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