Finding Aid for the Frederick Johnson Papers, 1948-1968
Processed by Manuscripts Division staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
© 2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid for the Frederick Johnson Papers, 1948-1968
Collection number: 1295
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Los Angeles, CA
- Processed by:
- Manuscripts Division staff
- Encoded by:
- Caroline Cubé
- Online finding aid edited by:
- Josh Fiala, February 2004
© 2004 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Frederick Johnson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1948-1968
Collection number: 1295
Creator:
Johnson, Frederick, 1904-
Extent:
9 boxes (4.5 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Dept. of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Frederick Johnson (b.1904) was a anthropologist and curator of the R.S. Peabody Foundation. He became chairman of the Committee
on Radioactive Carbon 14 set up by the American Anthropological Association. Johnson later became president of the Radiocarbon
Dates Association. The collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to Dr. Frederick Johnson in the development
of the radiocarbon 14 dating method.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Frederick Johnson, 1982.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Frederick Johnson Papers (Collection 1295). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Johnson was an anthropologist and curator of the R.S. Peabody Foundation; became chairman of the Committee on Radioactive
Carbon 14 set up by the American Anthropological Association, and charged with providing archeological and geological advice
and assistance to Dr. Willard F. Libby in his research on radiocarbon dating, for which he was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize
in chemistry; Johnson later became president of the Radiocarbon Dates Association.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to Dr. Frederick Johnson, anthropologist and R.S. Peabody Foundation
curator, in the development of the radiocarbon 14 dating method. Includes information on assembled samples, the progress of
the study, and scholarly reaction to Johnson's work as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Carbon 14 set up by the American
Anthropological Association. Also contains material related to various conferences as well as organizational materials, correspondence,
and financial records relating to the subsequent Radiocarbon Dates Association, of which Johnson was president.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Committee on Radioactive Carbon 14 files, 1948-50 (Boxes 1-2).
- Radiocarbon Dates Association files, 1967-68 (Boxes 2,9).
- Conferences on radiocarbon dating: correspondence and papers (Boxes 2-5).
- Committee for distribution of radiocarbon dates files (Box 5).
- Financial material and correspondence with John Ramsden and Robert Pollard, 1959-64 (Box 6).
- Correspondence regarding errors (Boxes 6-9).
The papers relate to the porfessional involvement of Dr. Frederick Johnson, anthropologist and curator of The R.S. Peabody
Foundation, in the development of the radiocarbon 14 dating method. They fall into 3 categories:
-
- Papers, chiefly correspondence, of Johnson as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Carbon 14 which was set up by The American
Anthropological Association at the request of Willard F. Libby.
- The other members of the Committee were Donald Collier, Richard Foster Flint and Froelich Rainey.
- The Committee's purposes included the provision of suitable test samples for Libby's research into radiocarbon dating, then
in its initial stages. The papers give information not only on the samples assembled but also on progress of the work and
reactions to it by the scholarly community.
- Correspondence and related materials about various conferences in the U.S. and elsewhere on radiocarbon dating which Dr. Johnson
helped to organize.
- Papers, including organizational materials, correspondence and financial records relating to the Radiocarbon Dates Association
Incorporated, of which Dr. Johnson was President. The Association grew out of the Committee's work and provided card sets
for dating purposes.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Johnson, Frederick, 1904- --Archives.
Anthropologists--United States--Archival resources.
Radiocarbon dating--Archival resources.
Related Material
Willard F. Libby Papers (Collection 1276). Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Boxes 1-2
Committee on Radioactive Carbon 14: files, 1948-1950.
Box 2
Radiocarbon Dates Association Incorporated files, 1967-1968.
Box 2
re radiocarbon dating: correspondence and papers, 1955-1959.
Box 5
Committee for distribution of radio carbon dates, files
re finances and production problems, 1958-1963.
Box 5
Committee for distribution of radio carbon dates files: 1957-1964.
Box 6
Financial material and correspondence with John Ramsden and Robert Pollard, 1959-1964.
Box 9
“Subject file.”
Scope and Content Note
Comprises material about incorporation, including articles of incorporation, minutes and correspondence.
