Marston C. and Peter Sargent Papers

Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 1996, 2019
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Business Number: 858-534-2533
Fax Number: 858-534-5950
spcoll@ucsd.edu


Descriptive Summary

Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Marston C. and Peter Sargent Papers
Creator: Sargent, Marston C. (Marston Cleaves), 1906-1986
Creator: Sargent, Peter, 1909-1992
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0025
Physical Description: 10 Linear feet (10 record cartons, 1 map case folder, and 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1845-1985 (bulk 1932-1975)
Abstract: The family papers of Marston C. Sargent and his wife, Grace "Peter" Sargent, including extensive familial correspondence, photographs, and personal papers documenting their genealogical history, early years living and teaching at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, travels abroad, and Peter's writings.
Languages: English .

Scope and Content of Collection

The family papers of Marston C. Sargent and his wife, Grace "Peter" Sargent, including extensive familial correspondence, photographs (prints, negatives, and slides), and personal papers documenting family genealogical history, early years living and teaching at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, travels abroad in Europe and London, and Peter's writings. The collection contains relatively little documentation of Marston's scientific research with the Navy and at SIO. Additional topics include: Peter's father, U.S. Forest Service ranger Harry James Tompkins (1867-1949); SIO history, particularly from the perspective of a faculty spouse; the UC loyalty oath; London's Office of Naval Research; open space initiatives in the Tecolote Canyon and Clairemont areas of San Diego; manuscripts for Peter's books The Sea Acorn and Nature's Child; and Sierra National Forest.
Arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MARSTON C. SARGENT, 3) PETER SARGENT, 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.

Biography

Marston C. Sargent (1906-1986) was an oceanographer and inventor affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at UC San Diego for more than four decades. Sargent was born in Somerville, MA, and graduated from Harvard in 1929 with a degree in biology. He earned his doctoral degree in plant physiology and biophysics in 1934 at California Institute of Technology (marrying Grace "Peter" Tompkins on April 8, 1933) and worked for there for three years as an assistant biologist. Sargent moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as an assistant biochemist and later became an instructor of oceanography from 1937-1942. He was called to active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946, during which time he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Navy's Bureau of Ships. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve. After the war, Sargent returned to SIO where he held the position of assistant professor until 1951. From 1951 to 1955, Sargent was an oceanographer and head of training at the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory. In 1955, he moved to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Pasadena where he worked and remained until 1970 (serving a two-year stint in London). After leaving ONR, Sargent was the coordinator of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations until 1974.
Sargent was a co-inventor of an electric device called the Bathythermograph Data Reduction System, which enabled digitization of records compiled with the mechanical bathythermograph, an instrument for logging underwater temperatures. This device allowed researchers to quickly record large quantities of data on ocean conditions. He also became an authority on photosynthesis and the growth requirements of marine plankton algae. Sargent retired in 1974, but he continued as a research associate with the Marine Life Research Group at SIO until 1980.
Grace "Peter" Tompkins Sargent (1909-1992), daughter of Florence and Harry Tompkins, was born in the Sierras of California. Her father, Harry, was one of the first rangers in the new U.S. Forest Service under Gifford Pinchot. She was known by her childhood nickname, Peter, her whole adult life. Peter attended grade school in Pasadena with Roger Revelle. In 1931 she graduated from Stanford with a degree in English, where she was also a member of the Zoology Club; she went on to earn her masters in zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1932. She met her husband Marston in Pasadena, where she was working as a Girl Scout nature counselor and secretary. She accompanied him to Scripps and his other assignments with the Navy in California. In 1979, Peter wrote and privately published a short, informal history of her recollections of the early years living and working at Scripps, The Sea Acorn, and she was the author of other works drawing on her experience in the Sierras and her father's experience in the Forest Service. She was an active member of the League of Women Voters and participated in the campaign for open space in the city of San Diego.

Preferred Citation

Marston C. and Peter Sargent Papers. SMC 25. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

Acquisition Information

Acquired 1988

OFF-SITE STORAGE

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

Publication Rights

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Copyright for all materials created by the Sargents transfers to UC Regents in 2020.

Processing Information

This EAD finding aid for the Sargent Papers utilizes re-purposed description and a container list from an inventory created in 1996 by archival processor Jeffrey A. Stoffel. The collection was not re-appraised, reorganized or re-labelled when the format of the finding aid was updated; therefore, it may be considered minimally processed.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Sargent family -- Correspondence
Tompkins family -- Correspondence
Tompkins, Harry James, 1867-1949
United States. Forest Service -- History
Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- History
Sargent, Marston C. (Marston Cleaves), 1906-1986 -- Archives
Sargent, Peter, 1909-1992 -- Archives

 

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

Series 1) CORRESPONDENCE: Includes letters written and received by the Sargent and Tompkins families, dated from 1888 to 1983. It includes substantial correspondence exchanged by Florence and Harry Tompkins, Peter's parents, to her; as well as letters by her sister Jean "Tommy" Tompkins and her aunt Delia. Sargent family correspondence includes letters from Marston's mother, Nannee May, and his sister Viella. Marston Sargent's professional correspondence with colleagues is limited and is composed primarily of letters from Sydney Rittenburg (1941-1981), Fred Hulse (1938-1983), and Robert Emerson (1937-1938). Arranged in approximate chronological order.
Box 1, Folder 1

Miscellaneous papers

Box 1, Folder 2-9

Correspondence undated

Box 1, Folder 10-43

Correspondence 1888-1942 September

Box 2, Folder 1-35

Correspondence 1942 October-1946

Box 3, Folder 1-35

Correspondence 1947-1953 September

Box 4, Folder 1-17

Correspondence 1953 October-1983

 

MARSTON C. SARGENT

General

Series 2) MARSTEN SARGENT: Includes professional correspondence, employment records, proposals, resumes and published papers. Includes notes on the Bathythermograph Data Reduction System and its development. There is a range of environmental notes and clippings on issues such as pollution and energy. The series includes several photographs, including a 1939 print of staff and faculty at SIO; more photographic portraits of Marsten are found in Series 4. Arranged in approximate chronological order.
Box 4, Folder 18-19

Photograph portraits 1924-1928, and undated

Oversize FB-072, Folder 8

Portrait of SIO faculty and staff 1939

General

Annotation on verso notes Roger Revelle and F. B. Sumner missing from photograph.
Box 4, Folder 20

Retirement

Box 4, Folder 21

Notes

Box 4, Folder 22

Sketchbook

Box 4, Folder 23

Reprints

Oversize Annex MC-006, Folder 08

Western Junior High School, Somerville, Massachusetts, Class of 1921 - Panorama photograph

Box 4, Folder 25

Biographical information 1929-1964

Box 4, Folder 26

Diplomas and letters 1933-1952

Box 4, Folder 27

University of California employment record 1937-1953

Box 4, Folder 28

Publications 1934-1948

Box 4, Folder 29-32

Naval Reserve records 1942-1954

Box 4, Folder legal

The Desert Log 1942

Box 4, Folder legal

Wills 1942

Box 4, Folder 33

Naval Electronics Laboratory 1951-1955

Box 4, Folder 34

IX and other societies 1951-1967

Box 4, Folder 35

Workman's compensation claim 1963

Box 4, Folder 36

Principles of Adult Education 1955

Box 4, Folder 37

Badges and insignia

Box 4, Folder 38

Aeromarine Electronics, Inc., Proposal for Bathythermograph Data Reduction System

Box 4, Folder 39

Bathythermograph Data Reduction System 1964

Box 4, Folder 40

BT 1968-1969

Box 4, Folder 41

Bermuda Biological Station for Research 1947

Box 4, Folder 42

Bottles 1973

Box 4, Folder 43

British Certificate of Registration 1958

Box 4, Folder 44

California Academy of Sciences 1965-1974

Box 4, Folder 45-49

CalCOFI and Marine Research Committee 1950-1974

Box 4, Folder 50

Report on CalCOFI, by Murphy 1960 May 26

Box 4, Folder 51

Eldon Sette 1972

Box 4, Folder 52

P. Smith 1953

Box 5, Folder 1-2

Carlin Case 1975

Box 5, Folder 3-5

Wilbert M. Chapman 1961-1965

Box 5, Folder 6

Contaminants 1971

Box 5, Folder 7

Correspondence 1959-1960

Box 5, Folder 8-9

Energy 1973-1977

Box 5, Folder 10

Environmental Quality Act 1973

Box 5, Folder 11

London, Office of Naval Research 1960

Box 5, Folder 12

Navy Electronic Laboratory - Personnel file 1960

Box 5, Folder 13

ONR - Personnel file 1958-1960

Box 5, Folder 14-17

Smog and pollution 1952-1970

Box 5, Folder 18

Sewage and pollution 1973-1975

Box 5, Folder 19

Prestidigitator calculations ca. 1964

Box 5, Folder 20

Transportation 1971-1977

Box 5, Folder 21-22

Water 1973-1977

Box 5, Folder 23

Yugoslavia 1959

Box 5, Folder 24-25

Ecosystem of the California Current 1959-1974

Box 5, Folder 26

Party 1974 July 2

Box 5, Folder 27

Scripps 1978-1979

Box 5, Folder 28

Picture by Paul Sample of Vermont undated

 

PETER SARGENT

Scope and Content of Series

Series 3) PETER SARGENT: Includes many of Peter's writings and manuscripts, school materials, clippings, and subject files on her areas of interest and activity. There is material relating to the San Diego neighborhood of Clairemont, California's open space debates from the 1960s and 1970s. Personal correspondence includes letters from Julia Shinn and John Lewis regarding the early days in the Sierras and the U.S. Forest Service. Arranged in approximate chronological order.
Box 5, Folder 29

Caricature

Box 5, Folder 30

Portrait

Box 5, Folder 31

Photograph by Anna Clark

Box 5, Folder 32

Notes

Box 5, Folder 33-39

Clippings 1930-1981

Box 5, Folder 40

Clippings - Sentinel 1955-1956

Box 5, Folder 41

Altadena School 1917

Box 5, Folder 42

Travel 1920

Box 5, Folder 43

Address book ca. 1920

Box 5, Folder 44-45

Diaries 1921, 1924

Box 5, Folder 46

Playbills 1921-1927

Box 5, Folder 47-50

High school records 1922-1927

Box 5, Folder 50-51

Sunnyside Club 1921

Box 5, Folder 53-54

Class notes and nursing 1924

Box 6, Folder 1-4, 25-27

College courses and papers 1928-1929

Box 6, Folder 5

Wedding invitation 1933

Box 6, Folder 6

Bird records 1937-1939

Box 6, Folder 7

Marmer's Club party 1941 April 5

Box 6, Folder 8

"India and the War" undated

Box 6, Folder 9

Telephone book 1946

Box 6, Folder 10

La Jolla discussion group 1946

Box 6, Folder 11-17

Personal files 1941-1958

Box 6, Folder 18-20

Politics/Personal files 1939-1948

Box 6, Folder 21

Financial 1946

Box 6, Folder 22-24, 28

Short stories 1928

Box 6, Folder 29-32

Lewis letters and Cabin Country outline 1952-1963, 1973

Box 6, Folder 33-36

Shin letters 1949-1962

Box 6, Folder 37-43

Sierra source material 1910-1963

Box 6, Folder 44

U.S. Forest Service 1939

Box 6, Folder 45

Sierra North - Plot, correspondence and first 150 pages 1952

Box 6, Folder 46-51

Nature's Child 1932-1972

General note

Includes correspondence and source material.
Box 6, Folder 52-53

The Girl Peter 1976

Box 6, Folder 54-55

Sandy - Outlines and correspondence 1969-1972

Box 6, Folder 56

A Sawmill History of the Sierra National Forest

Box 6, Folder 57

Ritchie Press and UC Press 1973

Box 7, Folder 1-13

Sea Acorn 1974

General note

Includes Fleming letters.
Box 7, Folder 14

Mother - Sierra Years 1971

Box 7, Folder 15

Mother (all except Sierra Years), Dad - Letters 1946-1954

Box 7, Folder 16-21

Florence J. Tompkins paintings 1963-1965, and undated

Box 7, Folder 22

Sargent - Correspondence with Mother 1959-1963

Box 7, Folder 23

Harry James Tompkins - Photographs ca. 1905-1919

Box 7, Folder 24-26

Harry James Tompkins - Family genealogical records 1845-1965

Box 7, Folder 27-29

Sargent family genealogical records 1861-1960

General note

Includes material from Oscar Groves Sargent memoirs.
Box 7, Folder 30

Letter book - Florence Holbrook Johnson Tompkins letters leaving home in Washington D.C. to go to Northfork, California 1907-1908

Box 7, Folder 31

Delia Tompkins 1952-1956

Box 7, Folder legal

Jean Ann Tompkins's Pasadena High School album 1923

Box 7, Folder 32-34

Jean and Bill Arnold - Letters to family and photographs 1928-1963

Box 7, Folder 35

Jeannie and Tommy, A True Story of Two Children 1940-1949

Box 7, Folder 36-39

League of Women Voters 1939-1949

Box 7, Folder 40

Budget book 1979

Box 8, Folder 1-2

League of Women Voters 1950, 1961

Box 8, Folder 3-5

Loyalty Oath and Regents 1950

Box 8, Folder 6

Loyalty Oath controversy - UC Interim Report of the Committee on Academic Freedom to the Academic Senate, Northern Section of the University of California 1951 February 1

Box 8, Folder 7

C. K. Tseng 1951

Box 8, Folder 8

Donald William Pritchard 1951

Box 8, Folder 9-12

Unitarians, Communists and the FBI 1949-1952

Box 8, Folder 13

"Against Thy Neighbor" 1954

Box 8, Folder 14

Indian mission 1956-1968

Box 8, Folder 15

News from the Bird Banders 1936-1942

Box 8, Folder 16

Birds 1967-1968

Box 8, Folder 17

Volunteer Research Reserve 1943-1952

Box 8, Folder 18

Ideas on articles and sketches from writing class 1956

Box 8, Folder 19

Publishers - Sketches 1952-1954

Box 8, Folder 20

Housewife's Guide 1954

Box 8, Folder 21

Television scripts

Box 8, Folder 22-24, and legal

Scrapbook - Europe 1959-1960

Box 8, Folder 25

Calendars 1958-1959

Box 8, Folder 26-28

England 1957-1967

Box 8, Folder 29-30, 42

Europe 1958-1959

Box 8, Folder 31

Passport 1966

Box 8, Folder 32

Education 1957-1959

Box 8, Folder 33-35, and legal

Correspondence 1959

Box 8, Folder 36

Minutes of the Social Club 1958

Box 8, Folder 37-38

"Peter" files 1958-1959

Box 8, Folder 39-41

London, England - Clippings and scrapbook 1958-1959

Box 9, Folder 1-3

London, England 1958-1960

Box 9, Folder 4-5

ONR and Embassy wives 1958-1960

Box 9, Folder 6

Scrapbook 1959-1960

Box 9, Folder 7

"San Diegans in Surrey" 1963

Box 9, Folder 8

Klausner 1973

Box 9, Folder 9

Correspondence 1975

Box 9, Folder 10

"Peter, the Organizer" 1978

Box 9, Folder 11

Land Development Review Committee 1968

Box 9, Folder 12

Fliers on open space, Ecology Fair and Clairemont 1970

Box 9, Folder 13, 20, 26

Clairemont Mesa Development Committee (CMDC) 1969-1973

Box 9, Folder 14

CMDC open space 1969-1977

Box 9, Folder 15

Northern Area and Town Council 1961-1966

Box 9, Folder 16, 18-19

Joint Advisory Board for Tecolote Park District 1969-1972

Box 9, Folder 17

Tecolote Canyon dedication 1978 April

Box 9, Folder 21-22

Open space 1970

Box 9, Folder legal

CL water 1952-1970

Box 9, Folder 23

Jack "Under an Evil Star" 1971

Box 9, Folder 24

Passports 1972, 1977

Box 9, Folder 25

Christmas trip 1976

Box 9, Folder 27

Travel book 1978

Box 9, Folder 28

Notes ca. 1985

Box 9, Folder 29

Terman study 1981

Oversize FB-072, Folder 7

Oversize materials: University of California master of arts diploma in Zoology; Sedgwick, ME playbills (ca. 1886); Madera County Chamber of Commerce poster about saw mill and lumber industry

 

SARGENT FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 4) PHOTOGRAPHS: Contains hundreds of informal snapshots, primarily pictures and portraits of the Tompkins and Sargent families at home and travelling. Settings include La Jolla; Clairemont, their neighborhood in San Diego; and landscapes documented during their travels throughout California and the American southwest, especially national and state parks and monuments. The series also includes photographs passed down through the family of various acquaintances and rural scenes, including the Sierras in the early 1900s. One file box includes color slides of open spaces in San Diego County, such as Tecolote Canyon, taken during Peter's efforts to preserve undeveloped land. Photographs are individually sleeved but minimally processed, in terms of description and physical arrangement.
Box 10, Folder 1-4

Family photographs undated

General

Includes one folder of prints from nitrate negatives (negatives destroyed), ca. 1907-1940.
Box 10, Folder 5

Anna Clark

Box 10, Folder 6

Boulder Dam souvenir snapshots undated

Box 10, Folder 7

Marston Sargent

General

Includes retirement party photos and early formal portraits.
Box 10, Folder 8-15

Miscellaneous prints - Travel, early family, landscapes ca. 1880-1980

Box 10, Folder 16

Tom and Anne Sargent - Portraits

Box 10, Folder 17

Marston C. and Grace Sargent wedding portrait 1933 April 8

Box 10, Folder 18

Tecolote Canyon dedication - Slides 1978

Box 10, Folder 19

Indian mission and sawmill, Northfork 1905-1910

General

Photographs possibly by Harry Tompkins. Includes images of American Indians weaving baskets, children swimming and playing, and mission life.
Box 10, Folder 20

Shoebox of prints and negatives - Assorted snapshots of La Jolla, Sargent family and friends, travel and landscape images 1900-1976

Box 10, Folder 21

File box of family slides documenting open space in San Diego ca. 1960-1976

General

The majority of slides depict views of undeveloped Tecolote and San Clemente canyons, and bulldozing in both locations. Other areas include Bay Park Canyon, Mount Acadia Park, Pioneer Canyon, Mission Hills Park, Lake Murray, Tourmaline, Oceanside, Mount Etna Park, Cadman Park, Olive Grove Park, Palomar Mountain/Observatory, views from Mesa College, Alcott, Clairemont Drive Canyon, Kate Sessions Park, Stevenson Canyon, Crest, South Clairemont Park, Borrego Springs, and Lindbergh Park. Slides also document Open Space events, maps and charts of Clairemont Mesa, councilman Don Harman, junction between 52 and the 805, and the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.