in Series 6) PHOTOGRAPHS, subseries E) Research.
Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 6) PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs, negatives, and glass slides documenting personal and professional activities, including
some notes. Many of the photographs and all of the negatives were taken by Cupp, though some images of the Scripps campus
and personnel were taken by Harry Erickson (the "Flying Photographer") and Eugene LaFond, and have been credited where appropriate.
A selection of photographs from the collection have been digitized, and can be viewed through links in the container list.
Arranged in five subseries: A) Animal and Objects, B) People, C) Places, D) Ships and E) Research.
Related Materials
Negatives for photographic prints by Harry Erickson in the PHOTOGRAPHS series are located with the Harry Erickson Negatives
collection, which may be found by searching the library catalog.
SIO Biographical Files, SAC 5. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cupp, Easter Ellen, 1904-1999 -- Archives
Erickson, Harry A. -- Photographs
LaFond, Eugene Cecil, 1909 -- Photographs
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. -- Photographs
La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.) -- Photographs
Oceanographers -- California -- San Diego -- Archives
Photographs -- California -- San Diego -- 20th century
Box 1, Folder 1
Cupp family biographical materials
1899-1946
Box 1, Folder 2
Biographical materials
1911-1967 and undated
Box 1, Folder 3
Grades and transcripts
1911-1941 and undated
Box 1, Folder 4
Diplomas and commencement programs
1918-1926
Box 10, Folder 1
Diplomas, oversize
1917-1934
Box 1, Folder 5
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation
1943
Box 2, Folder 9
Biology 12 Invertebrates
undated
Box 2, Folder 11
Botany 2A, San Diego State College
1939-1940
Box 2, Folder 12
Comparative Anatomy, Biology 123
undated
Box 2, Folder 13
Descriptive Geometry, University of California Engineering Science Management War Training, San Diego
1943
Box 3, Folder 2
Economic Vertebrate Zoology 116, University of California
1927
Box 3, Folder 3
Embryology, Biology 104
1925
Box 3, Folder 4
Histology, Biology 123
undated
Box 3, Folder 5
Laboratory Exercises (unbound)
undated
Box 3, Folder 6
Laboratory Manual for General Bacteriology
ca. 1939
Box 3, Folder 7
A Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry
1922
Box 3, Folder 8
Nutrition and dental health lectures notebook
1950-1951
Box 4, Folder 1-2
Nutrition and Diet, UC Extension
ca. 1940-1941
Box 4, Folder 3-4
Ornithology, San Diego State College
1940-1941
Box 4, Folder 5
Parasitology, Zoology 111
undated
Box 4, Folder 8
Reading note cards
undated
Box 4, Folder 9
Woodrow Wilson Junior High School
undated
Box 4, Folder 10-12
Diatoms drawings, notes, negatives and photographs
ca. 1920s
Box 4, Folder 13
Diatom key, culture media
1928-1941
Box 5, Folder 1
Dinoflagellates, silicoflagellates, and other drawings
ca. 1927-1938
Box 5, Folder 2-4
Fouling organisms notes and photographs
ca. 1941-1943
Box 5, Folder 5
Mann Laboratory notes
undated
Box 5, Folder 6
Methods of diatom study, Mann, etc.
ca. 1921-1926
Box 9
Microscope slides and samples embedded in wax
undated
General note
Three small boxes of microscope slides. Labels affixed to the boxes read as follows: "Cosc[inodiscus] marginatus;" "Misc[ellaneous]
subjects - for high school? Wax embedded samples;" and "Coscinodiscus centralis?" One microscope slide box includes unidentifed
samples embedded in wax.
Box 5, Folder 7
Mounting, fixing, staining, sectioning methods, Dr. G. Dallas Hanna lecture notes and correspondence
ca. 1931-1939
Box 5, Folder 8
Nannoplankton seminar notes and research paper summaries
ca. 1936
Box 5, Folder 9
Nitzschia seriata and other notes
undated
Box 5, Folder 10
Notebook of data and daily records -
Nitzschia seriata and loose sheets
1933-1935
Box 5, Folder 11
Photography notebook and loose notes - inc. Bostwick pearl pictures notes
ca. 1930s
Box 5, Folder 12
Phytoplankton growth factors notes
undated
Box 5, Folder 13
Plankton hauls and laboratory procedures
1925 and undated
Box 5, Folder 14
Plankton hauls data notebook and loose sheets
ca. 1933-1936
Box 9
Thee rock samples - unidentified
undated
Physical Description:
3.0
Box 5, Folder 15
Tube worms notes
ca. 1934-1937
Box 5, Folder 16-17
Miscellaneous research paper summaries and notes
undated
Box 6, Folder 1-3
Miscellaneous research paper summaries and notes
undated
Box 6, Folder 6
Sirotrichonympha Polygyra Sp. Nov. from Neotermes Simplicicornis banks
1930-1931
Box 10, Folder 2
Sirotrichonympha Polygyra Sp. Nov. from Neotermes Simplicicornis banks, original drawings
ca. 1930-1931
General note
Figures A-P and Plates I-IV
Box 6, Folder 4-5
A Critical Study of Certain Distinguishing Characteristics in Three closely allied species of the Diatom Genus Nitzschia and
their Relationships to Certain Conditions
, Dissertation
1934
Box 10, Folder 3
A Critical Study of Certain Distinguishing Characteristics in Three closely allied species of the Diatom Genus Nitzschia and
their Relationships to Certain Conditions
, Dissertation drawings
ca. 1934
General note
Plates I-V. Original negatives of figures are located in Series 6) PHOTOGRAPHS, subseries E) Research.
Box 10, Folder 4
Plankton Diatoms of the Gulf of California obtained by Allan Hancock Pacific Expedition of 1937, figure drawings
1937
Box 11, Folder 1-4
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, original drawings and figures
undated
General note
Plates 1-5, Figures A-H and 1-46
Box 12, Folder 1-4
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, original drawings and figures
undated
General note
Figures 47-90
Box 13, Folder 1-4
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, original drawings and figures
undated
General note
Figures 91-135
Box 14, Folder 1-2
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, original drawings and figures
undated
General note
Figures 136-156 and 158-160
Box 14, Folder 3
Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America, original figure galleys
ca. 1943
Box 6, Folder 7
Structural Variation in a Marine Plankton Diatom, typescript and figures
undated
Box 6, Folder 8
Variations in Nitschia Seriata var. fradulenta Cl. a marine plankton diatom
undated
Box 10, Folder 5
Nitschia Seriata publication, map and figure drawings
undated
General note
Map of Central America and Figures 2-36
Box 10, Folder 6
Miscellaneous temperature and salinity figure drawings
undated
PHOTOGRAPHS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 6) PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs, negatives, and glass slides documenting personal and professional activities, including
some notes. Many of the photographs and all of the negatives were taken by Cupp, though some images of the Scripps campus
and personnel were taken by Harry Erickson (the "Flying Photographer") and Eugene LaFond, and have been credited where appropriate.
A selection of photographs from the collection have been digitized, and can be viewed through links in the container list.
Arranged in five subseries: A) Animal and Objects, B) People, C) Places, D) Ships and E) Research.
Box 6, Folder 10
Miscellaneous animals
undated
Box 9
Monkey illustration - glass slide
undated
Box 6, Folder 11
Miscellaneous objects
undated
Box 6, Folder 12
Allen, Windred Emory
undated
Box 6, Folder 13
Anderson, David Quentin
undated
Box 6, Folder 15
Barnhart, Percy Spencer
undated
Box 6, Folder 16
Bjerknes, Vilhelm
undated
Box 6, Folder 17
Bostwick, LaPlace and cultured pearls
undated
Box 6, Folder 19
Chambers, Stanley W.
undated
Box 6, Folder 22-23
Cupp, Easter Ellen
undated
Box 7, Folder 2
Dietz, Robert S.
undated
General note
All photographs from this folder have been digitized.
Dietz, Robert S., undated
Box 7, Folder 4
Feltham, Catherine B.
undated
Box 7, Folder 6
Fleming, Richard H.
undated
Box 7, Folder 12
Helland-Hansen, Bjorn
undated
Box 7, Folder 13
Jacobs, Woodrow Cooper
undated
Box 7, Folder 15
Johnson, Martin W.
undated
Box 7, Folder 18
LaFond, Katherine Gehring
undated
Box 7, Folder 19
McEwen, George Francis
undated
Box 7, Folder 24
Maury, Matthew Fontaine
undated
Box 7, Folder 25
Moberg, Erik
undated
General note
Selected photographs from this folder have been digitized.
Erik Moberg portrait
undated
Erik Moberg portrait, undated
Box 7, Folder 29
Rosenbury, Dorothy
undated
Box 7, Folder 34
Scripps, Robert Paine
undated
Box 7, Folder 35
Shepard, Francis P.
undated
Box 7, Folder 37
Sproul, Robert Gordon
undated
Box 7, Folder 38
Sumner, Francis B.
undated
Box 7, Folder 39
Sverdrup, Harald U.
undated
Box 7, Folder 41
Thorp, Eldon Marion
undated
Box 7, Folder 48
Scripps Institution of Oceanography groups
1936 and undated
Box 7, Folder 49
Candid work on Scripps Institution of Oceanography ships
undated
Box 7, Folder 50
Group at Millport, Great Cumbrae Island, Scotland
1936
General note
Individuals pictured are Richard Elmhurst, T. Wayland Vaughan, Sheina M. Marshall, and Andrew P. Orr.
Box 7, Folder 51
Miscellaneous and unidentified people
undated
Box 10, Folder 7
Miscellaneous and unidentified people, oversize (1 photograph)
undated
Box 7, Folder 52
Donner Pass Plaque
undated
Box 7, Folder 53
Easter Ellen Cupp's home, San Diego
undated
Box 7, Folder 55
Laboratory interiors
undated
Box 7, Folder 56
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego
undated
Box 7, Folder 58-59
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
ca. 1920s-1930s
Languages:
English
General note
Selected photographs from this folder have been digitized.
Looking north from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, undated
Looking north along coastline at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, undated
Looking north along coastline at Scripps Institution of Oceanography beach, undated
Looking northward from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, undated
Box 8, Folder 1
Scripps Institution of Oceanography photographs by Harry Erickson
1925-1933
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 folder
General note
Selected photographs from this folder have been digitized.
Ritter Hall, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Chemistry Laboratory, 1933
Interior view of the Library for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography with Tillie Genter, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Aquarium, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography biochemistry laboratory, Ritter Hall, with Denis Llewellyn Fox, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography aerial view, 1925
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library, 1933
Laboratory with Katherine LaFond, Eugene Cecil LaFond, and Richard H. Fleming, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography from the pier, 1933
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, view from La Jolla Shores Drive, 1933
George Francis McEwen and staff at work in George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
1933
Box 8, Folder 2
Tuolumne, California
1930
Box 10, Folder 8-9
Trips to New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Utah, unbound photograph album
1931
Box 8, Folder 4-5
Unidentified Places
undated
Box 8, Folder 6
R/V
E.W. Scripps
undated
General note
Selected photographs from this folder have been digitized.
R/V E.W. Scripps at Point Loma, undated
R/V E.W. Scripps, undated
R/V E.W. Scripps at San Diego Yacht Club pier, undated
Box 8, Folder 8
Wreck of R/V
Scripps, by Eugene LaFond
1936
Box 8, Folder 9
Miscellaneous ships
undated
Box 8, Folder 10
Dissertation figures, negatives
undated
Box 8, Folder 11
Fouling organisms
undated
Box 8, Folder 12-15
Specimens
1942 and undated
Box 9
Specimens and paper figures
undated
General note
15 glass slides.