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LaFond (Eugene Cecil) Papers
SMC 0102  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Acquisition Information
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Preferred Citation
  • OFF-SITE STORAGE
  • Publication Information
  • Digital Content
  • Biography
  • Restrictions

  • Descriptive Summary

    Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
    9500 Gilman Drive
    La Jolla 92093-0175
    Title: Eugene Cecil LaFond Papers
    Creator: LaFond, Eugene Cecil, 1909-2002
    Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0102
    Physical Description: 14.2 Linear feet (24 archives boxes, 9 card file boxes, 1 flat box, 1 map case folder, and 24 films)
    Date (inclusive): 1933-1992 (bulk 1933-1976)
    Abstract: Papers of oceanographer Eugene Cecil LaFond. The collection includes oceanographic data records from LaFond's research at the Navy Electronic Laboratory, as well as photographs of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus, vessels and personnel in the 1930s.
    Languages: English .

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired 1986-2006.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    Papers of oceanographer Eugene Cecil LaFond. The collection includes oceanographic data records from LaFond's research at the Navy Electronic Laboratory, as well as photographs of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and personnel in the 1930s. It also includes a copy of a family memoir written by Eugene and Katherine Gehring LaFond in 1992.
    Arranged in four series: 1) DATA RECORDS AND REPORTS; 2) PHOTOGRAPHS; 3) FILMS; AND 4) FAMILY HISTORY.

    Preferred Citation

    Eugene Cecil LaFond Papers. SMC 102. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

    OFF-SITE STORAGE

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.

    Publication Information

    Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

    Digital Content

    Selected images from this collection have been digitized and are available on the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections website. Many films from this collection have been digitized; see the container list for details.

    Biography

    Eugene Cecil LaFond (1909-1992) began his career at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) as a technical assistant before his promotion to oceanographer, and eventually marine biologist, from 1933 to 1941. He married chemist Katherine Gehring in 1935. In 1941, LaFond was given a leave from SIO to join the University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR) as part of its newly created Oceanographic Studies Group. LaFond was one of the scientific consultants who, in 1946, participated in atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in Operation Crossroads. Among his many roles at SIO, LaFond photographed the campus and personnel in the 1930s, and contributed charts and illustrations for the foundational oceanography textbook The Oceans: Their Physics, Chemistry, and General Biology (1942). In 1946, LaFond joined the Navy Electronics Laboratory (NEL) to head the Marine Environment Division. Over the next two decades LaFond took a number of leaves of absence from NEL to pursue other research activities and interests, including work on the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE) from 1959-1964 and as visiting professor at Andhra University in the early 1950s. While at NEL, LaFond helped pioneer the use of submersibles to study the ocean floor, including the Trieste, Soucoupe Marine, and Westinghouse Deepstar 4000. LaFond returned to NEL in 1964 and remained there as senior scientist and consulting oceanographer until his retirement.

    Restrictions

    Original film formats are restricted. Viewing copies may be available for researchers.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Photographic prints -- 1930-1939
    LaFond, Eugene Cecil, 1909-2002 -- Archives
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- Archives
    United States. Navy. Electronics Laboratory -- Archives
    E.W. Scripps (Ship) -- Photographs