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Luther Burbank
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Allan Teichroew
Revised and expanded by Patrick Kerwin
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2000
Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
Manuscript Division, 2003
Collection Summary
Title: Papers of Luther Burbank
Span Dates: 1830-1989 (bulk 1880-1926)
ID No.: MSS14324
Creator: Burbank, Luther, 1849-1926
Size: 12,500 items; 41 containers; 16 linear feet;
2 microfilm reels
Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Botanist, horticulturist, and naturalist.
Correspondence, speeches and writings, notes, sketches,
nursery plans and notes, business records, scrapbooks,
family papers and genealogies, and printed material
concerning Burbank's career as a botanist and his family
and personal life.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description
of this collection in the Library's online catalog.
They are grouped by name of person or organization,
by subject or location, and by genres and listed alphabetically
therein.
Names:
Burbank, Luther, 1849-1926
Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde), 1858-1954--Correspondence
Bean, Burt C. (Burt Clifford), b. 1874
Burpee, W. Atlee (Washington Atlee), 1858-1915--Correspondence
Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931.--Correspondence
Fairchild, David, 1869-1954--Correspondence
Firestone, Harvey Samuel, 1868-1938--Correspondence
Ford, Henry, 1863-1947--Correspondence
Husbands, José D.--Correspondence
Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931--Correspondence
Keller, Helen, 1880-1968--Correspondence
Kellogg, Vernon L. (Vernon Lyman), 1867-1937--Correspondence
Kinsey, Alfred C. (Alfred Charles), 1894-1956--Correspondence
Lemmon, J. G. (John Gill), 1832-1908--Correspondence
London, Charmian--Correspondence
London, Jack, 1876-1916--Correspondence
Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913--Correspondence
Morrow, William W., 1843-1929--Correspondence
Muir, John, 1838-1914--Correspondence
Samu, Spiegel--Correspondence
Schull, George H.--Correspondence
Vachell, F. Harvey--Correspondence
Van Deman, Henry Elias, 1845-1915--Correspondence
Vries, Hugo de, 1848-1935--Correspondence
Waugh, F. A. (Frank Albert), 1869-1943--Correspondence
Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James), 1848-1923--Correspondence
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 1850-1919--Correspondence
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence
Woodward, Robert Simpson, 1849-1924--Correspondence
Burbank family
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San
Francisco, Calif.)
Subjects:
Botany
Horticulture
Nurseries (Horticulture)--Californa--Santa Rosa
Plants
Occupations:
Botanists
Horticulturists
Administrative Information
Provenance: The papers of Luther Burbank, botanist,
horticulturist and naturalist, were given to the Library
of Congress by the estate of Elizabeth Waters Burbank
in 1978. Selected items microfilmed by the Library of
Congress were retained by the city of Santa Rosa, California,
for display in the Luther Burbank Home. A small addition
was given to the Library in 1992 by Renee Felciano.
Processing History: The papers of Luther Burbank were
processed and described in 1980. Additional material
received in 1992 was processed and incorporated into
the collection in 1999. The Luther Burbank Papers have
been partially described in the Quarterly Journal of
the Library of Congress, vol. 36, Oct. 1979, pp. 423-427.
Transfers: Prints and photographs have been transferred
to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where
they are identified as part of these papers.
Copyright Status: The status of copyright in the unpublished
writings of Luther Burbank is governed by the Copyright
Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Microfilm: A microfilm edition of part of these papers
is available on two reels. Consult a reference librarian
in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for
purchase or interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this
collection should include the following information:
Container or reel number, Luther Burbank Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
1849, Mar. 7
Born, Lancaster, Mass.
1871
Opened plant nursery in Lunenburg, Mass.
1871-1875
Developed the Burbank potato
1875
Moved to Santa Rosa, Calif.
1890
Married Helen Coleman (divorced 1896)
1893
Published first descriptive seed catalog, New Creations
1904-1906
Visiting lecturer, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
1905-1910
Awarded $10,000 annual stipend by the Carnegie Institution
of Washington, Washington, D.C.
1914-1915
Published Luther Burbank, His Methods and Discoveries
and Their Practical Application (New York: Luther Burbank
Press. 12 vols.)
1916
Married Elizabeth Waters
1926, Apr. 11
Died, Santa Rosa, Calif.
1927
Posthumous publication with Wilbur Hall of The Harvest
of the Years (Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 296 pp.)
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Luther Burbank (1849-1926) span the years
1830-1989, with the bulk of the items concentrated in
the period 1880-1926. Known to many of his generation
as "the plant wizard," Burbank was popularly classed
among the scientific heroes of the early twentieth century.
His collection consists of the following series: Family
Papers, General Correspondence, Speeches and Writings
File, Notes and Sketches, Business Records, Miscellany,
an Addition, and a Microfilm series consisting of a
small selection of items from the papers which were
retained by the city of Santa Rosa, California, for
display in the Luther Burbank Home.
The Family Papers series includes a variety of records
predating Burbank's birth in Lancaster, Massachusetts,
and continuing well after his death in the Northern
California town of Santa Rosa. Especially valuable are
letters Burbank exchanged with his mother and sister
while a prospective emigrant to the West Coast in 1875.
The earliest family correspondence, dated as early as
1850, is mostly in the form of typewritten transcripts
by Burbank's second wife, Elizabeth Waters Burbank,
or by one of his biographers. The transcripts reproduce
letters from and between Burbank's brothers and father
supplemented by legal, biographical, and other personal
data. Also in the Family Papers is travel memorabilia
which includes a brief diary by Burbank of a trip to
his boyhood New England in 1888. Since Burbank's sister,
two brothers, and mother had joined or preceded him
in his move to California, his journeys outside the
state account for practically all of his family correspondence
after 1878.
The General Correspondence series is extensive and,
in addition to carbons or drafts of Burbank's replies,
contains personal as well as professional letters. There
are diverse and sometimes substantive inquiries from
farmers interested in his projects, requests for seed
catalogs from other nurserymen, fact-finding reports
by foreign nationals intent on supplying Burbank with
unusual seeds or seedlings, and a great deal of adulatory
"fan" mail from friends both prominent and obscure.
Burbank wrote and received letters from Harvey S. Firestone,
Henry Ford, Charmian London, Joaquin Miller, John Muir,
and Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The largest part of the correspondence
concerns scientists and government officials who shared
his training or helped in communicating the results
of his research. Among the more significant of these
individuals were David Starr Jordan, friend and patron
at Stanford University, and Robert S. Woodward, head
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington when Burbank
was funded by that body to free him from the ordinary
tasks of nursery administration.
Other scientists whose correspondence appears with some
frequency include Liberty Hyde Bailey, David G. Fairchild,
Jose D. Husbands, Vernon L. Kellogg, George H. Schull,
H. E. Van Deman, and Hugo De Vries. The letters from
De Vries are of particular interest, since it was the
Dutch botanist's generous writings about Burbank's Santa
Rosa experiments which broadcast their significance
to the academic and scientific community. California
booster organizations, then in their peak phase, also
took an active part in the promotion of the plant breeder's
achievements, and the evidence of their contact is best
seen in the correspondence between Burbank and various
officials of state and county chambers of commerce,
the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle of 1909,
the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco
in 1915, and the California State Boards of Horticulture
and Agriculture.
As a celebrated discoverer of new plant varieties, Burbank
depended less on strict scientific methodology than
on a prodigious ability to test and experiment on a
practical, empirical basis. Although he made sporadic
efforts to keep comprehensive records of his research,
he often destroyed them once a product was finished.
Those accounts which still exist have been organized
in a Notes and Sketches series and complement typescripts
in the Speeches and Writings File containing narrative
descriptions of genera and species which he cultivated
at his Santa Rosa and Sebastopol nurseries between 1903
and 1911. Among the Business Records are account books,
inventories, stock lists, and plan books related to
Burbanks studies. This part of the collection, while
focusing mainly on financial aspects of the Burbank
operation, shows where and how he purchased seeds, the
diligence of his propagation and selection, and the
layout of his gardens. As is true of the Notes and Sketches,
the Business Records are occasionally illustrated with
Burbank's drawings of his techniques and products.
The Speeches and Writings File consists of Burbank's
personal writings as well as the printed, near-print,
and typescript comments of scientists, friends, and
journalists. Prominent among the latter were some of
his most devoted admirers, including De Vries, Wilbur
Hall Jordan, Kellogg, and Edward J. Wickson. In addition,
there is a transcript of a 1913 interview with Burbank
by Burt C. Bean. The bulk of the Burbank manuscripts
pertains to plant descriptions and what is supposed
to be a complete series of his published seed catalogs,
but there are also a few copies of statements he made
on personal and social issues and a small folder of
lectures given at Stanford University between 1904 and
1906. At the end of the collection is a Miscellany series
of clippings and scrapbooks which include large quantities
of ephemera and some important writings.
The Microfilm series consists of selected correspondence,
family papers and genealogies, nursery plans and notes,
financial records, scrapbooks, and miscellany. Prominent
correspondents in the series include Thomas A. Edison,
Helen Keller, Alfred C. Kinsey, Jack London, and Woodrow
Wilson.
Correspondents in addition to those listed above include
W. Atlee Burpee, Herbert G. Gleason, J. G. Lemmon, W.
W. Morrow, Spiegel Samu, F. Harvey Vachell, and F. A.
Waugh.
Transferred Material:
Burbank made extensive use of photography to record
the course and results of his plant breeding, and a
large quantity of prints and negatives, including glass
plates, has been transferred to the Prints and Photographs
Division of the Library of Congress.
Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in eight series:
Family Papers, ca. 1830-1969, n.d.
General Correspondence, 1871-1929, n.d.
Speeches and Writings File, 1869-1950, n.d.
Notes and Sketches, 1886-1925, n.d.
Business Records, 1871-1921, n.d.
Miscellany, 1894-1922, n.d.
Addition, 1989
Microfilm, 1864-1964, n.d.
Container List
Box 1-2
Family Papers, ca. 1830-1969, n.d.
Letters to and from Burbank's family, including transcriptions
of originals not in the collection, and subject files
of topical correspondence, legal matters, school reports,
travel notes, and other holograph, typewritten, near-print,
and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent or
subject and chronologically therein.
Box 1
Correspondence
Originals
Bell, Jane (sister), 1890-1907, n.d.
Burbank, Elizabeth Waters (wife), 1916-1921, n.d.
Burbank and Ross family (cousins), 1901-1926
Burbank family (distant relatives), 1904-1918
Transcriptions
Burbank Family, 1869-1912, n.d.
Burbank, George (brother), 1850-1863, n.d.
Subject file
"The Authorized Biography of Luther Burbank," by Burt
C. Bean, 1923-1926
Biographical and family material compiled by Elizabeth
Waters Burbank, 1915-1949, n.d.
Burbank, Alfred (brother), 1909-1913
Centennial of birth, 1949
Condolences on Burbank's death, 1926
Divorce settlement, 1896
Legal documents, 1899-1934
Luther Burbank Christmas Memorial, 1947-1948
Proposed Luther Burbank Foundation at Stanford University,
Stanford, Calif., 1926-1928
Box 2
School and youth, 1865-1949
Spanish documents from South America, originals, copies,
and translations, ca. 1830-1969
Travel
Canada, 1894
Massachusetts, 1900
Raymond's Vacation Excursions, 1888
Box 2-12
General Correspondence, 1871-1929, n.d.
Letters with enclosures received by Burbank and drafts
or copies of letters sent.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent and
chronologically therein.
Box 2
American Anti-Alcohol Education Association See Container
5, Hobson, Richard P.
Anderson, Ann P., 1906-1911
Atherton, Gertrude, 1905-1908, n.d.
"A" miscellaneous, 1894-1926, n.d.
(3 folders)
Bailey, Liberty H., 1891-1907, n.d.
Burpee, W. Atlee, 1896-1917
Box 3
"B" miscellaneous, 1899-1926, n.d.
(4 folders)
Bonnheim, Albert, 1909 See Container 11, White Crusaders
Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1903-1910
(2 folders)
"C" miscellaneous
1890-1916
(2 folders)
Box 4
1917-1926, n.d.
D. Hay and Son, 1887-1899, n.d.
Damman & Co., 1894-1896
De Vries, Hugo, 1903-1929
Doubleday, Page & Co., 1903-1918
"D" miscellaneous, 1889-1926, n.d.
(2 folders)
Empson, J. H., 1905-1921
"E" miscellaneous, 1888-1926, n.d.
Fairchild, David G., 1899-1910
Firestone, Harvey S., 1917-1923
Ford, Henry, and Ford Motor Co., 1915-1928, n.d.
"F" miscellaneous
1891-1912
Box 5
1913-1926, n.d.
Gleason, Herbert W., 1908-1923, n.d.
Grucy, Lucien (French war orphan and godson), 1919-1923,
n.d.
"G" miscellaneous, 1871-1927, n.d.
(2 folders)
Hobson, Richmond P., 1921-1922
Husbands, Jose D., 1905-1911, n.d.
(2 folders)
"H" miscellaneous
1891-1906
Box 6
1907-1926, n.d.
(2 folders)
Imai, G., 1920-1924
"I" miscellaneous, 1905-1924, n.d.
Jordan, David Starr, 1901-1926
(4 folders)
"J" miscellaneous, 1897-1925
Katakura & Co., 1920-1924 See same container, Imai,
G.
Kellogg, John Harvey, 1917-1926
Kellogg, Vernon L., 1900-1915, n.d.
Box 7
Knudsen, H., 1898-1901, n.d.
"K" miscellaneous, 1891-1926, n.d.
Leib, S. F., 1896-1922
Lelong, B. M., 1890-1900
Lemmon, J. G., 1886-1904
de Longpré, Paul, 1899-1903, n.d.
"L" miscellaneous, 1893-1926, n.d.
(2 folders)
Maxim, Hudson, 1911-1925
Mills, Susan L., 1907-1908
Morrow, W. W., 1904-1909
Box 8
Miller, P. Francisco, 1918-1922
Muir, John, 1910
"M" miscellaneous, 1890-1926, n.d.
(3 folders)
"N" miscellaneous, 1891-1926
Osterhout, J. V., 1901-1904
"O" miscellaneous, 1901-1925, n.d.
"P" miscellaneous
1898-1908
Box 9
1909-1926, n.d.
(2 folders)
"Q-R" miscellaneous, 1888-1926, n.d.
(3 folders)
Samu, Spiegel, 1893-1896
School children
1901-1922
(2 folders)
Box 10
1923-1926, n.d.
Schull, George H., 1908-1912
Scientific American, 1903-1926
Slater, Herbert W., 1917-1925, n.d.
"S" miscellaneous, 1892-1926, n.d.
(4 folders)
"T" miscellaneous, 1891-1926, n.d.
Box 11
"U-V" miscellaneous, 1896-1926, n.d.
Vachell, F. Harvey, 1903-1912
Van Deman, H. E., 1894-1905
Waugh, F. A., 1896-1901
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 1906-1914, n.d.
White Crusaders, 1909
Woodward, Robert S. See Container 3, Carnegie Institution
of Washington
"W" miscellaneous, 1888-1926, n.d.
(3 folders)
Box 12
"X-Y" miscellaneous, 1894-1925
Unidentified and anonymous, 1898-1927, n.d.
Box 12-18
Speeches and Writings File, 1869-1950, n.d.
Holograph, typewritten, near-print, and printed copies
of speeches, lectures, and writings.
Arranged alphabetically by type of speech or author.
Burbank's writings are listed in one category, those
by others in another.
Box 12
By Burbank
Catalog descriptions, 1906-1911
Bulbs
Cactus
Cereals and other farm crops
Climbing vines, large
Blackberries
Deciduous trees
Desert plants
Evergreen trees (mostly conifers)
Ferns and mosses
Flowers
(3 folders)
Forage plants
Fruits
Box 13
Fruits: vines and shrubs
Giant ornamental grasses
Gladioli
Gourds
Herbs, uncommon vegetables, and other economic plants
Legumes
Mistletoe, parasitic plants, etc.
Nuts
Nut trees and nuts
Orchids
Ornamental grasses and sedges
Palms
Plums
Succulents
Shrubs
Shrubs, ornamental
Solanums and physalis
Textile plants
Uncommon tropicals
Vegetables
Vegetables and garden plants
Water and bog plants
Box 14
Great men, eulogies and statements, 1915-1926, n.d.
Lectures, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., 1904-1906
Miscellany
Titled, A-Z, 1869-1926
Untitled or incomplete, 1918-1922, n.d.
Quotations
Printed catalogs
1883-1922
(6 folders)
Box 15
1923-1927
Proof Book Number 1, for Luther Burbank Society, 1913
Transcribed interviews with Burbank
By Burt C. Bean
pp. 1-716
(7 folders)
Box 16
pp. 717-1918
(12 folders)
Box 17
p. 1919-2356
(4 folders)
By Clark, 1914
By others
Burbank, Elizabeth Waters, 1932-1935
(2 folders)
Hall, Wilbur, 1941
Jordan, David Starr
Kellogg, Vernon L., 1906-1915
Miscellaneous
Printed, A-Z, 1898-1950
Typewritten, 1916-1935, n.d.
Box 18
Poems dedicated to Burbank
De Vries, Hugo, 1904-1906, n.d.
Wickson, Edward J., 1905-1908, n.d.
Box 18-20
Notes and Sketches, 1886-1925, n.d.
Notes and sketches made by Burbank of fruit and plant
species.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Box 18
Apple trees
(4 folders)
Berries, cherries, and grapes
Box 19
Cherry trees
Crosses
Daisies
Gladioli
Grafting charts, vibrations, etc.
Grapes
Lilies
Lilies and berries
List of plants and seeds
Miscellany
New plums
Hybrids and crossings
Peach trees
Peach trees, plumcots, and nectarines
(3 folders)
Box 20
Pear trees
(3 folders)
Plum trees
(3 folders)
Quince trees
Strawberries
Miscellany
Box 21-25
Business Records, 1871-1921, n.d.
Account books, order books, plan books, seed and stock
records, subscription books, and an inventory of Burbank's
nursery operations.
Arranged alphabetically by type of record and chronologically
therein.
Box 21
Account books
1882-1888
(6 folders)
Box 22
1898-1902
Inventory, 1871-1874
Order books
1881-1885
(6 folders)
Box 23
1885-1889
(5 folders)
Box 24
Plan books, 1883-1921
(5 folders)
Box 25
Seed records
Domestic, 1905-1914, n.d.
(2 folders)
Foreign, 1902-1904
Stock records, 1887-1894
Subscription books, n.d.
(2 vols.)
Box 26-40
Miscellany, 1894-1922, n.d.
Clippings, calling cards, invitations, programs, seed
catalogs, membership cards, magazines, journals, printed
matter, and scrapbooks.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically
therein.
Box 26
Clippings
California earthquake, 1906
Miscellaneous
(4 folders)
Printed matter
Calling cards and tickets
Invitations
Box 27
Journals and magazines
Century Magazine, 1905-1911
(2 folders)
Guide to Nature, 1910-1913
Miscellaneous, 1894-1922
(2 folders)
Box 28
(5 folders)
Box 29
(6 folders)
Box 30
(4 folders)
Overland Monthly, 1903-1908
(2 folders)
Sunset Magazine, 1901-1909
(2 folders)
Box 31
(1 folder)
Membership cards
Programs
Seed catalogs
(2 folders)
Scrapbooks
Index
Membership cards
Programs
Seed catalogs
(2 folders)
Box 32
Vol. 3, 1901-1904
Box 33
Vol. 4, 1902-1905
Box 34
Vol. 5, 1905
Box 35
Vol. 6, 1905-1906
Box 36
Vol. 7, 1906-1907
Box 37
Vol. 8, 1907-1908
Box 38
Vol. 9, 1908
Box 39
Vol. 14, 1913-1917
Box 40
Vol. 17, 1915-1922
Box 41
Addition, 1989
Printed matter.
Box 41
Historic American Buildings Survey, Documentation No.
CA-2254 of Gold Ridge Farm, Luther Burbank's Experimental
Farm, Sebastopol, Calif., 1989
Reel 1-2
Microfilm, 1864-1964, n.d.
Accession no. 17,338
Correspondence, family papers and genealogies, nursery
plans and notes, financial records, scrapbooks, and
miscellany retained by the Luther Burbank Home, Santa
Rosa, Calif.
Arranged and described to reflect the arrangement of
the Burbank Papers in the Library of Congress.
Reel 1
Family papers
Correspondence, 1919, n.d.
Genealogies, 1864, n.d.
Writings and anecdotes, 1921-1926, n.d.
Correspondence
General, 1874-1964, n.d.
(2 folders)
Bryan, Mary Baird, 1911-1912
Edison, Thomas A., 1915-1920
Keller, Helen, 1925
Kinsey, Alfred C., 1925
London, Jack, 1905
Scopes trial, Dayton, Tenn., [1925]
Wilson, Woodrow, 1916
Nursery plans
Plan books, 1881-1908, 1926
(2 vols.)
Plan map, 1914
Plant descriptions, 1908-1921
Plant notes, 1890, 1892, 1896
Financial records
Bank books
1883-1898
1902-1903, 1909-1917
Deeds, 1874-1913
Deeds and abstracts, n.d.
(2 folders)
Reel 2
Mortages, 1885-1888
Sales books, 1878-1885
(3 vols.)
Miscellany
Photographs, n.d.
"Riverside Addition," n.d.
Schools named after Burbank in California, n.d.
Printed matter, Burbank's plant contributions
Scrapbooks
Vol. 1, 1874-1895
Vol. 2, 1895-1904[?]
September 9, 2003
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