Guide to the Rolla Kent Beattie Papers 1899-1956
Cage 318

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Beattie, R. Kent (Rolla Kent), 1875-1960
Title
Rolla Kent Beattie Papers
ID
Cage 318
Date [inclusive]
1899-1956
Extent
8.5 Linear feet of shelf space, 16 Boxes, 56,500 items
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Correspondence and other papers of Rolla Kent Beattie regarding taxonomic investigations of Pacific Northwest plants, notes and references to literature on Northwest flora, and historical and biographical aspects of Northwest botany.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Rolla Kent Beattie Papers, 1899-1956 (Cage 318)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Rolla Kent Beattie was born in Ohio in 1875. He began his botanical career as a student of Charles Bessey at the University of Nebraska. He was an Instructor, then Professor of Botany, at Washington State University from 1899 to 1912, after which he joined the United States Department of Agriculture research staff at Washington, D. C. and remained there as a forest pathologist until retirement in 1946. During his retirement, he traveled extensively and began again the examinations of Northwest Flora which he had largely abandoned in 1912.

In his earlier years, Beattie’s position was mainly that of a collaborator of the more illustrious Charles Vancouver Piper. The work of the two tended to become so intermingled that the respective contributions could not be discerned. However, Beattie’s contribution appears to have been his knowledge of herbaria and literature resources, while Piper had a greater familiarity with field botany and theory. In later years, as Beattie began to see himself as Piper’s successor, his approach continued to follow the line of herbarium and library research. In fact, he took up the line suggested by the "American Rule" school to a much greater degree than had Piper. During this time Beattie amassed a vast compilation of notes on the development of Northwest botany, in which he examined virtually every treatment of all Northwest species from the initial "discovery," through any and all revisions. He also collected much biographical material relative to the various botanists concerned with Northwest Flora.

Beattie spent most of his retirement years collecting this material. His death in 1960 in Bethesda, Maryland followed four years of failing health.

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Scope and Content

The papers of Rolla Kent Beattie fall into two main area, his correspondence and his notes. His correspondence is relative to Northwest botany, and includes correspondence with C. E. Bessey, L. F. Henderson, Aven Nelson, C. V. Piper, Harold St. John, W. N. Suksdorf, and A. R. Sweetser. The major portion of this collection is a compilation of his notes and references to literature on Northwest flora and historical and biographical aspects of Northwest botany. Included in his letter-books are drafts of articles about the spread of introduced plants, as well as considerable correspondence about plants sent to Washington State University by the public for identification.

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Arrangement

The first series, Correspondence, is arranged in chronological sequence. The second series, Notes, is divided into foldered materials, arranged in an alphabetical sequence of biographical subjects, and a card file which contains four parts. First, a section on Northwest flora, arranged according to a standard botanical classification arrangement, with species ordered alphabetically within each genus. A second section consists of biographical information arranged alphabetically by the names of Northwest botanists. A third section consists of extensive notes on David Douglas. Fourth is a partial geographic index of Northwest plants, arranged according to region.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2021

https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Custodial History

The papers of R. Kent Beattie, 1875-1960, were donated to the Washington State University Herbarium during the period from 1956 through 1960 by Mr. Beattie.

Acquisition Information

The papers, along with those of four other Pacific Northwest botanists, were transferred to the Washington State Library in 1975 by the Marion Ownbey Herbarium on the Washington State Campus.

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Related Materials

Related Material

Northwest Botanical Manuscripts : an Indexed Register of the Papers, 1867-1957, of Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, William Conklin Cusick, Charles Vancouver Piper, Rolla Kent Beattie, and Harold St. John in the Washington State University Library. Washington State University; 1976.

Washington State University Botanical Papers, 1881-1973 (Cage 53)

Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf Papers, 1867-1935 (Cage 315)

William Conklin Cusick Papers, 1906-1924 (Cage 316)

Charles Vancouver Piper Papers, 1888-1926 (Cage 317)

Harold St. John Papers, 1912-1957 (Cage 319)

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Names and Subjects

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Beattie, R. Kent (Rolla Kent), 1875-1960 -- Archives.
  • Bessey, Charles E. (Charles Edwin), 1845-1915.
  • Henderson, L. F. (Louis Fourniquet), 1853-1942.
  • Piper, Charles V. (Charles Vancouver), 1867-1926.
  • St. John, Harold.
  • Sweetser, Albert R. (Albert Raddin), 1861-1940.
  • Suksdorf, Wilhelm, 1850-1932.
  • Nelson, Aven, 1859-1952.

Subject(s)

  • Botanists -- United States -- Correspondence.
  • Botany -- Research -- Northwest, Pacific.
  • Science
  • Colleges and Universities
  • Washington (State)

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Other Finding Aids

Northwest Botanical Manuscripts : an Indexed Register of the Papers, 1867-1957, of Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, William Conklin Cusick, Charles Vancouver Piper, Rolla Kent Beattie, and Harold St. John in the Washington State University Library. Washington State University; 1976.

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Detailed Description of Collection

Series 1: Correspondence 1899-1956 

box folder

  1899-1906  175 items.

1 1

 1907-1910  225 items.

1 2

 1911-1915  180 items.

1 3

 1915-1956  150 items.

1 4

Letterbook 1904 May-1905 July  1 volume.

2 5

Letterbook 1906 April-1907 January  1 volume.

2 6

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Series 2: Northwest Botany Notes 

box

Abbot, E. K. 

3

Abrams, LeRoy 

3

Agassiz, Alexander 

3

Agricultural History 

3

Allen, Miss A. J. 

3

Anderson, A. C. 

3

Applegate, Elmer J. 

3

Austin, Mrs. R. M. 

3

Bailey, Liberty Hyde 

3

Ball, John 

3

Banks, Sir Joseph 

3

Barclay, George 

3

Barett, Mrs. P. G. 

3

Barnhart, John Hendley (biographies) 

3

Baronoff, A. A. 

3

Bartram, William 

3

Baumgarten, Hermann 

3

Bebb, M. S. 

3

Beechey, F. W. 

3

Belcher, Capt. Sir Edward 

3

Benson, Lyman 

3

Bentham, George 

3

Berthand, E. L. 

3

Bessey, Charles 

3

Bethel, Ellsworth 

3

Bigelow, Jacob 

3

Billings 

3

Blake, William P. 

3

Blasdale, W. C. 

3

Bloodgood, C. Delavan (Sitka) 

3

Bolander, Hendry N. 

3

Bolton, H. E. (ANZA) 

3

Bongard (at Nootka) 

3

Bonneville, B. L. E. 

3

Brackenridge, W. D. 

3

Bradbury, John 

3

Brainerd, Ezra 

3

Brandegee, T. S. and Brandegee, Katherine 

3

Brandel, Joseph 

3

Brewer, William H. 

3

Britton, Nathaniel Lord 

3

Brodie, David 

3

Brown, Jennie Broughton 

3

Brown, Robert, of Campster 

3

Brown, Robert, of Campster 

4

Burke, Joseph 

4

Butters, Frederick King 

4

Caldwell, Joseph 

4

Cannon, Evalina 

4

Carruth, W. W. 

4

Chamissot de Boncourt, Adlebertus  

4

Christ, J. H. 

4

Christensen, Carl 

4

Clayton, John 

4

Collins, J. Franklin 

4

Collinson, Peter 

4

Coltman-Rogers, Charles 

4

Compton, T. B. 

4

Cook, Capt. James 

4

Cooley, J. G. 

4

Cooper, J. G. 

4

Coulter, John Merle 

4

Coville, Frederick 

4

Curtis' Botanical Magazine 

4

Cusick, William Conklin 

4

Dachnowski-Stokes, A. O. 

4

Damon, Samuel 

4

Dana, James D. 

4

Darlington, H. T. 

4

David, Abbe 

4

Davis, Mrs. N. J. 

4

Dayton, William a. 

4

Delacour, Jean 

4

Delano, Amasa 

4

Demofras, Duflot 

4

Dewey, Chester 

4

Dietz, H. F. 

4

Diller, J. S. 

4

Douglas, David  4 Folders

5

Douglas, Sir James 

6

Douglas, Robert 

6

Douglas, William O. 

6

Donaldson, A. B. 

6

Drake, Capt. Francis 

6

Drummond, Thomas 

6

Eastwood, Alice 

6

Eaton, Amos 

6

Eaton, Walter P. 

6

Edwards' Botanical Register 

6

Eggleston, Willard W. 

6

Elmer, A. P. E. 

6

Englemann, George 

6

Epling, Carl 

6

Ermantinger, Edward 

6

Eschscholtz, Johan 

6

Espinoza y Tello, Jose 

6

Etches, Jon 

6

Evans, John 

6

Fernald, M. L. 

6

Findler, Augustus 

6

Flett, J. B. 

6

Forbes, Charles 

6

Franchere, Gabriel 

6

Fraser, Simon 

6

Fremont, John C. 

6

Frye, Else M. 

6

Fuller, George W. 

6

Gabrielson, Ira N. 

6

Gairdner, Meredith 

6

Gambel, William 

6

Gannett 

6

Gardners' Magazine (London) 

6

Garry, Nicholas 

6

Geiser, Samuel Wood 

6

Geology of the Pacific Northwest 

6

Geyer, Karl Andreas 

6

Ghent, W. J. 

6

Gibbs, George 

6

Golder, Frank A. 

6

Good 

6

Gorman, M. W. 

6

Gould, Dorothy Fay 

6

Gray, Asa 

6

Gray, Capt. Robert 

6

Gray Herbarium 

6

Greene, E. L. 

7

Griffith, David 

7

Haenke, Thaddaeus 

7

Hancock, Samuel 

7

Harshberger, John William 

7

Hartwig, Theodor 

7

Hatch, W. R. 

7

Hayden, F. V. 

7

Hecata, Bruno 

7

Heller, Amos Arthur 

7

Hemenway, Ansel 

7

Henderson, L. F. 

7

Henky, Alexander 

7

Hilgard, Eugene Waldemar 

7

Hitchcock, A. S. 

7

Holway, E. W. D. 

7

Hone, D. S. 

7

Hooker, Joseph Dalton 

7

Hooker, William Jackson 

7

Horsford, F. H. 

7

Hough, J. B. 

7

House, Homer D. 

7

Howard, L. O. 

7

Howell, John T. 

7

Howell, Thomas and Howell, Joseph 

7

Hudson's Bay Company 

7

Hulten, Eric 

7

Ingram, D. C. 

7

James, Edwin 

7

Jefferson, Thomas 

7

Jennings, O. E. 

7

Jepson, Willis Linn 

7

Jewitt, S. 

7

Johnson, J. E. 

7

Jones, George Neville 

7

Jones, Marcus E. 

7

Juan de Fuca 

7

Judson, Katherine 

7

Kalm, Peter 

7

Kauffman, Karl F. 

7

Kelley, Hall J. 

7

Kellogg, Albert 

7

Kew Collections 

7

Kimmel, Edward 

7

Kin, Mattias 

7

Kip, Lawrence 

7

Kleeberger, George R. 

7

Kotzebue, Otto von 

7

La Gasca y Segura, Mariano 

7

La Perouse 

7

Lake and Hull 

7

Lamson-Scribner, F. 

7

Laut, Agnes 

7

Leiberg, John B. 

7

Lemmon, J. G. 

8

Lesquereux, Leo 

8

Lewis, Meriwether (and Clark, William) 

8

Lindley, John 

8

Linnean Society of London 

8

Linnaeus, Carolus 

8

Lobb, William 

8

Luders, F. G. J. 

8

Lutke, Frederic 

8

Lyall, David 

8

Lyman, W. D. 

8

Lyons, Maj. H. G. 

8

Mackenzie, Alexander 

8

McKenzie, Donald 

8

Macoun, John 

8

Malispina Expedition 

8

Mayne, R. N. 

8

Marcy, Oliver 

8

Maxon, William R. 

8

Meader, James 

8

Meany, Edmond S. 

8

Meares, John 

8

Meehan, Thomas 

8

Meinecke, E. P. 

8

Menzies, Archibald 

8

Merriam, C. Hart 

8

Merrille, C. D. 

8

Mertens, Henry 

8

Meyer, Frank N. 

8

Michaux, Andre 

8

Michaux, Francois Andre 

8

Miyabe, Kingo 

8

Mocino, D. Jose Mariano 

8

Mourelle, Don Francisco Antonio  

8

Munro, William 

8

Murchison, Sir Roberick 

8

Murray, Andrew 

8

National Herbarium 

8

Nautical Magazine 

8

Nee, Luis 

8

Neilson, Thomas G. 

8

Nelson, Aven 

8

Nelson, David 

8

Nevius, Reuben Denton 

8

Newberry, J. S. 

8

Newcombe, C. F. 

8

Nordhorr, Charles 

8

Northwest Passage (by K. Roberts) 

8

Nuttall, Thomas 

8

Page, Elizabeth 

8

Pallas, P. S. 

8

Palliser, John 

8

Palmer, Edward 

8

Parish, S. B. 

8

Parker, Rev. Samuel 

9

Parry, C. C. 

9

Paullin, Charles O. 

9

Paxton, Sir Joseph 

9

Peck, Morton E. 

9

Pennell, Francis W. 

9

Perez Expedition 

9

Pickering, Charles 

9

Pinch, Jeremy 

9

Piper, Charles V. (General Information) 

9

Piper, Charles V. (Index to Flora of Washington) 

9

Piper, Charles V. (Herbarium)  4 Folders

9

Piper, Charles V. (Herbarium)  2 Folders

10

Piper, Charles V. (Index to notes, pp. 1-1131) 

10

Plant introduction into America 

10

Portlock, Capt. Nathaniel 

10

Postels, Alexander 

10

Pringle, Cyrus G. 

10

Pursh, Frederick 

10

Rafinesque, C. S. 

10

Ramsbottom, John 

10

Rees, Abraham 

10

Rich, William (Hutton) 

10

Richards, C. Audrey 

10

Rigg, George B. 

10

Rogers, H. Thomas 

10

Roll, Julius 

10

Rosendahl, C. O. 

10

Rugel, Ferdinand 

10

Ruiz, Hipolito 

10

Rusby, H. H. 

10

St. John, Harold 

10

Sandberg, J. H. 

10

Sargent, Charles Sprague 

11

Schafer, Joseph 

11

Scouler, John 

11

Scribner, Frank (see Lamson-Scribner) 

11

Seeman, Berthold 

11

Seese, Martin 

11

Shinn, Charles H. 

11

Simpson, George 

11

Smet, P. J. de 

11

Smith, Alexander 

11

Smith, Charles Piper 

11

Smith, Jedediah 

11

Sorel, Henry Andrew 

11

Spalding, Rev. H. H. 

11

Spaulding, Perley 

11

Sperlin, O. B. 

11

Spillman, W. J. 

11

Sperlin, O. B. 

11

Spillman, W. J. 

11

Stacey, J. W. 

11

Stevens, Isaac I. 

11

Stevens, Neil E. 

11

Stevens, O. A. 

11

Stewart, Sir William G. P. 

11

Strange, James 

11

Sudworth, George B. 

11

Suksdorf, Wilhelm 

11

Swallen, Jason R. 

11

Swallow, Prof. 

11

Swan, James 

11

Sweetser, A. R. 

11

Thompson, David 

11

Thorington, J. Monroe 

11

Tidestrom, Ivar T. 

11

Tolmie, W. F. 

11

Torrey, John 

11

Tuckerman, Edward 

11

Tweedy, Frank 

11

Vancouver, George 

11

Vancouver Island 

11

Vasey, George and George R. Vizcaino 

11

Wagner, Henry R. 

11

Whetzel, Herbert H. 

11

Wildox, E. T. 

11

Whited, Kirk 

11

Wilkes, Expedition 

11

Wilks, W. 

11

Willson, Beckles 

11

Wilson, Ernest 

11

Winsor, Justin 

11

Wood, Alonzo 

11

Wood, C. B. 

11

Wood, C. W. 

11

Work, John 

11

Wright, Charles 

11

Wyeth, Nathaniel 

11

Wynd, F. Lyle 

11

Young Naturalists Society of Seattle 

11

Zeller, S. M. 

11

Type Localities  4 Folders

12

Geographic Notes: 

box

Washington State 

13

Oregon 

13

Idaho 

13

Wyoming 

13

British Columbia (Nootka) 

13

California 

13

Northwest America localities 

13

Personal Notes 

box

British Museum (South Kensington) 

14

Washington State University Herbarium 

14

University of Idaho, Southern Branch, Herbarium 

14

University of Oregon 

14

Texas 

14

Rusby Herbarium 

14

California Academy of Sciences 

14

Colorado Agriculutural and Mechanical College Herbarium 

14

Collection in the Pacific Northwest, 1946 

14

Miscellaneous notes of Northwest botany 

14

Notes for Piper and Beattie's Floras, 1914-1915 

14
box

Berberidaceae 

15

Circaea 

15

Fagacaea 

15

Impatiens 

15

Mimulus 

15

Tobacco 

15

Plants to be looked for in the Siskiyou Mountains 

15

Card File 

box drawer

Northwest Flora 

16 1-6

Biographical Notes 

16 6-7

David Douglas Notes 

16 7

Geographic Notes 

16 7-8

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