A Guide to the Edward S. Deevey Papers

Finding aid created by Katie Walters

University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
February 2008

Biographical/Historical Note

Edward S. Deevey was born in Albany, New York on December 3, 1914. He earned his Bachelor's (1934) and Ph.D. (1938) at Yale University. Deevey taught biology at the Rice Institute in Houston, Texas from 1939 to 1943. He worked as a research associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution until 1946 when he began teaching at Yale University. In 1953-1954 Deevey worked on a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Research Award in Denmark. He became a full professor at Yale in 1957 and worked there until 1968. In 1964-1965 Deevey traveled to New Zealand on a National Science Foundation and Fulbright Travel Grant. In 1968 Deevey moved to Canada and began teaching biology at Dalhousie University. During his time at Dalhousie he also was a member of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. In 1971 Deevey left Canada for Gainesville, Florida as the Graduate Research Curator of the Florida State Museum. He continued to receive various research grants, mostly for work in Guatemala, Florida, and China. He remained with the Florida State Museum until his death in 1988.

Deevey made substantial contributions in pollen analysis, limnology, paleolimnology, marine ecology, population biology, radiocarbon dating, low-temperature geochemistry, biogeography, and paleoanthropology. He wrote his thesis on paleolimnology under G.E. Hutchinson and introduced concepts that helped develop the field into a quantitative science. He established the standard pollen stratigraphy for Eastern North America. He pollen research was extremely influential, but his largest research project was the Historical Ecology of the Maya, in which he attempted to interpret environmental consequences of human activity in a changing climate.

Scope and Content

The Deevey Papers include correspondence (business and personal), research field notes, projects, publications, research proposals, associations, photographs and miscellaneous materials. The correspondence (1924-1988) primarily concerns Deevey's research projects, various people asking for his assistance, and letters concerning his journal articles. He remained in contact with his graduate professor G.E. Hutchinson throughout his career. Other names of interest in the collection are: Don and Pru Rice, Daniel Livingstone, Margaret Davis, Mark Brenner, and Mike Binford.

The field notes, projects, publications, and research proposals document Deevey's research interests and his contributions to limnology, paleolimnology, and other scientific fields. The research is centered in New England, Guatemala, Florida, and Yunnan, China. The field notes concern more of Deevey's early work with lakes in New England. Deevey's largest research project, the Historical Ecology of the Maya, is well documented in these groups.

The materials pertaining to his professional associations consist of notes and papers from various conferences and symposiums, as well as minutes from various organizations. Deevey was on five editorial boards, including Radiocarbon, American Journal of Science, Bioscience, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, and Human Ecology. He participated in eleven professional societies, including the Ecological Society of America (with a lifetime member award), American Society of Naturalists, and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.

The miscellaneous papers include lecture notes, mostly from Yale University, and biographical information. The photographs are mainly from research projects, and include numerous presentation slides and graphs. There are also photos of Edward Deevey and Georgiana Deevey, and one of Mark Brenner.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically, and the rest of the collection primarily is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Access or Use Restrictions

Access

The collection is open for research.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Edward S. Deevey Papers, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Processing Notes

The majority of the folders in this collection were originally numbered using one of four distinct numbering schemes. During processing of the collection, these numbering schemes were abandoned in favor of the current chronological or alphabetical arrangement. However, the numbers from the old schemes were retained on the folders.

Selected Subjects and Access Terms

Human ecology -- History.
Lake ecology -- Florida.
Limnologists.
Limnology.
Marine ecology.
Pollen.

For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.

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