The collection consists of early records, meeting minutes, and photographs documenting the formative years of the Marine Biological Association of San Diego and its transition into the Scripps Institution of Biological Research, predecessor of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

In 1903, UC Berkeley biologist William E. Ritter and San Diego physician Fred Baker, with the financial support of philanthropists E. W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, founded the Marine Biological Association of San Diego. The purpose of the Association was to advance the study of marine sciences. Ritter was appointed as its first director and supervised the activities of temporary research stations in San Diego Bay. In 1905, the Association leased property above La Jolla Cove and established a marine laboratory. Ms. Scripps added a codicil to her will in 1909 bequeathing a gift to the Regents of the University of California for a permanent marine biological station, and construction of the first building on the current campus, the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, was completed in 1910. In July of 1912, the Association deeded its property to the Regents and became the Scripps Institution for Biological Research, formally becoming part of the UC System. In 1925, it was renamed the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

3 Linear feet (4 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 map case folder)

Publication rights are held by the Regents of the University of California.

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