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Winfred Emory Allen Papers
SMC 0023
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Title: Winfred Emory Allen Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0023
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
7.5 Linear feet
(4 cartons and 9 archives boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1893-1942
Abstract: Papers of Winfred Emory Allen, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) biologist. The collection consists of personal and
professional correspondence, research data, newspaper features, manuscripts, Allen's writings on and about SIO, and photographs.
Creator:
Allen, Winfred Emory, 1873-1947
Winfred Emory Allen (1873-1947) was a biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He received his Bachelor of Letters
degree from Earlham College in 1898. In 1904, Allen received his A.M. degree from Lawrence College. From 1905 to 1908, Allen
worked at Nebraska State Normal School, Kearney, Nebraska. From 1910 to 1911, he served as an assistant zoology instructor
at the University of Illinois.
In 1912, Allen became the head of the department of biology at Stockton High School in Stockton, California, and served in
this role until 1916. During that time, he collected data for his first major work on the plankton of the San Joaquin River.
He was also working on his Ph.D. in Biology at the University of California in Berkeley, under Charles Atwood Kofoid, but
he did not complete it. His research on plankton attracted the attention of the director of the Scripps Institution, William
E. Ritter, and he invited Allen to Scripps.
In 1919, Allen began his work at Scripps. He focused exclusively on quantitative studies of marine phytoplankton in the waters
off of southern California. He devised phytoplankton collection methods, and invented a closing bottle called the Allen bottle,
which made it possible to make catches at numerous depths in a short time. Allen also wrote press releases for Scripps Institution,
as well as a newspaper column in the
La Jolla Light entitled "Scripps Institution News."
From 1917 to 1942, Allen wrote feature articles on biology for a number of different California newspapers. He sought to make
scientific concepts accessible to those without a background in science, and he saw his newspaper features as the platform
to accomplish that goal. Allen retired from the Scripps Institution in 1943 and remained professor emeritus until 1946. He
died on September 20, 1947, in Santa Paula, Calif.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS. Boxes 1-4 (SRLF). Boxes 5-13 (SIO Archives).
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Winfred Emory Allen Papers. SMC 23. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Winfred Emory Allen, an early Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) biologist who specialized in the collection
and study of plankton. The papers consist of personal and professional correspondence, Allen's research data, newspaper features,
manuscripts, Allen's writings on and about SIO, and photographs. The collection is noteworthy for its correspondence between
Allen and other early SIO researchers, and Allen's frank opinions on the research program and administration of the campus,
as recorded in his letters, memoranda, and press releases. It also includes some ephemera and photographs of the La Jolla
area from 1919 through the mid-1930s.
The papers are arranged in five series: 1) DATA FILES, 2) CORRESPONDENCE AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS, 3) SUBJECT FILES AND WRITINGS;
4) CALIFORNIA BIOLOGICAL FEATURE SERVICE, and 5) PHOTOGRAPHS.
SIO Biographical Files, SAC 5. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1981-2006.
Seven photographs from this collection have been digitized and are available through links in the container list.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Allen, Winfred Emory, 1873-1947 -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. -- Archives
Phytoplankton -- Research