This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By Rachel Lilley
Title: Arthur W. Anderson Papers, 1949-2000
Predominant Dates: 1953-1980
ID: MSS AndersonA
Primary Creator: Anderson, Arthur Wallace (1914-)
Extent: 1.7 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Arthur W. Anderson Papers are arranged in six series: Series 1. Biographical Materials, circa 1960-2001; Series 2. Correspondence, 1949-2000; Series 3. Lab Notebook, 1980; Series 4. Publications, 1956-1980; Series 5. Reference Materials and Subject Files, 1945-1994; Series 6. Photographs, circa 1955-1970. Within each series, materials are organized either chronologically, or alphabetically by topic, as appropriate.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2001
Languages of Materials: English [eng], Swedish [swe]
The Arthur W. Anderson Papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, a lab notebook, publications, reference materials and subject files, and photographs. Topics of research in these records include food-borne pathogens and toxins, food irradiation and preservation, mushrooms and fungi, and single-cell protein generation from agricultural and industrial waste. Of particular interest are articles and reference materials documenting Anderson’s isolation and subsequent investigations of the radiation-resistant bacterium micrococcus radiodurans.
The contents of box-folders 1.05, 1.11, and 1.12, and images from box-folders 2.18 and 2.20, have been digitized and are available upon request.
Arthur Wallace Anderson was born December 2, 1914 in Lisbon, North Dakota to Paul and Alma Anderson. His father, who immigrated from Norway in 1901, worked as a grain rancher, and prior to leaving for college in 1938, Arthur worked as a hired hand on his father’s farm. In 1938, Anderson matriculated at North Dakota State College. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science degree and enlisted in the United States Navy’s Officer Training School. During World War II, Anderson served as the commanding officer aboard a submarine destroyer; towards the end of the war he was transferred to the Medical Service Corps and separated from service having achieved the rank of lieutenant. After the war, Anderson returned to the states and to his studies, attending the University of Wisconsin from 1946 to 1947 and graduating with a Master of Science degree. From 1947 to 1949, Anderson was employed by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; his research there focused on bacterial nutrition and vitamins.
In 1949, Anderson married Jean Mary Fuller and the couple settled in Corvallis, where Anderson attended Oregon State College (OSC). Anderson graduated in 1952, having earned a PhD in Bacteriology, with minors in Biochemistry and Dairy Husbandry, for his dissertation, Effect of Variation in Composition of Milk on Growth of Lactic Acid Starter-culture Bacteria. After completing his dissertation, Anderson worked as an Assistant Professor in the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) at University of California at Berkeley.
In 1953, Anderson applied for a position in what was then the Bacteriology Department at OSC; according to the reference letter written by then-Acting Chair P.R. Elliker, the nature of his work for the NRL was “considered secret.” Anderson was ultimately hired by OSC as an Assistant Professor in the Bacteriology Department, teaching Sanitary Bacteriology, Food Bacteriology, and General Bacteriology courses. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1959; two years later what was, by then, the Department of Bacteriology and Hygiene, became the Department of Microbiology and Hygiene. In 1964, Anderson was promoted to Full Professor.
Anderson's research primarily focused on pathogenic and toxigenic food microorganisms, and single cell protein and enzymes from agricultural and industrial waste. His research at OSU included the isolation of the first radiation-resistant microorganism, micrococcus radiodurans; for this research he received the Basic Research Award from Oregon State in 1959 and the Governor’s Northwest Scientist Award in 1962. In 1968, Anderson and members of his research team developed a “gel electrophoresis” unit to detect the presence of harmful toxins in food in as little as eight hours; previous methods could take anywhere from 36 hours to 1 week, depending on the toxin. Anderson’s method – which modified a Swedish technique known as the Laurel Method – was initially used to isolate clostridium botulinum, the bacilli which causes botulism. Not only was Anderson’s method faster, but had the added benefit of not requiring the use of animals as test subjects. In the 1970s, Anderson worked on the possibilities of protein production from grass seed and straw, as part of a project to find alternatives to open field burning in the Willamette Valley.
Anderson also did research and consulting work overseas. In 1963, he spent a year at the University of Cambridge’s Low Temperature Research Station in Cambridge, England, a lab engaged in investigating, among other things, the temperature conditions necessary to safely transport food stuffs, nationally and internationally. From 1971 to 1972, Anderson studied at the Meat Research Institute at the University of Bristol in Langford, England. While there, he researched methods to quickly detect harmful food microorganisms, and explored the use of microbial procedures for commercial production, including cellulose as a protein source and pyrolyzed oil as a source of carbon. In 1977, Anderson worked and taught at the University of Sao Paulo, in Campinas, Brazil, while simultaneously consulting at the Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (Institute of Food Technology). That same year, Anderson and biological engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Michigan spent 11 days in Russia, visiting labs interested in the utilization of cellulose waste material. Though much of their visit was spent at the Microbiological Institute for Cellulose Research at Pushchino, Russia, Anderson also visited the Straw Research Center in Kolding, Denmark, and several labs in England to confer with scientists researching cellulose waste.
Thanks to Anderson’s research on uses for cellulose waste – namely straw and other agricultural waste products – Oregon opened its first “gasohol” production plant in 1980. Gasohol is a term used for the mixture of 10% ethyl alcohol (also called ethanol or grain alcohol) with gasoline; Anderson’s research was instrumental in illustrating that cellulose from hydrolyzed straw could be used to create the necessary ethanol. One hundred farmers invested $100 each to help fund the cooperative plant, which was situated in Medford.
Anderson retired from Oregon State University in the summer of 1980, after 27 years at OSU. He continued work as a freelance food industry consultant and researcher, however, consulting with several alcohol production plants in Oregon and commercial firms evaluating the potential of growing mushrooms in straw. Arthur Anderson died October 1, 2005 in Salem, Oregon.
More Extent Information: 2 boxes, including 73 photographs and 6 negatives
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The collection was donated to the former University Archives by Arthur and Jean (Fuller) Anderson in May 2001.
Related Materials:
Additional collections and materials that document the teaching of Bacteriology, and then Microbiology, at Oregon State University include the Microbiology Department Records (RG 191), the Microbiology Department Photographs (P 117), the Oral Histories of the Oregon State University Microbiology Department (OH 024), the Paul R. Elliker Papers (MSS Elliker), the John L. Fryer Papers (MSS Fryer), the Helen M. Gilkey Papers (MSS GilkeyH), and the Clair V. Langton Papers (MSS Langton).
Additional collections and materials documenting food irradiation research, and Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University include the Food Science and Technology Department Records (RG 176), the Food Science and Technology Department Photographs (P 142), and the Microbiology Department Records (RG 191).
The Jean Fuller Anderson Papers, which document the Women's Studies courses Anderson taught at Oregon State University and her work related to economic equity for women, are held by the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
Preferred Citation: Arthur W. Anderson Papers (MSS AndersonA), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Finding Aid Revision History: This finding aid replaces information about the collection that was placed online in 2012.
Anderson, Arthur Wallace (1914-)
Anderson, Jean Fuller
Agricultural wastes--Research.
Anderson, Arthur Wallace, 1914-
Food--Safety measures.
History of Science
Hops and Brewing
Industrial microbiology.
Irradiation.
Mushrooms--Research.
Oregon State College. Department of Bacteriology and Hygiene
Oregon State University. Department of Microbiology--History.
University History
Film negatives.
Photographic prints.
Slides (photographs).
Series 2 is primarily comprised of correspondence relating to Anderson’s career and research, and is arranged chronologically. Early correspondence in the series documents Anderson’s application to continue his graduate studies at OSC in 1949; later correspondence includes letters of thanks from other teachers for his advice or for sending cultures, requests for letters of recommendation, and letters regarding consulting work Anderson undertook in his “retirement.”
Of note is a series of correspondence between Anderson and Jolynne Strang, a Paris American High School student stationed in France with her mother and father, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Strang. Their exchange documents Strang’s own work with micrococcus radiodurans, samples of which she received from Anderson. Also included in this series is a letter celebrating the Department of Microbiology’s 90th “birthday” in 1989; included with the letter is a “History of the Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University,” written by W.B. Bollen.
The contents of box-folder 1.5 has been digitized and is available upon request.
Series 4 contains reprints of published articles authored by Arthur Anderson. The majority of the publications center on Anderson’s research with micrococcus radiodurans, clostridium botulinum, and staphylococcus aureus; the irradiation of food; and survival rates of food-borne pathogens and toxins after radiation. Also included are reprints of articles documenting Anderson’s research into economically feasible uses for agricultural wastes, namely the fermentation or hydrolyzation of straw to increase nutritive value and/or produce glucose isomerase. Materials in this series are arranged chronologically.
The contents of box-folders 1.11 and 1.12 have been digitized and is available upon request.
Series 5, Reference Materials and Subject Files, is comprised of publications authored by scientists and researchers other than Anderson and serves to further document Anderson’s research interests and the evolution of those interests. Topics include the use of agricultural crop residue and industrial waste as fuel; cellulose fermentation and conversion to ethyl alcohol; toxins and pathogens such as clostridium botulinum and micrococcus radiodurans; food irradiation and preservation; and mushrooms and other fungi.
Of particular note are materials documenting the 4th Annual Nuclear Science Seminar at the Phillips Petroleum Company Materials Testing Reactor (MTR) in Idaho Falls, Idaho in 1957. These materials include Press Tour fact sheets regarding Gamma Irradiation Facilities at the MTR, a list of abstracts for papers presented at the seminar, and a booklet about the National Reactor Testing Station situated near Pocatello, Idaho.
Materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by topic.
The photographs in Series 6 document Anderson’s lab work, and include images of lab mice, and of the gel electrophoresis unit Anderson created to test for food toxins (disassembled). Also included are microscopic images of micrococcus radiodurans and sarcina RS, and photographs of presentation charts and graphs.
Images from box-folders 2.18 and 2.20 have been digitized and are available upon request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.