CSHL Map and Bluepint Collection

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

“To put a city in a book, to put the world on one sheet of paper -- maps are the most condensed humanized spaces of all...They make the landscape fit indoors, make us masters of sights we can't see and spaces we can't cover.”
― Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is listed on the Historic Register of Places in New York. Our Map and Blueprint Collection is the only place to find many of the unique maps dating from the 1890s.  Even the local historical societies do not have these maps, which represent the history of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This Collection is truly a record of the evolution of the property, buildings and institution in its entirety.

The Cold Spring Harbor Map and Blueprint Collection consists of topographical maps, architectural drawings, pencil drawings, pencil sketches, and blue prints of the grounds and buildings over the course of 140 years.

These records have been stored on site since their creation, originally in administrative offices under various Laboratory Directors until their removal to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library and Archives.  Most of the material designates the sibling institutions that commissioned the work:  Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Long Island Biological Association and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Despite their historic importance, the storage of the Map and Blueprint Collection has been deficient.  Many of the documents had foxing as seen on this map of lands leased to the Carnegie Institute, 1908.   

Others fell prey to insect damage as shown on this 1928 rendering of the George Lane Nichols building section.

While the damage can be repaired, it is usually disproportionally expensive to the cost of proper storage.

Fortunately, we were able to stabilize the entire Collection which should at least halt the progress of damage.  Appropriate storage boxes, tubes and paper were procured. Approximately 40 hours were spent boxing, wrapping and preserving the Collection. 

Now that it is stabilized, this Collection can be used with its related Collections: the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Long Island Biological Association and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to study and appreciate the many aspects of our history.  On the surface, the maps and blueprints show the physical expansion of the lab from a rural, seasonal facility to multiple campuses larger than many universities.  On closer perusal, one can see how the types of buildings commissioned demonstrate the Lab’s changing focus from marine biology to genetics to cancer research. Expansion, development and renovation exploded under the leadership of Dr. Watson in 1968 and the number of prints and blueprints post 1970 reflect this. It is our hope that now that this Collection has the proper care and organization, it can be used to supplement historical displays both physically and digitally.

- E.P., Project Archivist

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

Cold Spring Harbor Audio Visual Collection

Processing the Cold Spring Harbor Audio Visual Collection was a unique experience due to the volume and scope of the Collection. The Collection overall consists of 4,950 pieces of media, in 11 different formats and takes up about 130 linear feet of shelf space, depending how you count it. It was grouped by format but hadn’t been looked at in years, which meant that old inventory lists, if they existed, were no longer accurate.  I had to start over cataloguing the media which took about 165 hours.  Keeping the Collection grouped by media made sense on one level (as opposed to grouping by subject matter) because much of the media was not readable and the processing often became a game of “Name that obsolete Format”.  Below is a photograph of the Analog Video Formats.  

I learned that at the time of recording the formats were considered state of the art.  Now we, as an Archive, are unable to read or view what is on the tapes. eBay is full of players and recording devices and there are blogs which lament the demise of the Hi-8 tape.  But the lessons ring through loud and clear.  We as Archivists prepare Disaster Plans to prevent and manage threats to our collection.  Typical threats are leaky pipes, electrical shorts and poor storage climates.  

But isn’t the real threat to our collection the possibility of losing our information?  Behold the Type C Helical Film Reel and let us go forth and regularly assess our formats for compatibility and retrieval.

- Amy Driscoll, Project Archivist

Hurricane Sandy and the NEH Preservation Assistance Grant

When word came that a hurricane was moving up the eastern seaboard and would soon wreak certain havoc all along the coast, we were prepared.  Our library is located directly on the Long Island Sound, so flood preparation plans were already in place.  The bottom shelf of our storage space is set several inches off the floor, but to be safe everything on those shelves were moved to designated safe rooms on the upper level of the library.  Our archives are also equipped with a storm door, a heavy iron door which can be bolted into place in case of emergencies.  It was locked tight by Sunday afternoon.  Luckily the archives remained dry throughout the storm, but if the worst case scenario had occurred, our disaster recovery plan provides us with the policies and procedures to effectively respond to the emergency.  All of the above was made possible with guidance provided by the NEH Preservation Assistance Grant.

In early 2011 we were awarded the NEH grant, which provided funding for a two day preservation assessment by consultant Tom Clareson (of LYRASIS).  The weeks prior to his visit were spent reviewing the preservation policies and disaster plans of other institutions, and in an effort to not appear completely clueless, we drafted a disaster plan of our own.  Tom was happy to review our draft policies, and with his recommendations we finalized the disaster recovery plan that served us so well during the recent storm.

Tom also helped with our environmental monitoring program.  Although we have control over our archive's HVAC system, and generally maintain a consistent temperature and relative humidity, we had no way accurately logging the hour-to-hour environment of the archives.  In the past we had simply recorded the temperature and RH of our storage room by hand in a notebook, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  Then we would compile that information in a spreadsheet at the end of the month.  This gave us only two readings a day, and no record of the environment over weekends and holidays.  Tom recommended the purchase of a PEM2 datalogger, which were are produced by the Image Permanence Institute.  This is a very simple and effective way to monitor your archives.  The device essentially runs on its own.  Once a week we plug in a USB drive into the monitor and the data that has been accruing then automatically transfers to the drive.  The data can then be exported into spreadsheets or uploaded online into IPI's online climate notebook.  The devices are easy to use, relatively affordable ($349 a unit), and highly recommended.

After the preservation assessment Tom provided us with a detailed report of his visit.  It covered everything from environmental conditions and storage, to media migration and digital preservation.  We were able to quickly respond to many of his recommendations: these included the aforementioned environmental monitors, moving records off the floor (to the shelves where space allowed), moving maps from hanging files to flat storage, and the purchase of stronger bookends to prevent slumping in our Rare Book Room.  He was also very helpful in terms of future preservation funding by alerting us to a number of additional preservation grants from a variety of government offices.

In September 2011 Tom returned to conduct a preservation workshop at our library.  The talk was open to the public and was attended by a number of librarians and archivists from the New York metropolitan area, as well as many library and archives graduate students.

Overall, the NEH Preservation Assistance Grant proved crucial to protecting our collections, which survived the most catastrophic storm we have seen in many years.  With our preservation and disaster response policies in place I am confident that they will remain safe and sound (and dry), despite their close proximity to the sea.

Press Release: Grant from NYS Documentary Heritage Program makes possible basic processing of CSHL’s “hidden collections”

The Library & Archives of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has received a 2011-2012 Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) grant for “Arrangement and Description of the Hidden Collections of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Legacy Institutions, 1890-1974.”

The amount is $ 17,034 and was awarded as part of the DHP’s mission to ensure the survival of historical records documenting economic change in New York State during the 20th and 21st centuries.

The records pertinent to the grant belong to the entities representing the contemporary Laboratory’s predecessor institutions, and span the period 1890-1974. The project also has provided for basic processing of three personal collections that offer further insight into the work and daily lives of scientists at the Laboratory during that time; and for processing of the collection of the Eugenics Record Office (ERO), which existed at Cold Spring Harbor from 1910 to 1944.

The collections are currently available via CSHL’s online Digital Collections Database (http://archives.cshl.edu/) and online catalog, and will be available through the New York State Archives’ Historical Document Inventory (Archives Grid), as well as other union catalogs (National Union Catalog of Manuscripts http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/index.html) and digital repositories, according to Mila Pollock, Executive Director of the CSHL Library & Archives and project director of this effort.    

“The entire CSHL community and other users of these and related CSHL Archives collections will learn more about the origins and history of CSHL, and recognize the value of these collections in documenting the history of science education and research at CSHL and its connection to New York State’s bioscience industry in the 20th and 21st centuries,” Pollock says.

Here is a more detailed description of the collections whose processing has been made possible by the DHP grant award:

The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences’ Biological Laboratory Collection

This collection documents the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences’ investment in the marine biological laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, NY, and its evolution from a summer school for biology teachers into a dedicated scientific research laboratory. The collection contains photographs, letters, student lists, Board of Trustees minutes, Directors’ reports, booklets, annual reports, student registration cards, and fundraising records.

The LIBA Biological Laboratory Collection

In 1924, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences withdrew its support and a group of wealthy neighbors took up the cause to sustain science education and research at the Long Island Biological Association (LIBA) Biological Laboratory. This collection contains correspondence, minutes of the Board of Directors, administrative correspondence files, photographs, research files, employment records and financial ledgers.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington Station for Experimental Evolution; The Department of Genetics; and The Genetics Research Unit Collection 

In 1904, the Carnegie Institution of Washington established the Station for Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor. It was this research facility that later merged with the Biological Laboratory to form Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This collection contains extensive correspondence files, institutional administrative files, photographs, lantern slides, financial ledgers, employment records, and research files.

Eugenics Record Office (ERO) Collection

This collection includes correspondence, documents, photographs, journals, and books from 1910 to 1944, the period during which there was a Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, supported by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The ERO played a dubious, but significant, role in the social history of the United States. Thus it is important that the ERO Collection should be conserved and preserved.

Hugo Fricke Collection

Dr. Hugo Fricke was the first full-time investigator hired by the Long Island Biological Association in 1929. His research in biophysics, endocrinology, and pharmacology led to future programs at the cutting edge of scientific research. The collection contains laboratory notebooks, correspondence, lantern and glass slides, and reprints.

Amos Avery Photographic Collection

Avery was an associate in plant breeding for the Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Genetics. This collection of photographs, negatives, and scrapbooks gives a view of the scientific and personal lives of scientists during the early days of the Department of Genetics.

Barbara McClintock Collection

Nobel-prize-winning cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock worked at CSHL for 50 years. The McClintock Collection contains photographs, correspondence, reprints, and a slide collection, all annotated by Dr. McClintock. The collection also includes actual corn kernels and photocopies of Dr. McClintock’s field notebooks and card files. Recently accessioned materials from Dr. McClintock’s laboratory include books, published materials, microscope, office equipment, and laboratory equipment.

About this project and the Documentary Heritage Program, NYS Archives

“Arrangement and Description of the Hidden Collections of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Legacy Institutions, 1890-1974” was made possible in part by a grant from the Documentary Heritage Program of the New York State Archives, a program of the State Education Department.  For more information, please visit: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/records/mr_hrecords_dhp.shtml