By Finding aid prepared by Faye Harkins; updated by Elizabeth Nielsen.
Collection Overview
Title: Louis G. Gentner Papers, 1829-1980
Predominant Dates: 1914-1980
ID: MSS Gentner
Primary Creator: Gentner, Louis G. (1892-1980)
Extent: 2.2 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: This collection is organized into six series: 1. Biographical Information; 2. Correspondence; 3. School Records and Materials; 4. Entomology Field Work and Research Notes; 5. Organizations; and 6. Photographs.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
Abstract
These papers were generated by Louis G. Gentner, entomologist, alumnus and faculty member at Oregon State College. They document his coursework at Oregon Agricultural College, species identification and his field research regarding insect damage to vegetation.
Scope and Content Notes
The Gentner Papers document the entomological research conducted by Gentner, primarily on flea beetles, as well as his professional activities and undergraduate and graduate education. The collection includes correspondence, class notebooks, publications, extensive field and research notes, and photographs.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Alumnus and entomologist, Louis G. Gentner, was born in Portland, Oregon, in February 1892. Gentner received his B. S. from Oregon Agricultural College in 1915, his M. S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1918, and completed his doctorate at Oregon State College in 1953. He did his post-graduate work at Oregon State College in 1945 and 1946. After working as an entomologist in Wisconsin and Michigan, he became associate entomologist and assistant superintendent of the Southern Oregon Branch Experiment Station in Medford in 1930. Gentner's studies with alfalfa varieties led to the selection and naming of "Talent" alfalfa, now grown extensively for seed production exports. His work with beetles led to the elimination of the Klamath goat weed infestation on southern Oregon infested rangeland and enabling thousands of acres to be become viable again. Gentner retired from the station in 1962 and died July 16, 1980. Additional biographical information is included in the collection.
Administrative Information
More Extent Information:
100 photographs; 8 boxes
Statement on Access:
Collection is open for research.
Related Materials:
Other materials relating to the Entomology Department can be found in the Agricultural Experiment Station Records (RG 025) and Entomology Department Records (RG 027). Other entomological collections held by the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center are the papers of Ralph Berry Papers (MSS Berry), John D. Lattin Papers (MSS Lattin), Merton Lane Papers (MSS Lane), Charles H. Martin Papers (MSS MartinC), James McIver Papers (MSS McIver), Hugh E. Morrison Papers (MSS Morrison), Paul W. Oman Papers (MSS Oman), Paul Ritchter Papers (MSS Ritchter), Robert G. Rosenstiel Papers (MSS Rosenstiel), and Herman A. Scullen Papers (MSS Scullen) and the A.B. Cordley Entomological and Horticultural Scrapbook (MSS Cordley). Materials relating to Gentner's research on flea beetles are held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives (Louis G. Gentner Papers, RU 7341).
Preferred Citation:
Louis G. Gentner Papers (MSS Gentner), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Creators
Gentner, Louis G. (1892-1980)
People, Places, and Topics
Beneficial insects.
Entomology--Research--Oregon.
Entomology--Study and teaching (Higher)--Oregon.
Flea-beetles--Oregon.
Gentner, Louis G., 1892-1980
History of Science
Natural Resources
Oregon Agricultural College
Oregon State University. Department of Entomology
University History
Forms of Material
Nitrate negatives.
Photographic prints.
Box and Folder Listing
- Series 1: Biographical Information, 1926-1979
- Series I consists of a list of Gentner's publications and a biographical data sheet.
- Box-Folder 1.1: Biographical Information and List of Publications of Louis G. Gentner, 1926-1969
- Box-Folder 1.2: Entomological Publications, 1949-1979
- Series 2: Correspondence, 1929-1978
- Series II contains both professional correspondence relating to Gentner's Ph.D. thesis, coursework for students and entomological correspondence pertaining to specimen identification and supplies. Much of the correspondence relates to Gentner's work on his Ph.D. at Oregon State College.
- Box-Folder 1.3: Letters from Mont. A. Casier and Paul O. Ritcher, 1955 and undated
- Box-Folder 1.4: Letters regarding Gentner's Ph.D. thesis, 1951-1953
- Box-Folder 1.5: Information and Procedures for Graduate Students and County Extension Agents Seeking Master Degrees at OSC, 1948-1951
- Box-Folder 1.6: Entomology and Zoology Correspondence, 1962-1974
- Box-Folder 1.7: Professional Correspondence, 1930-1980
- Box-Folder 1.8: Professional Correspondence, 1930-1980
- Box-Folder 1.9: Specimen Donations Correspondence, 1940-1978
- Box-Folder 1.10: Entomological Supplies Correspondence, 1960-1970
- Box-Folder 1.11: Flea Beetle Sales Correspondence, 1929-1978
- Series 3: School Records and Materials, 1908-1963
- Series III contains various materials ranging from receipts for graduate school classes to references to textbooks. The classroom materials include laboratory notebooks dating from 1911 to 1917 for undergraduate and graduate classes in English, zoology and economic entomology. An interesting item in this series is Gentner's high school laboratory book dated 1908. Other classroom-related materials include student seminar papers, a thesis written by Gentner for a Civil Service Examination, study outlines, and teaching notes.
- Box-Folder 1.12: Grades, tuition receipts and OSC Ph.D. program notes, 1945-1953
- Sub-Series 2: OAC Class Notebooks
- Box-Folder 1.13: English 32 and English 42, undated
- Box-Folder 1.14: Animal Parasitology, 1914
- Box-Folder 1.15: Zoology 302, 1914
- Box-Folder 1.16: Zoology notebook with insect pencil drawings, 1916
- Box-Folder 1.17: Zoology 315, 1913
- Entomology of Field Crops
- Box-Folder 1.18: Zoology 301, 1913
- Introductory Entomology
- Box-Folder 1.19: Zoology 107, 1913
- With bird pencil drawings
- Box-Folder 1.20: Zoology I, 1911
- With mollusks pencil drawings
- Box-Folder 1.21: Zoology II, 1912
- With chordata pencil drawings
- Box-Folder 1.22: Economic Entomology 105, 1916-1917
- Box-Folder 1.23: Student Lab Book, 1908
- Box-Folder 1.24: Student Seminar Papers, 1917
- Box-Folder 1.25: Photography, 1916
- Box-Folder 1.26: Thesis in Connection With United States Civil Service Examination for Scientific Assistant in Entomology, circa 1917
- Box-Folder 1.27: Class Study Outline for Economic Entomology, circa 1917
- Box-Folder 1.28: Teaching notes and outlines, 1946
- Box-Folder 1.29: Insects Injurious to Grapes talk delivered at Michigan State College, 1927
- Box-Folder 1.30: Entomology Books and Price Lists, 1936-1963
- Series 4: Entomology Field Work and Research Notes, 1829-1975
- Series IV includes tables, field notes, handwritten manuscripts, outlines, and articles written by Gentner. It also contains four card file boxes of detailed entomology research field notes and bibliographies.
- Box-Folder 1.31: Research tables, field notes, portion of handwritten manuscript, undated
- Box-Folder 1.32: Miscellaneous entomology outlines and notes, circa 1916
- Box-Folder 1.33: Typescripts of published articles by Gentner, undated
- Box-Folder 1.34: Articles published in Wisconsin Horticulture by Gentner, 1919-1920
- Box-Folder 1.35: List of Species Collected by Gentner, circa 1924-1975
- Box-Folder 1.36: Haltica Identification notes, undated
- Box-Folder 1.37: Coleoptera notes, 1931
- Box-Folder 1.38: Aphids(Cenara), 1961
- Box-Folder 1.39: Epitrix notes, undated
- Box-Folder 1.40: Chaetocnema semichalcea (flea beetle) Identification, 1951
- Box-Folder 1.41: Citations and Notes on Various Entomology Topics, undated
- Box-Folder 1.42: Techniques for Mounting and Preserving Specimens, 1922-1946
- Box-Folder 1.43: Potato Flea Beetle Projects, 1963-1964
- Box-Folder 1.44: Field and Research Notes, undated
- Box-Folder 1.45: Plant Identification Collections, 1939-1958
- Box-Folder 1.46: Flea Beetle and Distribution Information, 1914-1975
- Box-Folder 1.47: Herbarium Specimens of Flea Beetle Damage, 1924-1940
- Specimens discarded.
- Box-Folder 1.48: 1829
- Photocopy from microfilm.
- Box-Folder 1.49: 1830
- Photocopy from microfilm.
- Sub-Series 1: Reference notes on index cards, undated
- Box 2
- Sub-Series 2: Halticinae References Under Species, undated
- Box 3
- Sub-Series 3: Halticinae Field Notes and Data Distribution, undated
- Box 4
- Sub-Series 4: Halticinae Bibliography, undated
- Box 5
- Series 5: Organizations, 1916-1980
- Series V documents Gentner's membership in various entomological organizations.
- Box-Folder 6.1: Entomological Society of America, 1916-1980
- Box-Folder 6.2: Biological Research Institute of America, 1973-1976
- Box-Folder 6.3: North American Beetle Fauna Project, 1972-1976
- Series 6: Photographs, 1914-1936
- Series VI includes approximately 100 black and white photographs documenting insect damage to vegetation. One photograph of Gentner, taken in 1914, is also included.
- Box-Folder 7.1: Black and white photographs showing insect damage, 1916-1929
- Extent: apx. 100
- Box-Folder 7.2: Haltica probata Fall, leaves of a wild rose showing larval injury, 1936
- Box-Folder 8.1: Haltica probata Fall, leaves of a wild rose showing larval injury, 1936
- Extent: Nitrate negative.
- Box-Folder 7.3: Louis Gentner holding a bug net, 1914
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