Board of Visitors for the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History meeting minutes
Overview
This collection includes the meeting notes and bylaws for the Board of Visitors for a Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History at Harvard University. Contents discuss the raising of funds, the role of the Professor, and the selection of William Dandridge Peck as the first Massachusetss Professor of Natural History.
Dates
- Creation: 1805
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research by appointment. Researchers must register and provide one form of valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.
Extent
0.1 linear feet (1 volume, 24 pages)Volume contains meeting minutes and bylaws of the Board of Visitors for the Massachusetts Professor of Natural History.
Historical note
In 1801, the President of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, John Lowell, began to raise funds to establish a Professorship of Natural History and create a botanic garden at Harvard University. A Board of Visitors was established to select the first professor and supervise the role. William Dandridge Peck was selected as the first and only Massachusetts Professor of Natural History in 1805.
Source: Graustein, J. (1958). Harvard's only Massachusetts Professor of Natural History. Harvard Alumni Bulletin.
Custodial History
Transferred from the Harvard University Archives to the Gray Herbarium in 1939.
Previously cataloged as MP in paper institutional inventories.
Provenance
Donated to the Harvard University Archives on 11 February 1927 by Harvard President Abbot Lawrence Lowell as part of his father Augustus Lowell’s papers.
Processing Information
Processed by Kyle Boyd, 2023, September.
- Title
- Harvard University. Board of Visitors of the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History. Board of Visitors for the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History meeting minutes, 1805: A Guide.
- Status
- in_progress
- Author
- Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2023 September
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- gra00109
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository
The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.
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botref@oeb.harvard.edu