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Guide to the Vernon and Mary Cheadle Papers
MS-07
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Title: Vernon and Mary Cheadle papers
Dates: 1936-1994
Collection number: MS-07
Creator:
Cheadle, Vernon Irvin, 1910-
Creator:
Cheadle, Mary Low
Collection Size:
11 linear feet
4 record storage boxes, 14 photo boxes, 4 binders
Repository:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Abstract: Correspondence, teaching materials, research materials, photographs, scrapbooks, and artifacts documenting Vernon and Mary
Cheadle's years when Vernon was Professor of Botany at UC Davis and when he was Chancellor at UCSB.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, UC Santa Barbara. All requests
for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Cheadle Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Vernon and Mary Cheadle papers, MS-07, Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Papers transferred from the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, University of California, Santa Barbara,
to the UC Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Research Collections, August, 2016.
Arrangement and description of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Biography / Administrative History
Vernon Irvin Cheadle was both an academician and administrator at several colleges and universities across the country, but
he is best known for his role as Chancellor of UCSB from 1962 to 1977. Cheadle was born in Salem, South Dakota on February
6, 1910. As a high-school and college student, he competed in track and field events and was also a member of the basketball
and football teams. He attended South Dakota State University for one year before transferring to Miami University where he
received a B.S. (magna cum laude) in 1932. In 1932 he was accepted to Harvard University and he received an M.S. in 1934 and
his Ph.D. in botany in 1936 under the mentorship of Ralph H. Wetmore. After graduating from Harvard, Vernon Cheadle spent
six weeks on a collecting trip in Cuba. Many of the specimens he collected are still preserved in his vast plant specimen
collection in the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration at UCSB. While on his collecting trip, he was
offered a position in the Department of Botany at Rhode Island State College, an appointment he began in 1936. He was Professor
and Chair of the department from 1942 to 1952 and also served as Director of the Graduate Division. From 1944 to 1946 he served
as a U.S. Navy lieutenant in the Pacific theater.
During 1950-51, Cheadle spent a sabbatical year at the University of California at Davis. He was attracted to Davis because
he wished to collaborate with Dr. Katherine Esau on their mutual research interest, vascular tissues in higher plants. He
met Dr. Esau, an internationally-known botanist at Harvard while she was there on a Guggenheim Research Fellowship. After
returning to Rhode Island, Cheadle was invited back to Davis where he served as Department Chair from 1952 to 1962. He also
served as the Acting Vice Chancellor from 1961 to 1962, just prior to his appointment as Chancellor of the Santa Barbara campus.
During his tenure as UCSB's second chancellor, the number of academic disciplines on campus increased from 36 to 100, and
the student enrollment grew from 4,700 to more than 12,000. In 1979, UCSB's administration building was named Cheadle Hall
to honor Vernon Cheadle's exceptional leadership during the campus' formative years. Cheadle retired in 1977 and returned
to the laboratory full time to resume his life-long studies on the tracheary cells, the water-conducting cells in higher plants.
In addition to his strong interests in botany and research, Cheadle continued to be active in university and community affairs.
He also continued his interest in sports and began competing in Master's Track and Field meets, setting many national records
in the shot-put and discus throw. Cheadle passed away in 1995 at the age of 85.
Mary Low Cheadle was born in Rhode Island in 1915. She graduated from Rhode Island College in Providence, and became a teacher
in the Kingston, RI, public school system. She and Vernon married in 1939, while Vernon was on the faculty of Rhode Island
State College. After they moved to Santa Barbara in 1962, Mary made deep connections in the community and at the University--she
was always a fully engaged partner in Vernon's work. Mary felt a special connection with Davidson Library, and she was a
member of the Friends of the Library for many years. She chaired the group from 1988 until 1991. In 1994, she created the
Mary Low Cheadle Endowment for Special Collections. Her UCSB service also included membership on the UC Santa Barbara Foundation's
board of trustees, the University Art Museum Council, and the Faculty Women's Club. She was named an Honorary Alumna of UCSB
in 1990. After her husband died, Mary Cheadle established numerous gifts in his memory, including support for the University
Art Museum, the vocal music program, student athletes, and the Vernon and Mary Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological
Restoration, established in 2005.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection complements the larger set of Cheadle papers, located in the University Archives in Davidson Library. Series
1 Professional Activities covers some of Cheadle's activities as Chancellor and Professor of Botany. The subseries Activities
as Chancellor contains both clippings and letters celebrating Cheadle becoming UCSB Chancellor in 1962, as well as materials
concerning his retirement. Academic Files contain notes, handouts, exercises, lab materials, and exams for several courses
taught by Cheadle at UC Davis mostly during the 1950s. Series 2 Research Activities forms the bulk of this collection. This
series documents Cheadle's plant anatomy research on the evolution of tracheary elements in monocotyledons as well as developmental
studies. It contains correspondence, notes, and data collected with colleagues Katherine Esau and Jennifer Thorsch. Series
3 Personal and Biographical Materials contains some of Mary Cheadle's college mementos, photographs of both Vernon and Mary,
and other items, such as diplomas. Series 4 Artifacts contains Vernon's athletic trophies, framed awards and plaques, personal
items such as pins and a watch, and scientific equipment, all of which are inventoried separately. Series 5 Photographs is
a large collection of plant anatomy images in several different formats. These items are not catalogued individually but
correspond to individual fluid plant specimens which have their own collection numbers and data.
The collection consists of five series: Series 1 Professional Activities, Series 2 Research Activities, Series 3 Personal
and Biographical Materials, Series 4 Artifacts and Series 5 Photographic Images.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Botanists--North America
Plant anatomy
Xylem
Cheadle, Vernon Irvin, 1910-
Cheadle, Mary Low
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Davis
Photographs
Thorsch, Jennifer
Esau, Katherine
See Guide to the Vernon Cheadle Collection 1929-1995, FACP 22, Special Collections, Davidson Library, UCSB.
The main collection of Cheadle's papers as Chancellor are located at Davidson Library, Special Collections, UCSB. Research
conducted jointly by Cheadle, Katherine Esau, and Jennifer Thorsch can also be found at the Cheadle Center in the Esau Papers
and by contacting Thorsch.