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

Summary Information

Repository
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries
Creator
Beattie, Rolla Kent
Title
Rolla Kent Beattie Papers
ID
Cage 318
Date [inclusive]
1899-1956
Extent
16.0 containers.
General Physical Description note
8.5 linear feet of shelf space. 56,500 items.
Language
English
Abstract
Correspondence and other papers regarding taxonomic investigations of Pacific Northwest plants, of which a major part consists of approximately 50,000 notes and references to literature on Northwest flora and historical and biographical aspects of Northwest botany. Significant correspondents: C.E. Bessey, L.F. Henderson, Aven Nelson, C.V. Piper, Harold St. John, W.N. Suksdorf, A.R. Sweetser.

Preferred Citation note

[Item Description]. Cage 318, Rolla Kent Beattie Papers. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biographical/Historical note

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 Contents note

The papers of Rolla Kent Beattie consist of his correspondence relative to Northwest botany and his compilation of notes and references to literature on Northwest plants and botanists. Included in his letterbooks 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 note

Beattie’s correspondence is arranged in chronological sequence. The materials in his notes are 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

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries © 1976

http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc
Terrell Library
P.O. Box 645610
Pullman, WA, 99164-5610
509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research use.

Custodial History note

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.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

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

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

Additional Botanical manuscripts in MASC may be found in the following collections:

Cage 53 Botanical papers, 1881-1973

Cage 316 Cusick, William Conklin Papers, 1906-1924

Cage 317 Piper, Charles Vancouver Papers, 1888-1926

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

Cage 315 Suksdorf, Wilhelm Nicolaus Papers, 1867-1935

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Controlled Access Headings

Personal Name(s)

  • Beattie, R. Kent (Rolla Kent), b. 1875 --Archives
  • Bessey, Charles E. (Charles Edwin), 1845-1915
  • Henderson, Louis Fourniquet, 1853-
  • Nelson, Aven, 1859-1952
  • Piper, Charles V. (Charles Vancouver), 1867-1926
  • St. John, Harold, 1892-
  • Suksdorf, Wilhelm, 1850-1932
  • Sweetser, Albert Raddin

Subject(s)

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

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Other Finding Aids note

A print index to the correspondence can be found in:

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 Library. Pullman : The University, 1976.

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General note

Rolla Kent Beattie

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Collection Inventory

Series 1: Correspondence 1899-1956 
Box-folder

 1899-1906   175.0 items.

 1 / 1

 1907-1910   225.0 items.

 1 / 2

 1911-1915   180.0 items.

 1 / 3

 1915-1956   150.0 items.

 1 / 4

Letterbook, May 1904-July 1905   1.0 volume.

 2 / 5

Letterbook, April 1906-Jan. 1907   1.0 volume.

 2 / 6

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Series 2: Northwest Botany Notes 
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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

 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

 9

Piper, Charles V. (Herbarium)   2

 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

 12

Geographic Notes: 
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Washington State 

 13

Oregon 

 13

Idaho 

 13

Wyoming 

 13

British Columbia (Nootka) 

 13

California 

 13

Northwest America localities 

 13

Personal Notes 
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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
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Berberidaceae 

 15

Circaea 

 15

Fagacaea 

 15

Impatiens 

 15

Mimulus 

 15

Tobacco 

 15

Plants to be looked for in the Siskiyou Mountains 

 15

Card File 

Northwest Flora 

Biographical Notes 

David Douglas Notes 

Geographic Notes 

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