James G. Needham papers, 1884-1957.
Collection Number: 21-23-479

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:

James G. Needham papers, 1884-1957.

Repository:

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Collection Number:

21-23-479

Abstract:

Correspondence and documents describing the career of James G. Needham.

Creator:

Needham, James G. (James George), 1868-1957.

Quanitities:

6 cubic feet.

Language:

Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

James G. Needham was born on March 16, 1868 in Virginia, Illinois. He studied with John Henry Comstock at Cornell University, 1896-1898. From 1898-1907 he taught biology at Lake Forest University and then returned to Cornell as assistant professor of limnology. In 1914 when Professor Comstock retired, Needham succeeded him as head of the Department of Entomology at Cornell, a position he held until his retirement in 1935. He published numerous scientific articles, educational papers, and textbooks; he also wrote poetry and philosophical writings. Memberships included the Entomological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Limnological Society of America, and other scientific societies.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Includes correspondence pertaining to the taxonomic study of dragonflies; correspondence, typed reports, and printed material pertaining to the organization and administration of the Department of Entomology at Cornell; Needham's log of his trip to China (1927-1928) and papers concerning his teaching career and educational philosophy; extensive correspondence with American and foreign scientists, former students, and friends and family, concerning description and identification of insect specimens, publication of Needham's books and articles, establishment of the Okefenokee Society, attempts to get gasoline from the rationing board during World War II, tax matters, alumni activities at Knox College, accounts of friends' collecting expeditions, acknowledgments and remarks on his printed work, both scientific and literary, the purchase of land in Michigan, the establishment of Reed College, recommendations for students and friends, the creation of an Inter-American Wildlife Preserve in British Honduras (Belize), and his PLAN FOR PEACE; course outlines; class schedules; lab worksheets; field trip instructions and assignments; diaries and address book; logs of collecting expeditions; scrapbooks and photograph albums; including photographs of China; glass plate negatives; notes and manuscripts of Needham's writings; price lists of collections; lists of publications of Needham and others; pencil sketches and pen and ink drawings of insects and of a proposed limnological field station on Cayuga Lake; oversized geological survey map of East Ithaca, New York; diagrams of orchards and geodetic survey maps of pond and lake soundings; maps; and printed matter on a variety of subjects. Also included is correspondence of C.P. Alexander, George T. Atkinson, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Nathan Banks, Philip Calvert, T.D.A. Cockerell, John Henry Comstock, Thomas A. Edison, Alice Ferguson, Mrs. Leonora K. Gloyd, David Starr Jordan, Mrs. Elsie B. Klotts, M.A. Lieflinck, B. Elwood Montgomery, Edwin Mumford, Ira La Rivers, F. Ris, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Will Sargent, Ernest Robert Tinkham, Henry K. Townes, Minter Jackson Westfall, Jr., and others.

Available Copies:

Letters from James Needham to Hortense Butler Heywood are photocopies. Original letters to Heywood are located in Special Collections/Archives, Parks Library, Iowa State University.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

James G. Needham papers, #21-23-479. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

SUBJECTS

Names:

Needham, James G. (James George), 1868-1957. (Title of work: Plan for peace..)

Alexander, Charles P. (Charles Paul), 1889-1981.

Atkinson, George T.

Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde), 1858-1954.

Banks, Nathan, 1868-1953.

Calvert, Philip.

Cockerell, Theodore D. A. (Theodore Dru Alison), 1866-1948.

Comstock, John Henry, 1849-1931.

Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931.

Ferguson, Alice.

Gloyd, Leonora K.

Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931.

Klotts, Elsie B.

Lieflinck, M. A.

Montgomery, Basil Elwood.

Mumford, Edwin.

La Rivers, Ira, 1915-1977.

Ris, F. (Friedrich), 1867-1931.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.

Sargent, Will.

Tinkham, Ernest Robert.

Townes, Henry.

Westfall, Minter J. (Minter Jackson), 1916-

New York State College of Agriculture. Department of Entomology

Okefenokee Society

Knox College -- : Alumni and alumnae.

Reed College (Portland, Or.)

Places:

Inter-American Wildlife Preserve (Belize).

Cayuga Lake (N.Y.).

Belize.

China -- Description and travel.

Subjects:

College teachers.

Entomologists.

Limnology.

Education -- Philosophy.

Entomolgy -- Study and teaching.

Form and Genre Terms:

Negatives.

Drawings.

Scrapbooks.

Diaries.

Photographs.

CONTAINER LIST

Container		Description	Date
		Series I. Correspondence
Box 1	Folder 1	Correspondence	1888-1890
Box 1	Folder 2	Correspondence	1891
Box 1	Folder 3	Correspondence	1892-1894
Box 1	Folder 4	Correspondence	1895-1896
Box 1	Folder 5	Correspondence	1897
Box 1	Folder 6	Correspondence	1898
Box 1	Folder 7	Correspondence	1899
Box 1	Folder 8	Correspondence	1900
Box 1	Folder 9	Correspondence	1901
Box 1	Folder 10	Correspondence	1901
Box 1	Folder 11	Correspondence	1902
Box 1	Folder 12	Correspondence	1902
Box 1	Folder 13	Correspondence	1903
Box 1	Folder 14	Correspondence	1904
Box 1	Folder 15	Correspondence	1904
Box 1	Folder 16	Correspondence	1905
Box 1	Folder 17	Correspondence	1905
Box 1	Folder 18	Correspondence	1906
Box 1	Folder 19	Correspondence	1906
Box 1	Folder 20	Correspondence	1907
Box 1	Folder 21	Correspondence	1907
Box 1	Folder 22	Correspondence	1908
Box 1	Folder 23	Correspondence	1908
Box 1	Folder 24	Correspondence	1909
Box 1	Folder 25	Correspondence	1909
Box 1	Folder 26	Correspondence	1909
Box 1	Folder 27	Correspondence	1910
Box 1	Folder 28	Correspondence	1910
Box 1	Folder 29	Correspondence	1911
Box 1	Folder 30	Correspondence	1912
Box 1	Folder 31	Correspondence	1913
Box 1	Folder 32	Correspondence	1914
Box 1	Folder 33	Correspondence	1915
Box 1	Folder 34	Correspondence	1916
Box 1	Folder 35	Correspondence	1917
Box 1	Folder 36	Correspondence	1917
Box 1	Folder 37	Correspondence	1918
Box 1	Folder 38	Correspondence	1919
Box 1	Folder 39	Correspondence	1920-1921
Box 1	Folder 40	Correspondence	1922
Box 1	Folder 41	Correspondence	1923-1925
Box 1	Folder 42	Correspondence	1926
Box 1	Folder 43	Correspondence	1927
Box 1	Folder 44	Log of China Trip	1927
Box 1	Folder 45	Log of China Trip	1927
Box 1	Folder 46	Log of China Trip	1927-1928
Box 1	Folder 47	Log of China Trip	1928
Box 1	Folder 48	Log of China Trip	1928
Box 1	Folder 49	Correspondence	1928
Box 1	Folder 50	Correspondence	1928
Box 1	Folder 51	Correspondence	1929
Box 2	Folder 1	Correspondence	1930
Box 2	Folder 2	Correspondence	1930
Box 2	Folder 3	Correspondence	1931
Box 2	Folder 4	Correspondence	1932
Box 2	Folder 5	Correspondence	1932
Box 2	Folder 6	Correspondence	1932
Box 2	Folder 7	Correspondence	1933
Box 2	Folder 8	Correspondence	1934
Box 2	Folder 9	Correspondence	1935
Box 2	Folder 10	Correspondence	1935
Box 2	Folder 11	Letters of Condolence A.B.T Needham	1935
Box 2	Folder 12	Correspondence	1936
Box 2	Folder 13	Correspondence	1937
Box 2	Folder 14	Correspondence	1937
Box 2	Folder 15	Correspondence	1937
Box 2	Folder 16	Correspondence	1938
Box 2	Folder 17	Correspondence	1938
Box 2	Folder 18	Correspondence	1938
Box 2	Folder 19	Correspondence	1938
Box 2	Folder 20	Correspondence	1939
Box 2	Folder 21	Correspondence	1939
Box 2	Folder 22	Correspondence	1939
Box 2	Folder 23	Correspondence re: Lectures	1939
Box 2	Folder 24	Correspondence	1939
Box 2	Folder 25	Correspondence	1940
Box 2	Folder 26	Correspondence	1940
Box 2	Folder 27	Correspondence	1941
Box 2	Folder 28	Correspondence	1941
Box 2	Folder 29	Correspondence	1942
Box 2	Folder 30	Correspondence	1942
Box 2	Folder 31	Correspondence	1943
Box 2	Folder 32	Letters to Annabel	1943
Box 2	Folder 33	Correspondence	1944
Box 2	Folder 34	Correspondence	1944
Box 2	Folder 35	Letters to Annabel	1940-1945
Box 2	Folder 36	Correspondence	1945
Box 2	Folder 37	Correspondence	1945
Box 2	Folder 38	Correspondence	1945
Box 2	Folder 39	Correspondence	1946
Box 2	Folder 40	Correspondence	1946
Box 2	Folder 41	Correspondence	1946
Box 2	Folder 42	Correspondence	1946
Box 2	Folder 43	Correspondence	1947
Box 3	Folder 1	Correspondence	1947
Box 3	Folder 2	Correspondence	1947
Box 3	Folder 3	Correspondence	1948
Box 3	Folder 4	Correspondence	1948
Box 3	Folder 5	Correspondence	1949
Box 3	Folder 6	Correspondence	1949
Box 3	Folder 7	Correspondence	1950
Box 3	Folder 8	Correspondence	1950
Box 3	Folder 9	Correspondence	1951
Box 3	Folder 10	Correspondence	1951
Box 3	Folder 11	Correspondence	1952
Box 3	Folder 12	Correspondence	1952
Box 3	Folder 13	Correspondence	1952-1953
Box 3	Folder 14	Correspondence	1953
Box 3	Folder 15	Correspondence	1954
Box 3	Folder 16	Correspondence	1954
Box 3	Folder 17	Correspondence	1954
Box 3	Folder 18	Correspondence	1954-1955
Box 3	Folder 19	Correspondence	1955
Box 3	Folder 20	Correspondence	1956
Box 3	Folder 21	Correspondence	1956
Box 3	Folder 22	Correspondence	1957
Box 3	Folder 23	Correspondence	1956-1957
Box 3	Folder 24	Condolence letters	1957-1958
Box 3	Folder 25	Condolence cards	1959
Box 3	Folder 26	Undated correspondence
Box 3	Folder 27	Undated correspondence
Manuscript Box 16		Charles Darwin letter	No date
Box 3	Folder 29	Greeting cards
Box 3	Folder 30	Greeting cards
Box 3	Folder 31	Greeting cards
Box 3	Folder 32	Greeting cards
Box 8	Folder 1	To Anna Taylor	1890
Box 8	Folder 2	To Anna Taylor	1891
Box 8	Folder 3	To Anna Taylor	1892
Box 8	Folder 4	To Anna Taylor	1893
Box 8	Folder 5	To Anna Taylor	1894
Box 8	Folder 6	To Anna Taylor, incomplete	n.d.
Box 8	Folder 7	To John Needham, from father and mother	1931
Box 8	Folder 8	T. D. A. Cockerell's correspondence	1899-1912
Box 8	Folder 9	Additional miscellaneous correspondence	1905-1919
		Series II. Miscellaneous
Box 3	Folder 33	Honors	1913-1955
Box 3	Folder 34	China miscellany
Box 3	Folder 35	China miscellany
Box 3	Folder 36	China miscellany
Box 3	Folder 37	Taxes	1908-1953
Box 3	Folder 38	Taxes	1908-1958
Box 3	Folder 39	Financial
Box 4	Folder 1	Natural History of the Farm
Box 4	Folder 2	West Virginia - Report	1953
Box 4	Folder 3	Mexico trip	1936
Box 4	Folder 4	Cayuga Indian Festival	1914
Box 4	Folder 5	West Virginia biological notes	1930
Box 4	Folder 6	Mexico and California trip	1936
Box 4	Folder 7	University of Puerto Rico	1930-1935
Box 4	Folder 8	Apalachicola	1927
Box 4	Folder 9	Laguna	1922-1923
Box 4	Folder 10	Stanford University and Texas trip	1937
Box 4	Folder 11	San Clemente	1923-1924
Box 4	Folder 12	California Limnology-Elsinore	1922
Box 4	Folder 13	Stanford correspondence	1936-1937
Box 4	Folder 14	West Indian trip	1930
Box 4	Folder 15	North Carolina-Kentucky trip	1938
Box 4	Folder 16	Florida	1939
Box 4	Folder 17	Flying trip	1930
Box 4	Folder 18	Olympic Mountain trip	1942-1958
Box 4	Folder 19	Cape Fear River trip	1934
Box 4	Folder 20	North Carolina Collectin trip	1929-1935
Box 4	Folder 21	"Jingle of the Jungle"	No date
Box 4	Folder 22	California Limnology-Elsinore	1942
Box 4	Folder 23	Santo Domingo	1930-1947
Box 4	Folder 24	Cuba	1936-1939
Box 4	Folder 25	Utah	1926
Box 4	Folder 26	Okefenokee Swamp
Box 4	Folder 27	My 75th birthday	1942
Box 4	Folder 28	Manuscripts	1917-1918
Box 4	Folder 29	Ontario manuscripts	1953
Box 4	Folder 30	Ontario	1953
Box 4	Folder 31	Ontario	1954-1955
Box 4	Folder 32	Undated manuscripts
Box 4	Folder 33	Undated manuscripts and notes
Box 4	Folder 34	Undated manuscripts and notes
Box 4	Folder 35	Undated poetry manuscripts
Box 4	Folder 36	Undated manuscripts
Box 4	Folder 37	Undated manuscripts
Box 4	Folder 38	Undated miscellany
Box 4	Folder 39	Undated notes and correspondence
Box 4	Folder 40	Undated miscellany
Box 4	Folder 41	Undated miscellany
Box 4	Folder 42	Undated miscellany and notes
Box 4	Folder 43	Miscellaneous fragments	Undated
Box 4	Folder 44	Writings by others
Box 4	Folder 45	Overpopulation
Box 4	Folder 46	Clippings about Needham
Box 4	Folder 47	Clippings about Needham
Box 4	Folder 48	Clippings about Needham
Box 4	Folder 49	Clippings	1989- 1947
Box 4	Folder 50	Miscellany
Box 4	Folder 51	Needham publications and advertisements
Box 4	Folder 52	Programs and reviews
Box 7		Address books
Box 7		Diaries
Box 7		Book of place-cards, Jugatae Banquet	1931
Box 7		Certificates
Box 7		Passport
Box 7		88th birthday book
Box 7		Photo-scrapbook album, W. Virginia	1930
Box 8	Folder 10	Indian museum work	1909-1910
Box 8	Folder 11	Peking Society of National History, King Senior medal certificate	1930
Box 8	Folder 12	"Check-list of Odonata of Oceania", by Erich Schmidt
Box 8	Folder 13	Dragonflies manuscript	1895
Box 8	Folder 14	Accounts	1886-1892
		Scope and Contents -contains a dairy titled "The Diary of a Pedagague", starting on page 140
Box 9		Miscellany
Box 10		Maps
Box 10	Folder 1	Key to autograph New York State maps showing watercourses and wetlands
Box 10	Folder 1	Finger Lakes Region
Box 10	Folder 1	Genesee Valley
Box 10	Folder 1	#129, top of #153
Box 10	Folder 2	#16, 17
Box 10	Folder 3	#27-29, 39-43, 50
Box 10	Folder 4	#51-56, 58-59, 62-66
Box 10	Folder 5	#79, 80 (2 parts), 81-83, 85-89
Box 10	Folder 6	#101-108, 112-113, 124-125
Box 10	Folder 7	126-129, 130 (2 parts), 131-134, 145-150
Box 10	Folder 8	#151, 153, 155-159, 166, 171, 175
Box 10	Folder 9	#176-181, 193
Box 10	Folder 10	#206-207
		#35,100-101; 122; Adirondacks
		Pinar del Rio [Cuba]	1935
		High School diploma of James G. Needham, Virginia, Illinois	June 15, 1884
		J.G.N.'s Bachelor of Science degree from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois	June 11, 1891
		J.G.N.'s Master of Science degree from Knox College	June 15, 1894
		J.G.N.'s Doctor of Philosophy degree from Cornell University	June 16, 1898
		J.G.N.'s Certificate as Phi Beta Kappa alumnus member by action of Delta Chapter of Illinois	May 11, 1917
		J.G.N.'s Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Knox College	July 18, 1921
		Anna B. Taylor's Bachelor of Letters degree from Knox College
Box 11		Illustrated plates used in Needham's books
		Series III. Photographs
Box 5	Folder 1	Alabama
Box 5	Folder 2	Archbold Biological Field Station
Box 5	Folder 3	Bass Biological Laboratory; Buildings at Englewood; Bethany Beach
Box 5	Folder 4	"Beaufort Harbor Biological Lab."
Box 5	Folder 5	Biological Field Station
Box 5	Folder 6	Branch, Hazel E. : Photo portfolio of "Limnology class, Spring of 1919"; 4 loose pictures of specimens
Box 5	Folder 7	British Guiana [Surinam]
Box 5	Folder 8	China
Box 5	Folder 9	China
Box 5	Folder 10	China scenes
Box 5	Folder 11	China scenes
Box 5	Folder 12	Chinese students
Box 5	Folder 13	Chinese students and families
Box 5	Folder 14	Chinese students and families
Box 5	Folder 15	Chinese students and staff, with Needham, Peking
Box 5	Folder 16	Chinese students with Needham family, Shanghai
Box 5	Folder 17	Colleagues and friends
Box 5	Folder 18	Colleagues and friends
Box 5	Folder 19	Classes [?] unidentified
Box 5	Folder 20	Comstock, Anna
Box 5	Folder 21	Comstock, John Henry
Box 5	Folder 22	Comstock Hall
Box 5	Folder 23	Dynamite
Box 5	Folder 24	Family photo
Box 5	Folder 25	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 26	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 27	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 28	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 29	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 30	Family photos
Box 5	Folder 31	Field trips
Box 5	Folder 32	Field trips and classes
Box 5	Folder 33	Friends and colleagues
Box 5	Folder 34	Hilliard, Annabel, Constableville, New York (sic) Thanksgiving	1956
Box 5	Folder 35	Indian pageant on Beebe Lake	1914
Box 5	Folder 36	Knox College
Box 5	Folder 37	Lake Laboratory at Juanita Island, Lake George
Box 5	Folder 38	Limnology classes
Box 5	Folder 39	Minnesota
Box 5	Folder 40	Miscellaneous people
Box 5	Folder 41	Miscellaneous photos, scenes
Box 5	Folder 42	Miscellaneous photos (some identified)
Box 5	Folder 43	J.G. Needham
Box 5	Folder 44	J.G. Needham
Box 5	Folder 45	J.G. Needham & students
Box 5	Folder 46	J.G. Needham & former classmates
Box 5	Folder 47	"Pamp"
Box 5	Folder 48	Photographs, Miss Swanson [M. Eurdloch?]
Box 5	Folder 49	"Photoprints of entomologists from Dr. Matheson [?] 28 v.'45"
Box 5	Folder 50	Plants, shells, etc.
Box 5	Folder 51	Postcards
Box 5	Folder 52	Postcards, China
Box 5	Folder 53	Postcards, China, etc.
Box 5	Folder 54	Postcards, Malaya
Box 5	Folder 55	Postcards, Singapore & Penang
Box 5	Folder 56	Scenes
Box 5	Folder 57	West Virginia
Box 5	Folder 58	"Wild Flower Reserve & Ringwood"
Box 5	Folder 59	Willard Culver's photos. Englewood, Florida	1944-06
Box 6		Glass negatives

Contents

James G. Needham papers, 1884-1957. Collection Number: 21-23-479

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library

James G. Needham papers, 1884-1957.
Collection Number: 21-23-479

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library