Finding aid to the Charles Russell Orcutt Papers LA.1994.0415
Finding aid prepared by Marie Myers
San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library
2018-05-30
1788 El Prado, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
library@sdnhm.org
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library
Title: Charles Russell Orcutt Papers
creator:
Orcutt, Charles Russell, 1864-1929
Identifier/Call Number: LA.1994.0415
Physical Description:
3.75 Linear Feet
Date (bulk): 1877-1929
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, field notes, and publications of the botanist Charles Russell Orcutt. It also includes
biographical material and lists related to Orcutt's natural history collections, library, research, and travels.
Language of Material: English
Scope and Contents
The papers consist of eight boxes of material related to Orcutt's life, collecting trips, and publications. The collection
also contains correspondence, field notes, and collecting lists. Material in four series, as follows. I. Biographical material
and field notes, 1878-1929; II. Research; III. Orcutt Library, 1918-1939; IV. Publications.
Biographical / Historical
Charles Russell Orcutt was a naturalist who specialized in botany and malacology. Born on April 27, 1864 in Hartland, Vermont,
he moved with his family to San Diego in 1879, where his father established a small horticultural nursery near the ruins of
the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Orcutt married Olive E. Eddy in 1892; her medical practice provided financial support for
the family while Orcutt traveled extensively on collecting trips in both southern California and Baja California. He was a
prolific writer and editor, publishing multiple journals and magazines including
West American Scientist (1884-1919). An early member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Society of Natural History (the parent organization
of the San Diego Natural History Museum), he collected many specimens now currently held in the botany, paleontology, and
marine invertebrate departments of that museum. Orcutt collected at least 45 new taxa, including 15 plant species and even
one genus that were named in his honor. Many plant names exist today with the specific epithet of orcuttii as testament to
his collecting skills. His botanical specimens are found in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History and
the Smithsonian Institution Natural History Museum, in addition to the San Diego Natural History Museum. He died on August
25, 1929 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers by appointment. Contact the Research Library Director, San Diego Natural History Museum.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright may be reserved. Consult the San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library Director for more information.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Charles Russell Orcutt Papers. Research Library, San Diego Natural History Museum.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Botanists -- California -- Correspondence
Botany -- California
Botany -- Mexico -- Baja California (Peninsula)
Cactus
Malacology
Mollusks
Plants -- California
Series I - Biographical material and field notes
1878-1929
Box 304
Field Notes Journal
1879-1897
Orcutt Field Notes 1879-1897: 1879-1897
Scope and Contents
Journal and list of plants, shells and other natural history material collected by Orcutt; items numbered consecutively from
1 to 2893, some with location and date. Includes autobiographical sketch, Orcutt family genealogies, and collecting notes.
Localities include San Diego and Imperial counties, Baja California, Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Mexico City, and Guadalajara.
Includes notes re Asa Gray and C. C. Parry, some drawings.
Box 304, Folder 1
Biographical data and notes
1886-1929
Scope and Contents
Articles, news clippings, and correspondence regarding Orcutt. Includes San Diego Union obituary published 29 Aug 1929 and
Eugene Coan, "Charles Russell Orcutt, Pioneer Californian Malacologist and the
West American Scientist,"
Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History, vol. 14, no. 8 (1966); typescript of Orcutt essay "In Baja California" re 1886 trip; typescript "Grasses Collected in Baja
California" by C. R. Orcutt. Correspondence re Orcutt includes timeline of Orcutt collecting trips 1882-1919, prepared by
Reid Moran.
Box 304, Folder 2
Collections in Texas
1913, 1926
Scope and Contents
Plant lists for localities in Texas, including Laredo (Mar-Apr 1913) and Corpus Christi (1913). Also includes list of specimens
collected by Orcutt at Cloudcroft, New Mexico, 23-26 Jul 1926.
Box 304, Folder 3
Field notes
1884
Scope and Contents
One handwritten half-page size list, with 4 typescript copies; published list of Gastropoda.
Box 304, Folder 4
List of donated books
n.d.
Scope and Contents
Memoranda pad with list of journal titles donated to the "Scientific Library" of the San Diego Society of Natural History.
Box 304, Folder 5
Orcutt essay "By Wagon to Baja"
1886
Scope and Contents
"By Wagon to Baja" Orcutt essay of 1886 trip, prepared as article for
Environment Southwest. Typescript, 5 pp. Includes brief (1 p.) biography of Orcutt by Reid Moran.
Box 304, Folder 6
Letters
1878-1924
Scope and Contents
Letters from Orcutt to his parents, 1900-1903. Also includes one letter to his cousin, Lydia Gray, 1878, and five letters
to his son Heman, 1922-1924.
Box 304, Folder 7
Letters
1882-1883; 1910
Scope and Contents
Photocopies of letters to George Engelmann (1882-1883) and J. M. Greenman (1910) of Missouri Botanical Garden regarding cacti.
Box 304, Folder 8
Letters
1883-1894
Scope and Contents
Letters from Orcutt to his parents, 1883-1894.
Box 304, Folder 9
Letters
1890-1894
Scope and Contents
Letters from Orcutt to his parents. Includes one letter from San Diego Natural History Museum director Clinton G. Abbott to
Orcutt regarding donation.
Box 304, Folder 10
Letters
1927-1929
Scope and Contents
Two letters. Letter dated 1927 from Laurence M. Klauber regarding Orcutt donation to the San Diego Society of Natural History.
Letter dated June 1929 from Orcutt to his daughter Eunice.
Box 304, folder 11
Biographical notes
Scope and Contents
Biographical notes prepared by museum staff; includes Orcutt's U.S, passport, issued 1919.
Box 304, Folder 12
Family reminiscences and other biographical material
Scope and Contents
Reminiscences of Orcutt's daughter Mary Orcutt Bisbee; note to Orcutt granddaughter Barbara Bisbee with news clipping re Grantville
and Orcutt post office. Also includes obituary of Maryette Foster Eddy (Orcutt's mother-in-law), d. 1903.
Box 304, Folder 13
Photos
Scope and Contents
5 b/w photographs. (1) Flower of Pachycereus Orcuttii, taken 10 Jun 1905 (copy of San Diego Natural History Society's type
photograph); 4 x 5 in. (2) Orcutt portrait; 8 x 10 in. (3) Orcutt with cactus; 5 x 7 in. (4 and 5) Museum staff inspecting
Orcutt Library at Old Town, August 1927; 4 x 5 in.
Box 304, Folder 15
Shell lists
Scope and Contents
Handwritten lists of shells for sale and exchange. Includes some names of collectors to whom Orcutt sent shells.
Box 304, Item 1
Orcutt essay "A Lost Mine"
1879
Scope and Contents
Handwritten letter from Orcutt, published in the San Diego Daily Union, 21 Dec 1879 as "A Lost Mine." Includes transcription.
Box 305
Series II - Research Material
Scope and Contents
Series consists of four notebooks, two envelopes, and seven folders of research material about Orcutt and his collecting activities,
including Ethel Bailey Higgins notes about Orcutt. Includes three folders of Orcutt's own handwritten technical notes on cacti.
Includes handwritten Orcutt manuscript (circa. 1919) entitled "Historical Review of Scientific Activity in San Diego." Includes
envelope of information collected by Orcutt (circa 1919) on the early history of the San Diego Natural History Museum. This
envelope includes biographical notes by Orcutt of Fred Baker and W. C. Crandall. Also includes archival photocopies of
Review of the Cactaceae.
Series III - Orcutt Library
1918-1939
Box 79, Item Envelope
Orcutt Papers
1918-1921
Scope and Contents
Papers relating to the formation of the San Diego Scientific Library.
Box 197
Orcutt Library - Museum Administration documents
1918-1929
Scope and Contents
Approximately one inch of documents, bulk originals of material included in Box 79. Includes correspondence and legal documents
regarding donation of Orcutt's Library to the San Diego Society of Natural History. Correspondents include Clinton G. Abbott,
Fred Baker, Howard H. Cleaves, J. C. Harper, Laurence M. Klauber, Charles Russell Orcutt, Olive L. Eddy Orcutt, Joseph W.
Sefton, Jr.
Box 79, Folder 1
Deed of Trust Correspondence
1920-1923
Scope and Contents
Photocopies of correspondence. Correspondents include Clinton G. Abbott, Fred Baker, Howard H. Cleaves, J. C. Harper, Charles
Russell Orcutt, Joseph W. Sefton, Jr. Bulk of material copies of material in Museum Administration Box 197.
Box 79, Folder 2
Letters - Orcutt Library
1927-1933
Scope and Contents
Letters relating to Orcutt's Library. Correspondents include Clinton G. Abbott, Laurence M. Klauber, Frank Stephens, U. S.
Grant, IV, Ralph E. Jenney.
Box 79, Folder 3
Natural History Museum early holdings
1938
Scope and Contents
List of books donated by Orcutt to the San Diego Society of Natural History; 1 bound volume (6 x 8").
Box 79, Item Bundle
Orcutt Library inventory
1939
Scope and Contents
Handwritten inventory of Orcutt library, prepared as part of WPA project. Includes Manuscript Depository Form of Works Project
Administration, Division of Women's and Professional Projects Historical Records Survey, 1937.
Various publications, A-M
Physical Description: 0.5 Linear Feet
Scope and Contents
Twelve folders; bulk consists of of published material. Includes issues of Orcutt publications
The Semi-Tropical Planter,
San Diego Magazine,
Golden Hints for California, and
For San Diego.
Box 306, Folder 1
Letter
1886
Scope and Contents
Handwritten letter from Orcutt to Robert Manning regarding publishing schedule and issue numbers for the
West American Scientist.
Box 306, Folder 2
Publication lists
Scope and Contents
Various lists of Orcutt publications, prepared by museum staff. Includes correspondence regarding issue duplicates for sale
and exchange.
Box 306, Folder 3
Alegria
1905
Scope and Contents
One issue: Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 1905); advertising pages only.
Box 306, Folder 4
The American Botanist
1898-1900
Scope and Contents
Two issues: Vol. 1, no. 1 (15 Sep 1898) and Vol. 1, no. 2 (Jan 1900).
Box 306, Folder 5
American Plants (vol. 1)
1907-1908
Box 306, Folder 7
Botany of Southern California
1901-1903
Box 306, Folder 8
California Art and Nature
1901
Box 306, Folder 9
California Botanical Garden
1903
Scope and Contents
Bulletin 1, July 1903. No page numbers (16 pages).
Box 306, Folder 11
California Trees and Flowers
1891-1892
Box 306, Folder 13
Fruits All the Year Round
1892
Box 306, Folder 15
Golden Hints for California
1891
Box 306, Folder 16
The Horticulturist
1889
Scope and Contents
"Christmas Number." No. 1, Dec 1889. Contents and advertisements identical to
Manzanita, no. 1.
Box 306, Folder 17
International Seedsman and Plantsman
1895
Box 306, Folder 19
Magazine San Diego
1914-1915
Scope and Contents
Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 1914), pp. 1-16. No. 1 (Jan 1915), pp. 1-4; price list of cactus only.
Box 306, Folder 20
Manzanita
1889-1890
Scope and Contents
Subtitle: "The Lower California Magazine." Includes No. 1 (Dec 1889) and No. 2 (Jan 1890). Contents and advertisements identical
to
Horticulturist, no. 1 (Dec 1889).
Box 306, Folder 23
Miscellaneous publications
1885-1909
Scope and Contents
Orcutt publications including checklists, price lists, and issues of magazines. Includes
Cacti Illustrated (1892),
Flora of South and Lower California (1885),
Southern and Lower California Flora (188?),
Southwest News (1892), and
The Texas Garden (1909).
Various publications N-S
1867-1927
Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet
Box 307, Folder 4
Out of Doors for Women
1893
Box 307, Folder 5
Price list, California flowers
1907
Scope and Contents
Orcutt Seed and Plant Company. Includes advertisements.
Box 307, Folder 8
San Diego Natural History Series
1891
Box 307, Folder 9
Science and Horticulture
1891
Box 307, Folder 10
The Semi-Tropical Planter
1887-1888
Box 307, Folder 11
The Semi-Tropical Planter
1889
Box 307, Folder 12
The Semi-Tropical Planter
1890-1891
Scope and Contents
Nine issues. September 1891 issue (Vol. VII, no. 37) includes "Women in Science" essay by Rosa Smith Eigenmann, "read before
the Pacific Coast Women's Press Association."
Box 308, Folder 1
The West American
1906 (?)
Box 308, Folder 2
West American Mollusca
1900
Scope and Contents
Includes
Mollusca no. 2 (Jan 1900).
Box 308, Folder 3
West American Scientist
1886-1913
Scope and Contents
Various issues. Include 1913 material not issued. Also includes subscriptions receipt book and correspondence of Clinton G.
Abbott with institutional libraries regarding issues for exchange.
Box 308, Folder 4
The Young Men's Journal
1887
Box 308, Folder 5
The Young Men's Journal
1888
Box 308, Folder 6
The Young Men's Journal
1889
Box 308, Folder 7
The Young Men's Journal
1890
Box 308, Folder 8
The Young Men's Journal
1892
Various publications
1884-1915
Scope and Contents
Box contains issues of six publications, all approximately 6 x 9 inches; some loose leaves, some bound as pamphlets.
Box 309, folder 1
Botanical Study of Mexico
ca. 1913
Box 309, Folder 6
West American Scientist
1884-1893
Box 320
The Great Southwest (magazine)
1889-1894
Scope and Contents
Issues of
The Great Southwest, beginning with Vol. 2, no. 1 (Jan 1889); through Vol. VI, whole no. 55 (Oct 1894).