Earl Murray Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2015
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Earl Murray Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0772
Physical Description:
1.4 Linear feet
(2 archives boxes and 1 film)
Date: 1951-1982
Abstract: Papers of Earl Murray, Scripps Institution of Oceanography staff research associate and expert deep diver. The collection
consists of material from the U.S. Navy's SeaLab II project including Murray's journals and logs, papers relating to his diving
and consulting career, photographs and slides, and one original film.
Restrictions
Original reel-to-reel sound recording and film are restricted. Digital copies may be requested in advance.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2014.
Preferred Citation
Earl Murray Papers, MSS 772. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the Regents of the University of California.
Biography
Earl Murray (born in 1927 in Alamogordo, New Mexico) was a staff research associate and laboratory technician at the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography from 1952-1977. Murray was well-known for his deep diving experience and underwater photography
skills. Murray's diving expertise supported numerous expeditions and research programs at Scripps and for the government,
including: serving on the University of California SCUBA Safety Board and California state-wide SCUBA boards, 1953-1974; reconnaissance
diving and photographing the wreck of the Andrea Doria off Nantucket in 1956; stabilizing buoys during experimental Mohole
drilling and the Deep-Sea Drilling Expedition in 1960-1961; participating in the dives of Jacques Cousteau's diving saucer
Soucoupe in the submarine canyons off La Jolla and Baja California, Mexico in the 1960s; and serving as an aquanaut with the U.S.
Navy's "Man in the Sea" SeaLab II project, living in an underwater habitat for 15 consecutive days at 210 feet. Murray died
in 2009 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Earl Murray, Scripps Institution of Oceanography staff research associate and expert deep diver. Half of the collection
consists of material from the U.S. Navy's SeaLab II project, including Murray's journals and logs, a recording of a radio
interview with Murray, photographs, and situational reports. The remainder consists of miscellaneous papers relating to his
diving and consulting career, including correspondence, drawings for instruments and equipment, contracts, materials on diving
off the Southern California coast, photographs, slides, and one original film.
Arranged in three series: 1) SEALAB II; 2) MISCELLANEOUS; and 3) PHOTOGRAPHS, SLIDES AND FILM.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sealab II
Manned undersea research stations
Deep diving -- California -- San Diego
Murray, Earl -- Archives
SEALAB II
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) SEALAB II: Documentation from the U.S. Navy's 1965 SeaLab II project, including Murray's journals and logs, a recording
of a radio interview with Murray, and situational reports. Photographic documentation of the SeaLab II experiment is located
in Series 3.
Box 1, Folder 1
Plans and operating manuals
1965 April-May
Box 1, Folder 3
Steering committee documents
1965 June
Box 1, Folder 4
Checklist of daily activities
1965 June-August
Box 1, Folder 5
Vicinity maps
1965 August
Box 1, Folder 6
SeaLab II logs
1965 August-September
Box 1, Folder 7-8
SeaLab II project journals
1965 August-October
Box 1, Folder 9
"Aquaspouse" Newsletter, Navy Command Information Bureau
1965 August-September
Box 1, Folder 10
Navy situational reports
1965 September-October
Box 1, Folder 11
Press releases and publicity
1965-1966
Box 1, Folder 12
Humorous press release
1965
Box 1, Folder 13
SeaLab II project publications and reports
1965-1967
Box 1, Folder 14
Underwater weather station
1966 February-June
Box 1, Folder 16
KNX radio interview with Bruce Kaufman and Earl Murray - Sound recording
1965 November 22
General note
Recorded at the Coast and Geodetic Survey Los Angeles field office. Reel-to-reel, variable speed, poor condition, time 00:38:29.
Restrictions
Original restricted (digital version available).
Box 2, Folder 1
Drawings and patents
undated
Oversize FB-382-07
Drawings and patents - Oversize
undated
Box 2, Folder 2
Preliminary Report on Problems of Underwater Swimmers
1951
Box 2, Folder 3
Professional correspondence and contracts
1951-1968
Box 2, Folder 4
Scripps Submarine Canyon drawings
1955
Box 2, Folder 5
Observations of sea floor off La Jolla for Navy Electronics Laboratory
1956
Box 2, Folder 6
Scientific Diving Consultants
1956-1961
Box 2, Folder 7
Jim Stewart shark attack
1961
Box 2, Folder 8
UC diving regulations and related correspondence
1961
Box 2, Folder 9
"French Diving Saucer" writings
1964 February 13
Box 2, Folder 10
Canyon dive with ASHERAH
1966 January 26
Box 2, Folder 11
Records of dives in Scripps Submarine Canyon
1968-1970
Box 2, Folder 12
Resume and letters of support
1968-1975
Box 2, Folder 13
Masters, Patricia. "Detection and assessment of prehistoric artifact sites off the coast of Southern California"
1982
PHOTOGRAPHS, SLIDES AND FILM
Box 2, Folder 14
La Jolla and SIO, circa 1920s - Copy prints
Box 2, Folder 15
Weather station platform
undated
Box 2, Folder 17
Miscellaneous
undated
General note
Includes photographs of male and female divers at Scripps, and Murray.
Box 2, Folder 18
Scripps Submarine Canyon underwater dive
1961 January
General note
Divers include D. Inman and W. Gayman.
Box 2, Folder 19
Westinghouse diving saucer
1964
Box 2, Folder 20
Baja dive to 1,000 feet - Color slides
circa 1965
Box 2, Folder 21
MK VI School - Color slides
1965
Box 2, Folder 22
SeaLab II - Photographic prints
Box 2, Folder 24
UC San Diego dune buggy
1966
Box 2, Folder 25
LCVP salvage operation
1967
Oversize FS-09
Guaymas, Los Coronados, and Catalina Island trip - Film
undated
General note
16mm film, color, silent. Film taken on a trip with Conrad Limbaugh. Primarily underwater footage of fish, rays, and kelp
bed ecology; includes a few seconds of footage of divers with spear guns. Fair condition.
Restrictions
Restrictions Apply
