Helen M. Gilkey Papers, 1910-1974

Container List

Series 1: Correspondence, 1910-1971 Add to Shelf

Series 1 is comprised of correspondence between Gilkey and professional associates, publishers, Oregon State College (OSC) administrators, and representatives of various educational and research organizations. The majority of this correspondence relates to plant species identification, specimen exchanges, and sharing of professional literature and includes correspondence from both professional botanists and members of the general public, both within the United States and abroad.

While most of the correspondence is organized into general files by correspondent's name and date, several files document prolonged exchanges with friends and professional associates including Binford & Mort Publishing, Inc., Patricia Peck (Gilkey's friend and coauthor), and Morton Peck (founder of the Peck Herbarium at Willamette University).

Reference use scans of the contents of box-folders 4.6 through 4.12 are available upon request.

Box-Folder 1.1: Correspondence: A, 1924-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.2: Correspondence: B, 1923-1951 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.3: Correspondence: B, 1958-1974 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.4: Correspondence: C, 1922-1952 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.5: Correspondence: C, 1953-1957 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.6: Correspondence: D, 1926-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.7: Correspondence: E, 1925-1967 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.8: Correspondence: F, 1925-1966 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.1: Correspondence: G, 1924-1965 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.2: Correspondence: H, 1926-1967 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.3: Correspondence: I, 1935-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.4: Correspondence: J, 1911-1967 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.5: Correspondence: K, 1927-1970 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.6: Correspondence: L, 1910-1970 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 2.7: Correspondence: M, 1920-1966 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.1: Correspondence: Mc, 1925-1963 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.2: Correspondence: N, 1926-1963 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.3: Correspondence: O, 1935-1965 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.4: Correspondence: P, 1924-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.5: Correspondence: Q, 1957-1958 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.6: Correspondence: R, 1925-1954 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.7: Correspondence: R, 1955-1968 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.8: Correspondence: S, 1911-1951 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.9: Correspondence: S, 1952-1966 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.1: Correspondence: T, 1924-1967 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.2: Correspondence: U, 1949-1966 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.3: Correspondence: V, 1949-1968 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.4: Correspondence: W, 1917-1967 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.5: Correspondence: X-Z, 1948-1965 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.6: Correspondence: Binford & Mort, Publishers, 1950-1951 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.7: Correspondence: Oregon State College Friends of the Library, 1960-1962 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.8: Correspondence: Packard, Patricia, circa 1952-1971 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.9: Correspondence: Peck, Morton and Jess, 1925-1961 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.10: Correspondence: Washington Rhododendron Society, Inc., 1954-1960 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.11: Correspondence: Professional Organizations, 1924-1964 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.12: Correspondence: "Appreciations", 1952-1962 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Series 2: Research Materials, 1919-1964 Add to Shelf

Series 2 includes materials collected and generated by Helen Gilkey for research purposes. The series consists of several notebooks and a collection of research notes comprised of species descriptions, partial draft manuscripts and typescripts of numerous publications, bibliographic notes, and sketches. Of particular note is a field notebook documenting Gilkey's travels through central and northern Oregon during the summer of 1924. The notebook details Gilkey's travel, social and professional interactions, presence of various weeds and other vegetation, agricultural activities in the area, character of the landscape, and observations of Native Americans from the Wapinitia area near The Dalles, Oregon,

The series also includes specimen photographs, many of which may have been taken by Gilkey and other collected materials used as reference sources, including photocopies, two photographs of Oregon dendrologist Oliver Matthews, and a hand-tinted illustration of Lilium Washingtonianum. Also present is a relatively large quantity of scientific illustrations created by Gilkey or traced from Edward's Botanical Register, including ink, pencil, and watercolor works. Some of the illustrations appear to have been prepared for publication, including two pages containing border illustrations for Willis Linn Jepson's Manual of Flowering Plants in California (Box-folder 7.1; the border illustrations have been digitized and are available upon request).

Also present is a small group of materials documenting research funding received by Gilkey from Oregon State College, the American Philosophical Society, the Mycological Society of America, and other organizations. Additionally, the series contains collected records of the OSC greenhouses, possibly as reference material for Gilkey's unpublished "History of Botany at Oregon State College."

Reference use scans of the contents of box-folder 7.1 are available upon request.

Box-Folder 4.13: Notebook: [Central Oregon Research Trip], 1924 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.14: Notebook: "Miscellaneous Notes", circa 1940-1943 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.15: Notebook: "Bacteriology", undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 4.16: Notebook: "Tuberales", undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.1: Notebook: [Species descriptions], undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.2: Research notes, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.3: Research notes, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.4: Research notes, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.5: Research notes, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.6: Research notes, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 5.7: Specimen photographs, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 7.1: Scientific illustrations, undated Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 7.2: Scientific illustration tracings from Edward's Botanical Register, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 7.3: Scientific illustration reference materials, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.1: Research funding, 1951-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.2: Oregon Agricultural College Greenhouse Facilities records, 1919-1960 Add to Shelf

Series 3: Speeches and Written Works, 1911-1973 Add to Shelf

Series 3 is comprised predominately of notes, correspondence, and drafts related to the production of numerous publications authored by Gilkey. Included are materials for two of Gilkey's books: Tuberales of North America and Weeds of the Pacific Northwest; a copy of Gilkey's master's thesis, "Oregon Mushrooms"; and several other publications mostly relating to Tuberales. The series also includes copies of a number of articles by Gilkey published in The Oregonian (many of which appeared as part of the "Outlawed Weeds" column) and transcripts of three radio talks given by Gilkey on truffles and plant identification.

Of particular note is a small notebook featuring more than a dozen one-stanza poems composed and hand-lettered by Gilkey. The poems are related to plant identification and appear to have been created as educational tools or mnemonic devices. The series also includes newsclippings about Gilkey's professional efforts and Dr. Helen Margaret Gilkey: Her Life, Her Family and Her Poems, a memoire edited and published by her sister, Beulah, which features other poetry by Gilkey.

Reference use scans of the contents of box-folders 6.5, 6.10 - 6.11, 6.13, and 6.16 - 6.17 are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.3: Tuberales of North America, circa 1939 Add to Shelf

This publication is available online in ScholarsArchive.

Box-Folder 6.4: Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1952-1964 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.5: "Thesis on Oregon Mushrooms," Oregon Agricultural College, 1911 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.6: "New or Otherwise Noteworthy Species of Tuberales", 1947 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.7: "Taxonomic Notes on Tuberales", 1954 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.8: "Order Tuberales", circa 1960 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.9: "General Notes on the Tuberales, with a New Species of Tuber from Australia", 1962 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.10: "History of Botany at Oregon State College", circa 1965 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.11: "Truffles in America", undated Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.12: Poetry, undated Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.13: Articles published in The Oregonian, 1919-1920 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.14: Articles and publications re: Helen Gilkey, 1942-1973 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.15: Radio Talk: "Truffles in America," Phi Kappa Phi, April 5, 1932 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 6.16: Radio Talk: "Poisonous Plants, How to Recognize Them," KOAC, May 24, 1956 Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.

Box-Folder 6.17: Radio Talk: [Species Identification], undated Add to Shelf

Reference use scans of the contents of this folder are available upon request.