Banbury Reports Collection

The following is another post in our series highlighting the collections that are being processed through the NHPRC Basic Processing Grant.

In 1976, Charles Sammis Robertson, who lived in Lloyd Harbor, about 5 miles from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, gave his estate on Banbury Lane, together with an endowment for its upkeep, to the Cold Spring Harbor Lab for use as a conference center.  This postcard, incorporating a photo taken by R. Meurer, captures the Charles Sammis Robertson House looking towards Coopers Bluff.    

Since 1978 the Banbury Center has been the site of competitive and  intensive courses as well as international meetings on topics in biology, biomedical topics and theoretical biology.  The Center holds workshop-discussion style meetings on topics in almost every area of modern experimental biology and on important policy issues.  The Banbury Report Collection consists of manuscripts, transcripts, publisher’s galleys, reprints, and correspondence with various authors and program notes relating to science-related meetings held at the Banbury Center.  These materials were used in conjunction with the publication of the Banbury Reports by the Cold Spring Harbor Press.

- E.P., Project Archivist

50 Years Ago Today: Watson Wins Nobel Prize

On this day 50 years ago it was announced that Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James D. Watson had won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.  Watson was a professor at Harvard University at the time, and a student took the liberty of announcing the news by scrawling "Dr. Watson has just won the Nobel Prize!" on his classroom blackboard. Here's a humorous side-note regarding Harvard and the prize: Watson assumed that he would receive receive a large bonus from Harvard on top of the standard $2,000 a year raise.  The university, restricted by budget cuts, instead opted to not give out any pay raises at all.  Watson was not amused.

Next year marks another milestone for Watson: the 60th anniversary of the actual discovery.  And there's no better way to join in on the celebration than purchasing a copy of The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix!  This brand new edition is packed with original documents and a plethora of  never-before-seen photographs of all the major players from the time of the discovery, many of which are courtesy of the CSHL Library and Archives.  Sample chapters of the new edition are available for your perusal at the CSHL Press website.