Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Dorothy Allen Smith Berkeley and Edmund Berkeley, Accession #2764-d, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Edmund Berkeley, Jr., June 1999.

Biographical Information

After marrying in 1936, Dr. and Mrs. Berkeley lived in many college and university communities including Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Sewanee, Tennessee; Greensboro, North Carolina; Chestertown, Maryland; and Lynchburg, Lexington, and Charlottesville, Virginia, as Dr. Berkeley taught biology and botany in colleges and universities. The Berkeleys shared a long and productive scholarly career as biographers, co-authoring nine books and numerous articles, chiefly in the field of history of science. Their first book, John Clayton, Pioneer of American Botany was published in 1963; the most recent, The Correspondence of John Bartram 1734-1777 appeared in 1992. Other works included biographies of botanists-naturalists Alexander Garden, the Reverend John Clayton, the Reverend Mosely Ashley Curtis, George William Featherstonhaugh, and Dr. John Mitchell. They also published a biography of John James Beckley, friend and supporter of Thomas Jefferson, who was the first clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the first Librarian of Congress.

Scope and Content

This collection of ca. 3,000 items, 1960-1994, constitutes primarily the research correspondence files maintained by Edmund Berkeley (1912-1993) and Dorothy Allen (Smith) Berkeley (1911-1994) as they researched and wrote nine books, chiefly biographies, in the field of history of science. To these files have been added some family correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia.

Their research files were organized by state and research institutions; subject files were added as were occasional folders for individuals. There is a good deal of material from their research on the life of William Gibson, including a book manuscript that remains unpublished. They prepared a file of offprints of the artiles that they published. There is a quantity of photographic and other material either considered or used as illustrations for one or another of their books.

To these professional papers have been added some of their folders on family members and friends and some on subjects and activities. There is a very small quantity of family correspondence including letters from their children and grandchildren. They kept little of the family correspondence that they received, and routine Christmas and birthday cards have been destroyed. There are some letters written by DAB to EB when the latter was stationed in Puerto Rico during World War II, and a few letters that he received from his father. There are two albums of photographs taken at their Charlottesville home, primarily in the gardens, from the construction of that house in 1972 until about 1990. Additionally, there is miscellaneous material such as diplomas, certificates, passports, and the like, and some family photographs.