William E. Ritter 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 2014
Descriptive Summary
Title: William E. Ritter Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0004
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
3.25 Linear feet
(5 archives boxes, 1 flat box)
Date: ca. 1890-1944
Abstract: The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs.
Creator:
Ritter, William Emerson, 1856-1944
Biography
William E. Ritter (1856-1944) was a biologist and co-founder of the Scripps Institution for Oceanography. Ritter received
his BA from the University of California and his MA and Ph.D. in zoology from Harvard. He returned to Berkeley in 1891 to
teach biology at the University of California, shortly thereafter becoming chair of the new Department of Zoology. He married
physician Mary Elizabeth Bennett in 1891. Ritter was determined to set up a coastal laboratory for the study of marine biology,
and in 1903, with the support of E.W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, Ritter founded the Marine Biological Association
of San Diego. The laboratory settled into its present location in La Jolla in 1905. Negotiations between the Scripps family
and the University of California were completed in 1912, and Ritter served as the first scientific director of SIO from 1912-1922.
A humanist, scientist, and prolific author, Ritter developed the organismal theory of biology and advocated for popular science
literacy and education after his retirement from SIO. He remained active in the scientific community until his death.
OFF-SITE STORAGE
SIO ARCHIVES COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Digital Content
Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list.
Acquisition Information
Acquired, 1963-2005.
Preferred Citation
William E. Ritter Papers, SMC 4. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs. The material is principally related
to Ritter's role as the first scientific director of the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, revealing his interests,
management philosophy, fundraising efforts, and research as a zoologist and marine biologist.
The collection is arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION
FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 3) NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES, 4) PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, and 5) PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE consists of three boxes of professional letters on topics such as research, funding, laboratory supplies,
scholarly publishing, and management. Major correspondents include Morse Cartwright, Barton Evermann, Victor H. Henderson,
Hugh McCormick Smith, Robert G. Sproul, and Benjamin Wheeler. Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 2: MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH consists of annual reports
on the activities of the station to the Department of Zoology at UC Berkeley, and related research and administrative materials.
Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 3: NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES consists of research notes and a small selection of Ritter's manuscripts, lectures,
and writings. Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 4: PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES consists of meeting minutes and papers from Ritter's work in scientific associations.
SERIES 5: PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS consists of portraits and informal snapshots; a guestbook from the Ritter dwelling
at Scripps, and reproductions of plans for a home in Berkeley, California.
Processing History
William E. Ritter's literary executor, Edna Watson Baily, donated Ritter's papers on the administration of SIO to the Scripps
Library in 1963. In 1979, material concerning the following individuals was removed and interfiled in the SIO Biographical
Files (SAC 5): Winfred Emory Allen, Fred Baker, Percy Spencer Barnhart, S. Stillman Berry, Wesley Clarence Crandall, Christine
Essenberg, Calvin Olin Esterly, Jacob Chandler Harper, Charles Atwood Kofoid, George Francis McEwen, Ellis Leroy Michael,
James Ross, E. W. Scripps, Ellen Browning Scripps, Francis Bertody Sumner, Margaret E. Sumner, Harry Beal Torrey and Julius
Wangenheim. The remaining papers were processed in 1982, and a revised finding aid with a correspondent index was published
(SIO Reference Number 82-16). Eight additional small accessions of Ritter material, including photographs and the guestbook,
were added to the papers in 2014.
Related Materials
Bennett Family Papers (SMC 48); Marine Biological Association of San Diego Records (SAC 37); Mary Bennett Ritter Diaries (SMC
47); Ritter Family Papers (SMC 15); SIO Biographical Files (SAC 5).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Marine Biological Association of San Diego (Calif.).
Ritter, William Emerson, 1856-1944 -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Oceanography--History
MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Box 4, Folder 1
"Report on hydrographic work, done in connection with the Marine Biological Investigations at San Pedro"
1901
Box 4, Folder 2
"Preliminary report to the President of the University...on the marine biological explorations conducted by the Zoological
Department..."
1901
Box 4, Folder 4
Notes, "Requirements for making the boat house at Coronado serviceable for a marine biological laboratory"
ca. 1903
Box 4, Folder 5
Materials on the Scripps Institution for Biological Research
1906-1916
Box 4, Folder 6
Notes, "Course to be followed"
1907
Box 4, Folder 7
Comments on the culture of the Department of Zoology and the study of biology for the President's Report
1910 April
Box 4, Folder 8
Draft, "Aims of the proposed laboratory to the fulfillment of which the University agrees to be bound"
ca. 1912
Box 4, Folder 9
Advertisement for a public Scripps lecture series entitled "Resources of the sea"
1914 August
Box 4, Folder 10
Scientific collecting permits from the CA Fish and Game Commission
1915-1918
Box 4, Folder 11
"Warnock's data showing relation between water temperature and the albacore catch"
1917
Box 4, Folder 12
"Resolutions re an international treaty and an international commission for the study of fishery problems of the North Pacific"
1923 January 27
Box 4, Folder 13
Directions for collecting microplankton by measured water method
undated
NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES
Box 4, Folder 14
Miscellaneous notes
undated
Box 4, Folder 15
Notes on
Balanoglossus
ca. 1890
Box 4, Folder 16-20
Manuscript and illustrations,
Enteropneusta of Pacific coast of North America
ca. 1900-1904
Box 4, Folder 21
Notes and drawings on
Tornaria
1900-1905
Box 4, Folder 22
Manuscript and notes, "Theoretical phylogenic aspects of
Enteropneusta"
ca. 1902-1936
Box 4, Folder 23
"Lecture to the citizens of La Jolla," on the expansion of Scripps
1907 July
Box 4, Folder 24
Photographs, sketches and notes on
Dermochelys schlegelii (leatherback turtle) caught in La Jolla
1908 June 22
Box 4, Folder 25
"Science for the Millions" reprint from
Scientific American Monthly and Science Service ephemera
ca. 1921
Box 4, Folder 27
Printed booklet,
Natural Versus Supernatural
1930
Box 4, Folder 28
Manuscript, "Philosophy of E. W. Scripps"
1944
Box 5, Folder 1
"Recommendations and suggestions of the Committee on Conservation of Marine Life of the Pacific...relating to the Fur Seal
Treaty of December 15, 1911"
1922 February
Box 5, Folder 2
Minutes of the Committee on Zoological Investigations
1917-1918
Box 5, Folder 3
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
1918-1922
Box 5, Folder 4
Minutes and remarks, National Research Council, Division of Foreign Relations
1921-1922
PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS
Box 5, Folder 5
Guestbook
1910-1923
General note
Guestbook was a gift from Ellen Browning Scripps in 1910. Contains signatures and remarks of guests of the Ritters at their
apartment in the Scripps Laboratory from June 24, 2010 to June 23, 1923, including all station staff, members of the Scripps
family, University administrators, and distinguished visitors like David Starr Jordan, Clarance Darrow, and Lincoln Steffens.
Box 5, Folder 6
Ritter house plans, Berkeley, Calif.
1908 October 1
General note
Photographic reproductions of plans for the house, never built, designed by Morgan and Hoover, Architects. Originals at UC
Berkeley, College of Environmental Design.
Box 5, Folder 7
Portraits of William E. Ritter and Mary Bennett Ritter
1908-1940
General note
One photograph from this folder has been digitized and may be viewed through the link below.
William E. and Mary B. Ritter
1908
William E. and Mary B. Ritter, 1908
Box 6, Folder 1-2
Oversize portraits of William E. Ritter and Mary Bennett Ritter
1908-1925
General note
One photograph from this folder has been digitized and may be viewed through the link below.
William E. and Mary B. Ritter, Mirror Lake, Yosemite
1912 June 23
William E. and Mary B. Ritter, Mirror Lake, Yosemite, 1912 June 23
Box 5, Folder 8
Portrait of Ellen Browning Scripps
1919
Box 6, Folder 3
Portrait of E. W. Scripps [?]
1900