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William E. Ritter Papers
SMC 0004
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Title: William E. Ritter Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0004
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
3.25 Linear feet
(5 archives boxes, 1 flat box)
Date: ca. 1890-1944
Abstract: The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs.
Creator:
Ritter, William Emerson, 1856-1944
William E. Ritter (1856-1944) was a biologist and co-founder of the Scripps Institution for Oceanography. Ritter received
his BA from the University of California and his MA and Ph.D. in zoology from Harvard. He returned to Berkeley in 1891 to
teach biology at the University of California, shortly thereafter becoming chair of the new Department of Zoology. He married
physician Mary Elizabeth Bennett in 1891. Ritter was determined to set up a coastal laboratory for the study of marine biology,
and in 1903, with the support of E.W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, Ritter founded the Marine Biological Association
of San Diego. The laboratory settled into its present location in La Jolla in 1905. Negotiations between the Scripps family
and the University of California were completed in 1912, and Ritter served as the first scientific director of SIO from 1912-1922.
A humanist, scientist, and prolific author, Ritter developed the organismal theory of biology and advocated for popular science
literacy and education after his retirement from SIO. He remained active in the scientific community until his death.
SIO ARCHIVES COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list.
Acquired, 1963-2005.
William E. Ritter Papers, SMC 4. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs. The material is principally related
to Ritter's role as the first scientific director of the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, revealing his interests,
management philosophy, fundraising efforts, and research as a zoologist and marine biologist.
The collection is arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION
FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 3) NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES, 4) PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, and 5) PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE consists of three boxes of professional letters on topics such as research, funding, laboratory supplies,
scholarly publishing, and management. Major correspondents include Morse Cartwright, Barton Evermann, Victor H. Henderson,
Hugh McCormick Smith, Robert G. Sproul, and Benjamin Wheeler. Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 2: MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH consists of annual reports
on the activities of the station to the Department of Zoology at UC Berkeley, and related research and administrative materials.
Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 3: NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES consists of research notes and a small selection of Ritter's manuscripts, lectures,
and writings. Arranged chronologically.
SERIES 4: PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES consists of meeting minutes and papers from Ritter's work in scientific associations.
SERIES 5: PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS consists of portraits and informal snapshots; a guestbook from the Ritter dwelling
at Scripps, and reproductions of plans for a home in Berkeley, California.
William E. Ritter's literary executor, Edna Watson Baily, donated Ritter's papers on the administration of SIO to the Scripps
Library in 1963. In 1979, material concerning the following individuals was removed and interfiled in the SIO Biographical
Files (SAC 5): Winfred Emory Allen, Fred Baker, Percy Spencer Barnhart, S. Stillman Berry, Wesley Clarence Crandall, Christine
Essenberg, Calvin Olin Esterly, Jacob Chandler Harper, Charles Atwood Kofoid, George Francis McEwen, Ellis Leroy Michael,
James Ross, E. W. Scripps, Ellen Browning Scripps, Francis Bertody Sumner, Margaret E. Sumner, Harry Beal Torrey and Julius
Wangenheim. The remaining papers were processed in 1982, and a revised finding aid with a correspondent index was published
(SIO Reference Number 82-16). Eight additional small accessions of Ritter material, including photographs and the guestbook,
were added to the papers in 2014.
Bennett Family Papers (SMC 48); Marine Biological Association of San Diego Records (SAC 37); Mary Bennett Ritter Diaries (SMC
47); Ritter Family Papers (SMC 15); SIO Biographical Files (SAC 5).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Marine Biological Association of San Diego (Calif.).
Ritter, William Emerson, 1856-1944 -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Oceanography--History