Nobel Prize, 1980 - 2004

The MEMORABILIA AND EPHEMERA series consists of personal memorabilia, photographs, ephemera, material related to Gilbert’s Nobel Prize, and various awards and honors collected by Gilbert from 1946-2008.

The series includes his grades from Sidwell Friends School, material related the Science Clubs of America Talent Search, letters announcing scholarship awards and his professorship appointments at Harvard University, material related to travel (including notes on a trip to China, 1980), and three books documenting Gilbert’s art exhibitions (2007-2011).

Photographs found in the series include portraits commissioned by Harvard (1960s-1970s), Biogen meetings (1977-1982), and a series of scientific photographs obtained by a young Gilbert from the Franklin Institute (1947). Also included are two scrapbooks, one related to the Nobel Prize (1981) and the other assembled for his 60th Birthday Symposium at Harvard University (1992).

Material related to his Nobel Prize in Chemistry include congratulatory letters, ephemera (booklets, invitations, programs, etc.), and his Nobel Prize medal (1980).

Finally, the series also includes numerous awards, honorary degrees, and framed certificates awarded to Gilbert throughout his life. These include his diploma from Sidwell Friends School (1949), the 1979 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, and the 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year trophy, awarded to Gilbert for his work at Biogen.