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03. Special Collections

 Record Group
Identifier: 03
CSHL Special Collections houses the history of molecular biology, genetics, and biotechnology worldwide. In addition to the Rare Book Collection and the Oral History Collection, it includes the personal collections of numerous notable scientists. Collections of note include the Sydney Brenner Collection, the Hermann Muller Collection, and the Matthew Meselson Collection. Generally, Special Collection materials consist of correspondence, photographs, laboratory notebooks, administrative files, memorabilia, and audiovisual media.

Found in 23 Collections and/or Records:

Robert C. Olby Collection

 Collection
Identifier: RCO
Abstract The Robert C. Olby Collection (1960-2008) is comprised of materials accrued by Robert Olby during the research, writing, and publication of various history of science monographs and articles, including Origins of Mendelism (1966) and Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets (2009). It includes correspondence, archival research, drafts and galley proofs, photographs, lecture notes, reprints, and...
Dates: 1939-2017; Majority of material found within 1960-2008
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Charles Weissmann Biogen Collection

 Collection
Identifier: CWB
Abstract

The Charles Weissmann Biogen Collection documents the genesis of the biotechnology company Biogen through the files of Charles Weissmann, an original collaborator and board member. The collection is mainly institutional correspondence and administrative and financial records. Biogen is renowned for its work with interferons: proteins which are made and released by host cells in response to pathogens.

Dates: 1977-1986
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Alan W. Bernheimer Sr. Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AWB
Abstract

The Dr. Alan Bernheimer Sr. Collection contains reports, topographical maps, announcements, surveys, and publications relevant to the development and natural history of the town of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, including materials regarding Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum. The Collection also contains reprints, printed materials, and correspondence.

Dates: 1897 - 1996
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Norton Zinder Collection

 Collection
Identifier: NDZ
Abstract The Norton Zinder Collection documents the academic life and career of Norton Zinder a geneticist and microbiologist, Professor Emeritus at the Rockefeller University, and trustee of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Zinder was an active participant in five dynamic decades of biological science, emerging from the confines of the laboratory to national and international arenas addressing political and moral issues such as recombinant DNA research guidelines, the demilitarization of chemical...
Dates: 1938-2012
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Elof Carlson Collection

 Collection
Identifier: EAC
Abstract

The Elof Carlson Collection documents the professional career of Dr. Elof Axel Carlson as a university level professor through his retirement to become a writer. Professionally, Dr. Carlson is best known for his biography of Nobel prize winning scientist Dr. Hermann J. Muller. The breadth and scope of the collection range from scientific research and laboratory notebooks to humorous essays on modern society.

Dates: 1866 - 2022
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Hermann J. Muller Collection

 Collection
Identifier: HJM
Abstract Dr. Elof Axel Carlson, a graduate student of H.J. Muller's at Indiana University, a geneticist, and a historian of genetics, donated this collection to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives. He began gathering the material in this collection while studying with H.J. Muller, although he obtained the bulk of the collection while conducting research for Genes, Radiation and Society, his biography of H.J. Muller. He received materials from Dorothea Muller (the wife of H.J. Muller), from...
Dates: 1900-1982
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Watson Family Collection

 Collection
Identifier: JDWF
Abstract

The Watson Family Collection (1830s-2012) consists of material created by the Watson family, such as correspondence, writings, clippings, travel ephemera, and birding material. Additionally, the collection includes a series of genealogical research collected by the family and by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory archivists.

Dates: 1830s-2012
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Raquel Rotman Sussman Collection

 Collection
Identifier: RRS
Abstract

The Dr. Raquel Sussman Collection (1944-2007) consists of material collected throughout her scientific career, including correspondence, subject files, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and reprints spanning a 40 year period in both Spanish and English.

Dates: 1944-2007
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Oral History Collection

 Collection
Identifier: OH
Scope and Contents The Oral History Collection contains interviews conducted with 200 scientists within the fields of molecular biology, genetics, and the life sciences between 1990 and 2024. The interviewees provide first-hand accounts of their experiences in the fields of modern biology, such as neuroscience, cancer, genetics, plant genetics, genomics, biotechnology and others, from the 1940s through the 2000s. The collection contains audio and video recordings, as well as transcripts of interviews....
Dates: 1990 - 2024
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

Walter Gilbert Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WAG
Abstract The Walter Gilbert Collection documents the scientific career of Nobel Prize winning scientist Walter “Wally” Gilbert. It includes material accrued while a student (Sidwell Friends School, Harvard University, Cambridge University), professor (Harvard University), and as a pioneering entrepreneur in the field of biotechnology (Biogen). The collection includes course notebooks, lecture notes and teaching files, scientific papers, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia, clippings, and...
Dates: 1946 - 2011
Found in: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives