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COLLECTION Identifier: UAI 20.946.10

Harvard University. Records of the Arnold Arboretum legal case and the Bailey Plan for the reorganization of the botanical departments at Harvard University

Overview

The Arnold Arboretum was established between the trustees under the will of James Arnold and the President and Fellows of Harvard College on March 29, 1872. Subsequent gifts enlarged the endowment of the Arboretum and its living collection of trees and wood plants, as well as its library and herbarium. In 1945, a major reorganization of botany collections and departments (known as the Bailey Plan) at Harvard, including the removal of the Arboretum’s library and herbarium from Jamaica Plain in Boston to a new building on Harvard’s Cambridge campus, was proposed. As a result, during the 1950s Harvard University found itself in litigation with reorganization opponents; the legal conflict ended in 1966 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld Harvard’s removal of the Arnold Arboretum’s library and herbarium to Cambridge. Letters, memoranda, reports, legal statements, magazine articles, news clippings, press releases, pamphlets, legal briefs, testimony, and petitions in this collection document the controversy concerning the reorganization of Harvard University’s botanical collections and departments and the ensuing court case involving the Arnold Arboretum.

Dates

  • Creation: 1941-1966

Creator

Researcher Access

Open for research with the following exceptions: access to student and personnel records is restricted for 80 years (boxes 13 and 14).

Extent

4.39 cubic feet (12 document boxes, 1 pamphlet binder, 1 accordion folder)

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the controversy concerning the reorganization of Harvard University’s botanical collections and departments, known as the Bailey Plan, and the ensuing court case involving the Arnold Arboretum. Letters, memoranda, reports, and legal statements reveal the position of Harvard University regarding the botanical reorganization, the strategies used by the University to explain to the public why the reorganization was in the best interests of the Arnold Arboretum, and the actions and decisions taken by the University in the Arnold Arboretum court case. Magazine articles, news clippings, press releases, and pamphlets illustrate support and opposition to the University’s botanical reorganization, including those circulated by the Association for the Arnold Arboretum, an independent group of prominent citizens and scholars, formed in 1953 to test the legality of the relocation of the Arnold Arboretum. Other records in this collection include reports and descriptions of the Bailey Plan; pamphlets and brochures describing the history, gardens, and educational programs of the Arnold Arboretum; and legal briefs, testimony, and petitions submitted by both defendants and plaintiffs during the Arnold Arboretum court case.

Additional Description

Historical note

The Arnold Arboretum was established between the trustees under the will of James Arnold and the President and Fellows of Harvard College on March 29, 1872. Subsequent gifts enlarged the endowment of the Arboretum and its living collection of trees and woody plants, as well as its library and herbarium. In 1945, a committee headed by Bussey Professor of Plant Anatomy Irving W. Bailey proposed a major reorganization of botany collections and departments at Harvard, including the removal of the Arboretum’s library and herbarium from Jamaica Plain in Boston to a new building on Harvard’s Cambridge campus. This move, known as the Bailey Plan, was proposed to improve the housing of the Arboretum’s books and specimens, and to create more usable space for the Arboretum’s staff, horticultural activities, and scientific research. Although Harvard’s botanical reorganization received initial approval from the administration of the Arboretum, Harvard faculty, and the Harvard Board of Overseers, by 1949, questions were raised about the legality of the Bailey Plan and its impact on the operation of the Arnold Arboretum. Opponents of the reorganization feared that financial resources would be diverted from the Arboretum and that the removal of books and specimens from the Arboretum would compromise its collections and scientific purpose. As a result, during the 1950s Harvard University found itself in litigation with reorganization opponents including the Association for the Arnold Arboretum, an independent group of prominent citizens and scholars, formed in 1953 with the purpose of testing the legality of the relocation of Arboretum resources. Harvard argued that modern scientific research on the taxonomy of trees and plants would be better served in a new building in Cambridge, nearer to Harvard biologists, chemists, and physicists. The legal conflict ended in 1966 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld Harvard’s removal of the Arnold Arboretum’s library and herbarium to Cambridge.

Superseded call numbers

To assist researchers in identifying materials noted in previous citations, the list below provides references from obsolete call numbers to new call numbers and box numbers. Please use the current call number, UAI 20.946.10, with the appropriate box number in place of superseded call numbers when citing material from this collection.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10 Box 1, Correspondence and other records relating to Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 1. Correspondence and other records relating to the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10 Box 2, Correspondence and other records relating to Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 2. Correspondence and other records relating to the Arnold Arboretum case, 1946-1966.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10 Box 3, Correspondence and other records relating to Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 3. Correspondence and other records relating to the Arnold Arboretum case, 1946-1966.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10 Box 4, Correspondence and other records relating to Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 4. Correspondence and other records relating to the Arnold Arboretum case, 1946-1966.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10.5, Records regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1946-1950 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 5. Correspondence and other records of Professor Paul C. Mangelsdorf, 1946, 1950.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.12, Box 1, Reports and documents regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1945-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 6. Reports and documents regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1950-1959.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.12, Box 2, Reports and documents regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1945-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 7. Reports and documents regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1950-1959.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.950.10, Records regarding the Arnold Arboretum case, 1950-1957 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 8. Correspondence and other records of Henry Lee Shattuck, 1945-1957
  1. Formerly UAI 20.963.8, Box 1, Documents from the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1962-1963 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 9. Attorney-General vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, transcripts of testimony, volumes I-X, XII-XVB, 1962-1963.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.963.8, Box 2, Documents from the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1962-1963 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 10. Attorney-General vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, transcripts of testimony, volumes I-X, XII-XVB, 1962-1963.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.963.8, Box 3, Documents from the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1962-1963 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 11. Attorney-General vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, Defendant's Exhibits, 1962-1963.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.963.8, Box 4, Documents from the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1962-1963 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 12. Attorney-General vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, Plaintiff's Exhibits, 1962-1963.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.14, Financial reports relating to the Arnold Arboretum Case, 1941-1950 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 13. Financial reports relating to the Arnold Arboretum case, 1941-1950.
  1. Formerly UAI 20.946.10 Box 1 and Box 4, Correspondence and other records relating to Arnold Arboretum Case, 1946-1966 (inclusive)
  2. ___See Box 14. Arnold Arboretum case, restricted material, 1946-1952.

Acquisition information

The documents in this collection are University records and were acquired in the course of University business. Whenever possible the archivist noted the terms of acquisition in the folder list below.

The acquisitions are as follows:
  1. 1966 September 30, Henry L. Shattuck
  2. 1969 June, law firm of Ropes and Gray
  3. 1972 September 27, Paul C. Mangelsdorf

Related material

In the Harvard University Archives
  1. The Arnold Arboretum and the Bailey Plan for the Coordination of Botanical Departments of Harvard University: an opinion to the President and Fellows of Harvard College, May 1, 1951 (UAI 20.951).
  2. Association for the Arnold Arboretum. Records of the Association for the Arnold Arboretum, 1953-1958 (HUD 3159.5000): http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.ARCH:hua14008.

In the Archives of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
  1. Arnold Arboretum. Records of the Arnold Arboretum Controversy, 1945-1998 (I A-3): http://arboretum.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/I_A_3_2012.pdf.

References

  • Harvard University. Records of the Arnold Arboretum legal case and the Bailey Plan for the reorganization of the botanical departments at Harvard University, 1941-1966. UAI 20.946.10, Harvard University Archives.
  • Keller, Morton and Phyllis Keller. Making Harvard Modern: The Rise of America's Univesity New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Inventory update

This document last updated 2019 April 11.

General note

People
  1. Bailey, I.W. (Irving Widmer), 1884-1967.
  2. Mangelsdorf, Paul C. (Paul Christoph), 1899-
  3. Shattuck, Henry Lee, 1879-1971.

General note

Groups
  1. Arnold Arboretum.
  2. Arnold Arboretum -- Trials, litigation, etc.
  3. Arnold Arboretum -- Administration.
  4. Harvard University.
  5. Harvard University -- History -- 20th century.
  6. Harvard University -- Legal affairs.
  7. Harvard University -- Administration.
  8. Harvard University -- Trials, litigation, etc.
  9. Harvard University -- Herbaria -- Administration.
  10. Harvard University -- Herbaria -- Trials, litigation, etc.
  11. Harvard University -- Libraries -- Administration.
  12. Harvard University -- Botany.

General note

Topics
  1. Botany -- Research -- Massachusetts -- Management.
  2. Plants -- Catalogs and collections -- Administration.
  3. Plants -- Catalogs and collections -- Massachusetts.
  4. Botany -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- United States.

General note

Formats and genres
  1. Transcripts.
  2. Testimonies.
  3. Correspondence.
  4. Reports.

Processing Information

This inventory was created in July 2014 by Dominic P. Grandinetti from a cursory inspection of the material and a variety of information sources. Titles were devised by the archivist. The records were re-processed as Records of the Arnold Arboretum legal case and the Bailey Plan for the reorganization of the botanical departments at Harvard University, 1941-1966 and assigned the call number UAI 20.946.10.

As part of this finding aid, the archivist created a listing of superseded call numbers to help researchers in identifying materials noted in previous citations. The listing (located at the end of this finding aid) provides references from the superseded call number to new box numbers.
Link to catalog

Related Names

Creator

Administrative Information

Title
Harvard University. Records of the Arnold Arboretum legal case and the Bailey Plan for the reorganization of the botanical departments at Harvard University, 1941-1966 : an inventory
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua45014

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ois:HUA

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

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