Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one bound volume containing correspondence to Fisher and 24 photographs. Letters are dated 1906-1933 and primarily pertain to diatoms and microscopy and to arrangements to sell, purchase, and exchange diatom samples. Major correspondents include Oliver Kendall, Jr., William Aldworth Poyser, William H. Pratt, and Joseph Parker Wintringham. Photographs are mostly images of diatoms.
Dates
- 1906-1933
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.
Extent
1 collection (1 bound volume)Biography
George Albert Fisher was born in Framingham, Massachusetts on February 21, 1867 to Sewall and Angie Maria Fisher (née Blanchard). He married Eunice Minette Damon in 1895; the couple settled in Reading and had four children.
In May 1918 Fisher traveled to Bristol, Connecticut to assess the diatom collection of William Almeron Terry, comprising over 7,700 slides and 3,000 bottled samples. He purchased the slides from Terry’s son, William, at that time and later that year purchased the remainder of the collection. Fisher corresponded with other diatom collectors, including physician Clarence Alonzo Cheever, to whom he sold his diatom collection, including Terry’s, sometime in 1933 or 1934. Fisher died on March 26, 1937.
Sources
Vital Statistic Records, Massachusetts Archives
William Almeron Terry correspondence, Archives of the Farlow Reference Library, Harvard University
Clarence Alonzo Cheever papers, Archives of the Farlow Reference Library, Harvard University
Vital Statistic Records, Massachusetts Archives
William Almeron Terry correspondence, Archives of the Farlow Reference Library, Harvard University
Clarence Alonzo Cheever papers, Archives of the Farlow Reference Library, Harvard University
Provenance
The provenance of this collection is unknown. Fisher’s collection was purchased by Clarence Alonzo Cheever in 1933 or 1934. It may have arrived at the Farlow Herbarium when Cheever’s Diatom Herbarium and papers were given to the Farlow in 1941 and 1943.
Creator
- Title
- Fisher, George Albert, 1867-1937. George Albert Fisher diatom papers, 1906-1933: A Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Botany Libraries, Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University.
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- English
- EAD ID
- far00013
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University Repository
Contact:
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Ave
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2366
botref@oeb.harvard.edu
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Ave
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2366
botref@oeb.harvard.edu