Herbert L. Mason papers, 1928-1980 | University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Collection Overview

Title: Herbert L. Mason papers, 1928-1980

Primary Creator: Mason, H. L. (Herbert Louis) (1896-1994)

Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Arrangend into 7 series based on Mason's organization of his papers: Series 1: Field notes, Series 2: Personal: Miscellaneous, Series 3: Personal: Organizations, Series 4: Personal: Recommendations, Series 5: Personal: National Reserach Council, Series 6: Bio-bibliography, Series 7: Manuscripts.

Subjects: Botanists - California, University of California, Berkeley. - Dept. of Botany, University of California, Berkeley. - Herbarium.

Forms of Material: Correspondence, Field notes

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection consists of the papers of Herbert L. Mason, professor of Botany and curator of the Herbarium at the University of California, Berkeley. The primary components of this collection are Mason's field notebooks and his personal files. The field notebooks of H. L. Mason document his botanical collecting activities from 1928 to 1955. Collections are primarily from California, although trips, Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, Columbia, and the Revillagigedo islands are also included. Mason's personal files consist primarily of correspondence, both personal and professional, manuscripts, and personal records.

Biographical Note

Herbert Louis Mason was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 3, 1896. He received his A. B. in 1921 from Stanford University and his M.A. in 1923 from the University of California at Berkeley. He was an instructor at Mills College from 1923 to 1925 and then returned to the University of California to receive his Ph. D. in Botany in 1932. In 1931 he married Lucile Roush, also a Berkeley graduate student in Botany. He was hired as instructor and assistant curator of the University Herbarium at Berkeley in 1933 and promoted to assistant professor and associate curator in 1934 and associate professor and curator in 1938. In 1941 he was promoted to professor of Botany and director of the herbarium. In 1957, he published A flora of the marshes of California based on surveys commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Game and conducted by Mason and his graduate students.

Herbert Mason was a member of the Biosystematists, Western Society of Naturalists, the Western Section of the Ecological Society of America, the Regional Parks Association, the California Botanical Society, and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. He retired from Berkeley in 1963 and he and Lucile moved to Bellingham, Washington to live near their son, David. Herbert Mason passed away in Bellingham in 1994.

Subject/Index Terms

Botanists - California
University of California, Berkeley. - Dept. of Botany
University of California, Berkeley. - Herbarium.

Administrative Information

Repository: University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Alternate Extent Statement: 15 bound volumes and two small archival boxes.

Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research except for letters of recommendation (Series 4) which are restricted until 2028.

Use Restrictions: Copyright has not been assigned to the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the publisher.

Related Materials: Additional professional correspondence to and from Herbert Mason can be found in the correspondence series of the University Herbarium Records.

Preferred Citation: Herbert L. Mason Papers, University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Field notes, 1922-1955],
[Series 2: Personal: Miscellaneous, 1941-1960],
[Series 3: Personal: Organizations, 1941-1951],
[Series 4: Personal: Recommendations, 1941-1955],
[Series 5: Personal: National Research Council, 1943-1951],
[Series 6: Personal: Bio-bibliography, 1931-1980],
[Series 7: Manuscripts, undated],
[All]

Series 1: Field notes, 1922-1955

Herbert L. Mason's field notebooks document his botanical collecting activities in the western United States. Notebooks also include data collected during trips to Mexico and New Zealand.

Item 1: Field Notebook #1, 1922-1923

Contains collections no. 301-367. Includes two photographs.

Item 2: Field Notebook #2, 1923-1924

Contains collections no. 360-910 from California.

Item 3: Field Notebook #3, 1924-1925

Contains collections no. 1000-1344 from California.

Item 4: Field Notebook #4, 1925-1926

Contains collections no. 1494-2900. No. 1494-2087 are from the Revillagigedo Islands Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences in 1925 on the U.S.S. Ortolan Mine Sweeper. No. 2100-2900 are from Northern California and Oregon in 1925 and 1926.

Item 5: Field Notebook #5, 1926-1928

Includes collections no. 2901-4531 from California.

Item 6: Field Notebook #6, 1928-1931

Includes collections no. 4550-5895 from California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona and no. 5900-5911 from Monterey County.

Item 7: Field Notebook #7, 1931-1941

Contains collections no. 6001-6068 from Alaska in 1931 and no. 12240 from Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada on June 11, 1941. At back of notebook is a typed Key to Arctic Willows by C. R. Ball.

Item 8: Field Notebook #8, 1932-1933

Includes collections no. 6801-7287 from California. A photograph of specimen 6896 is included in the journal.

Item 9: Field Notebook #9, 1933-1937

Includes the following collection numbers:

6258-6276

7354-8387

9000-9450

10040-10055

Collections are primarily from California with a few from Washington and Montana.

Numbers 9000-9439 are an undated typed list of Plants of Point Lobos State Park Collected by Mason and Lee.

Item 10: Field Notebook #10, 1931-1936

Contains collections no. 10001-10049 and 10969-10997a. Notes are primarily narrative with lists of species observed but few collections noted.

Item 11: Field Notebook #11, 1936-1938

Contains collections no. 10986-12013 from California.

Item 12: Field Notebook #12, 1938

Contains collections no. 12014-13046 from California.

Item 13: Field Notebook #13, 1937-1950

Contains collections no. 13046-14065 from California. Collections are primarily from 1946-1950. Note at back of notebook: Nos 14065-141999 are missing because this notebook was considered “lost” temporarily. (# being given to those sheets for which #s were not previously given).

Item 14: Field Notebook #14, 1949

Contains collections no. 13700-13892 from Columbia.

Item 15: Field Notebook #15, 1952-1963

Contains collections no. 14200-15233 from California, Arizona, Nevada, and the Revillagigedo Islands. Notebook is labeled #13 with a note: 13a - New Zealand - a separate notebook, number series 14900-15073 and 15076 to 15106 (see Field Notebook #16).

Item 16: Field Notebook #16, 1960

Includes numbers 14900-15073 and 15076 to 15106 from New Zealand. Labeled Field Notebook #13a.

Series 2: Personal: Miscellaneous, 1941-1960

These folders were labeled "Personal Miscellaneous", yet they contain incoming and copies of outgoing professional correspondence from Mason's time as a professor and herbarium curator at Berkeley. Letters were arranged by chronologically by Mason. Individual correspodents are listed below.

Abbott, Isabella: November 18, 1943

Abrams, LeRoy:August 10, 1944, December 12, 1944

Albritton, Errett C.: July 18, 1950, April 30, 1953, May 25, 1953

Aldrich, Elmer C.: March 23, 1953, December 18, 1953, September 3, 1954

Alexander, Gordon:December 19, 1944

Anderson, W. Warren: March 18, 1953

Arnon, Daniel I.: April 30, 1954

Ashley, James F.: December 22, 1948

Atwood, Sanford S.: August 22, 1952

Babcock, E. B.: May, 1 1947, May 24, 1949, April 9, 1954

Backus, Jean L.: September 8, 1943, October 7, 1943

Baker, F.: May 28, 1947

Baker, Milo: January 19, 1944

Ball, Carleton R.: October 30, 1950

Barber, H. N.: May 29, 1956

Barnas, Mary: November 19, 1950

Barr, P.M.: March 20, 1952

Behnke, John A.: March 25, 1942

Bonar, Lee: June 7, 1949, July 8, 1954

Braun, Edwin L: April 29, 1952

Briggs, Fred N.: January 10, 1947

Britton, Barbara B.: July 3, 1952

Brown, Homer: June 21, 1949

Buccholz, John T. (Department of Botany, University of Illinois): December 14, 1949

Buckalew, Harry L.: March 13, 1951

Buell, Murray F.: June 12, 1953, June 19, 1953

Bunn, David, B.: January 6, 1950

Burge, Raymond T.: August 12, 1952

Cain, Stanley A.: August, 10, 1943, January 12, 1944, January 19, 1950, September 11, 1952, October 16, 1952

Camp, W. H.: January 13, 1947, January 9, 1947, September 9, 1946, February 4, 1946, September 1,1950

Carter, Annetta: February 6, 1949, February-July 1951 (multiple letters), June 12, 1954, June 22, 1954, June 25, 1954, July 9, 1954, July 20, 1954, August 19, 1954, March 1960, July 1960

Chapell, Walter? (Bogota, Columbia): July 24, 1949

Cheadle, Vernon I.: January 16, 1950, September 18, 1953

Clark, Bruce L.: November 4, 1941

Clarke, J.: May 8, 1942

Clausen, Robert T.: May 4, 1944, October 14, 1949

Cleland, Ralph E.: 1951

Clokey, Ira W.: July 1, 1948, March 19, 1948

Clum, Harold H.: August 5, 1944, August 18, 1944, October 22, 1944

Cockrell, Robert: May 25, 1950

Cole, Jim: September 1944, April 24, 1943, October 1943

Copeland, Herbert: November 27, 1954

Constance, Lincoln: March 10, 1953, December 21, 1943

Cook, S. F. (Professor of Physiology, Berkley Medical School): December 14, 1949

Core, Earl. L.: June 17, 1952

Corley, James H.: January 18, 1952

Crafts, A. S.: October 26, 1942

Cross, Aureal T.: September 23, 1949

Cuatrecasas, Jose: September 13, 1953

Cutter, Robert K.: October 17, 1944

Darrah, William Culp: July 31, 1951

Darrow, Robert A.: March 19, 1948

Davis, W. B.: November 17, 1943

Davidson, John: August 12, 1949, November 2, 1950, January 14, 1944

Dawson, Yale: January 8, 1954, January 25, 1954

Demiriz, A. Husnu: January 13, 1952

Descole, Horacio R.: March 1, 1948

Deutsch, Monroe E.: January 15, 1945

Dorf, Erling: March 14, 1942, March 18, 1944

Doty, Maxwell S.: May 13, 1949

Duffield, John W.: April 27, 1950

Dunn, David B.: June 28, 1953

Dutton: November 1, 1949

Edwards, D. W.: March 30, 1954

Emerson, Ralph: October 17, 1947

England, John O: July 15, 1949, January 24, 1950, March 15, 1951, January 19, 1951

Engle, Claire: January 18, 1950

Farquhar, Samuel T.: April 11, 1944

Fassett, F. G.: July 15, 1948

Feiler, C. L.: July 10, 1948

Ferris, Roxana S.: July 13, 1948, January 27, 1948

Ferry, Philip: November 13, 1952

Fidian, James: June 8, 1947

Fisher, John F.: June 2, 1948, July 6, 1950, July 19, 1950, August 10, 1950, October 16, 1951

Fleming, Guy L.: January 14, 1950, January 30, 1950

Fritz, Emanuel: June 3, 1952

Fruge, August: July 13, 1948

Fulling, E. H.: July 9, 1942

Gerhardt, Paul D.: December 23, 1947

Gilmore, Susan: July 13, 1943

Gleason, H. A.: July 2, 1953

Glock, Waldo S.: February 4, 1950

Goddard, David R.: April 5, 1949, March 15, 1949

Goethe, C. M.: August 29, 1949

Gould, Sydney, W.: May 1, 1954

Grant, Alva (Mrs. Verne): April 15, 1950

Gunderson, Alfred: March 22, 1948

Haddock, Philip G.: July 20, 1944, August 25, 1944

Hall, J. A.: August, 30, 1943, October 27, 1943

Hamilton, E. P.: August 16, 1943

Hansell, Dorothy E.: June 24, 1954

Hansen, H. P.: October 29, 1952

Hardenbrook, Dea: September 3, 1943

Harper, Francis: February 10, 1949

Harvill Jr., A. M. (Department of Biology, University of Alabama): November 21, 1949

Hayes, G. Lloyd: January 9, 1953

Heggie, Amy E.: November 20, 1944

Heiser Jr., Charles: February 22, 1948, March 21, 1952

Heiser, Dorothy G.: November 17, 1947

Hemphill, Donald V.: August 3, 1951

Hershey, Arthur L.: July 28, 1949

Henning, A. E. (Chief, Division of Beaches and Parks, Department of Natural Resources, California): January 8, 1948

Hiesey, W.M.: March 1, 1954

Hildebrand, Milton: January 16, 1950

Holm, Dick: October 11, 1949

Holt, Vesta: May 19, 1948

Holzer, W. F.: November 5, 1947

Hone, Betty: April 22, 1949

Howell, Tom: April 17, 1944

Hoyt, Roland S.: October 1944

Huber, G.: February 18, 1952

Hubbs, Carl. L.: May 21, 1945

Hutchison, Claude B.: February 20, 1952

Iltis, Hugh H.: September 13, 1954

Ingles, Lloyd O.: January 21, 1950

Ireland, Luis G.: May 15, 1950

Jastram, Roy W.: January 13, 1952. March 11, 1953

Jenny, Hans: May 25, 1948

Jepsen, Glenn L.: November 14, 1947, January 4, 1949, February 8, 1949

Jepson, Willis Linn: June 13, 1942

Johansen, Donald A.: May 25, 1944

Johnstone, George R.: June 19, 1954

Jones, Volney H.: June 21, 1948

Just, Theodor: July 8, 1948, December 22, 1952

Keifer, H. H.: August 21, 1953

Keller, William F.: January 11, 1952

Keng, Hsuan: [March 1953], June 4, 1953, July 7, 1953

Kerr, Clark: February 24, 1953, December 11, 1953, December 30, 1953, November 15, 1955, January 3, 1956

Khan, Abrar: March 28, 1950

Kidder, Monroe: October 11, 1943

Killip, E. P.: December 9, 1947, November 12, 1947

Kirk, Paul L.: December 4, 1947, April 10, 1947

Knight, John H.: December 30, 1947

Kraebel, C. J.: October 10, 1950

Kruckeberg, A. R.: December 8, 1953

Krukoff, B. A.: July 19, 1948

LaMotte, Robert S.: October 28, 1948

Lanjouw, J.: April 2, 1953

LaRivers, Ira: October 6, 1948

Laurence, George: February 26, 1948

Lawrence, George H. M.: June 7, 1950

Legg, Ken: March 30, 1954, April 7, 1954, August 8, 1954

Leighly, John: March 20, 1952

Leonard, Richard M.: May 2, 1949, March 14, 1952

Linford, Hames B.: August 29, 1949, August 15, 1949

Luti, Ricardo: October 25, 1953

MacDougal, D.: November 10, 1949

Madson, B. A.: December 30, 1943

Mady, Cristopher: August 24, 1952

Major, Jack: October 6, 1947

Macbride, J. F. (Some letters signed only as Francis): April 1944, November 27, 1944, December 8, 1944, December 19, 1944, February 1, 1945

MacFarland, F. M.: April 8, 1943, January 31, 1944

MacKinnon, Donald W.: October 24, 1950

Maheshwari, P: April 8, 1951

Martinez, Maximino: November 11, 1953

McMillan, Calvin: September 22, 1952, January 20, 1953, January 27, 1953

McMinn, Howard E.: January 11, 1950, April 5, 1951, January 9, 1952, June 4, 1953

McPherson, Donald A.: August 4, 1949

Metcalf, Woodbridge: February 15, 1947, March 28, 1949, September 3, 1952, May 8, 1953, July 30, 1953, August 5, 1953

Miller, Alden H.: December 15, 1944

Miller, Robert C.: January 25, 1944

Mirov, N. T.: June 23, 1953

Moody, Edward F.: September 13, 1949

Mowry, Claude R.: October 15, 1953

Munz, Philip A. October 25, 1948, June 27, 1949

Narkis, Harold: October 21, 1947

Neugebauer, Edna K.: January 8, 1951

Nicholas, Richard U.: August 4, 1943

Niles, Arthur D.: March 18, 1946

Olson, Eva: March 16, 1953

O’Neill, Hugh: October 13, 1949

Ossig, E. O.: August 4, 1948, July 3, 1948

Payne, Theodore: April 29, 1949

Peirce, George J.: October 3, 1944

Perez Arbelaez, Enrique: September 6, 1951

Place, Jesse: January 5, 1944

Platt, Rutherford: March 19, 1947, August 23, 1948

Pococh, Mary A.: November 7, 1950

Porsild, A. E.: March 24, 1950

Polunin, Nicholas: February 6, 1953

Pultz, L. M.: April 19, 1944

Puri, G. S.: January 17, 1948, September 20, 1948, April 17, 1952

Ramp, Hugh M.: January 23, 1950

Ray, W. W.: March 27, 1952, July 29, 1952, August, 7 1952, August 11, 1952 November 30, 1953, December 18, 1953

Reed, John F.: October 18, 1948

Reichert, I.: March 28, 1950

Reinecke, Lawrence W.: May 15, 1944

Reynolds, Roy C.: July 12, 1949

Rice, Bertha M.: April 19, 1943

Richards, Adrian: April 22, 1954

Robbins, Tom: May 26, 1945

Rollins, Reed C.: September 22, 1952

Ross, Edward: May 8, 1953

Rushforth, Robert N.: April 23, 1948

Russell, Carl: March 3, 1950

Ryerson, Knowles, A.: May 10, 1952

Sampson, A. W.: June 11, 1952

Sanchez-Monge, E.: November 9, 1949

Sauer, Jonathan: January 10, 1952

Schopf, James M.: February 13, 1950

Sharp, Aaron J.: February 7, 1948, November 7, 1951

Sharsmith, Carl: November 6, 1944, December 15, 1944

Sharsmith, Helen K.: December 16, 1931, April 5, 1951

Shelford, V. E.: May 4, 1953, June 15, 1953

Shepherd, H. W.: April 22, 1949, May 19, 1953

Sigafoos, Robert S.: November 17, 1947

Skei, A. T. (Thurston): November 5, 1948

Sluiter, Engel: May 19, 1950

Smith, A.C.: November 1, 1944

Smith, Clifton F.: September 23, 1944

Smith, G. Dudley: April 29, 1948

Smith, Gilbert M.: October 2, 1942

Sproul, Robert: February 8, 1952, February 12, 1952, May 12, 1944, May 26, 1944

Standley, Paul C.: February 10, 1943

Stebbins, G. Ledyard: April 3, 1950

Steere, William C.: October 23, 1953, March 29, 1954

Stewart, Morris A.:April 18, 1950

Stock, Chester: July 21, 1947

Stockwell, Palmer: October 1949

Symmes, Mabel: March 28, 1946

Talbot, M.W.: January 21, 1953

Tatum, Brooking: January 24, 1945

Taylor, Joanne: April 10, 1952

Taylor, Lewis W.: January 12, 1949

Templeton, Bonnie: December 14, 1950

Tepfer, Sanford S.: September 17, 1952

Tevis, William S.: June 25, 1946

Theobald, Marion Jo: June 27, 1943

Thomson, M.S.: September 27, 1954

Tippo, Oswald: January 11, 1952, January 17, 1952, August 1, 1953

Traum, J.: December 2, 1943

Tucker, John M.: January 30, 1953

Tucker, Shirley, C.: December 2, 1953

Tufts, Warren P.: January 12, 1949

Tyler, E. J.: November 13, 1941

van Niel, C. B.: October 19, 1952, September 26, 1952

Van Rensselaer, Maunsell: March 12, 1951

Vaux, Henry J.: February 28, 1952

Verdoorn, Frans: February 1,1952, May 21, 1952, September 29, 1952, May 22, 1953, July 3, 1953, September 25, 1953, April 4, 1944

Wantrup, S. V: November 30, 1953

Weier, T. E. (Elliot): August 30, 1943, April 23, 1948

Wheeler, Helen-Mar: May 23, 1947

White Jr., Lynn: April 22, 1952

White, O. C.: March 27, 1950, March 7, 1950

Whittaker, Robert H.: February 5, 1951, October 12, 1953, November 2, 1953, December 14, 1953, January 22, 1954, March 1, 1954

Wiggins, Ira L.: October 20, 1943, October 10, 1949, September 21, 1954

Wiley, W. Bradford: March 19, 1942

Wolfson, Albert: May 20, 1949

Woodson, Jr. Robert E.: April 24, 1949

Wringley, Gladys M.: July 10, 1943

Zscheile, F. P.: November 30, 1943, April 9, 1944

Folder 1: Miscellaneous, 1955-1960
Folder 2: Miscellaneous, 1954
Folder 3: Miscellaneous, 1953
Folder 4: Miscellaneous, 1952
Folder 5: Miscellaneous, 1951
Folder 6: Miscellaneous, 1950
Folder 7: Miscellaneous, 1949
Folder 8: Miscellaneous, 1948
Folder 9: Miscellaneous, 1945-1947
Folder 10: Miscellaneous, 1941-1944

Series 3: Personal: Organizations, 1941-1951

Includes correspondence, meeting minutes, symposium planning documents, and other materials regarding the following organizations:

Western Society of Naturalists (1941-1949) including materials related to the organization of the symposium on Genetics and Evolution in 1941.

California Garden Clubs, Inc. (1950-1951)

Sierra Club (1950)

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (1949)

National Academy of Sciences (1948)

Botanical Society of American (1947-1948)

American Society of Naturalists (1948)

American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division (1943)

National Research Council (1943)

Series 4: Personal: Recommendations, 1941-1955

Letters of recommendation for potential graduate students, fellowship and scholarship applicants, and job candidates written by Mason and others. Arranged in reverse chronological order. Note: access is restricted until 2028.

Folder 1: Recommendations, 1951-1955
Folder 2: Recommendations, 1941-1950

Series 5: Personal: National Research Council, 1943-1951

Correspondence pertaining to the National Research Council. In reverse chronological order.

Series 6: Personal: Bio-bibliography, 1931-1980

Arranged in reverse chronological order.

Item 1: Copy of Letter from Mason to Marian J. Stephanson, Davis, California, 15 February 1980: Mason describes his improving health.
Item 2: H. L. Mason : Bibliography Addition, 1964
Item 3: Photograph of cake at Mason's retirement party, 15 June 1963
Item 4: Annual supplements to Bio-Bibliography, 1952-1963: Mason's copies of forms documenting Committee Service, Special Appointments, Professional Activities, Awards, and Publication, Research, and Other Creative Activity.
Item 5: Biographical information for the First World Conference on National Parks, 1963: Prepared by Annetta Carter, Principal Herbarium Botanist.
Item 6: Publicity blurb for West Cost of Mexico Series, 17 July 1962
Item 7: Newspaper clippings regarding UC Expedition to Colombia, 13 January 1949: Mason and Dr. R. A. Stirton, associate professor of paleontology, and Dr. Alden H. Miller, professor of zoology and directory of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology explored the Upper Magdalena Valley of Colombia, South America, for fossil vertebrates, birds and living plants.
Item 8: Itinerary of H. L. Mason, Paleobotanist, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Expedition to Alaska, 1931

Series 7: Manuscripts, undated

Item 1: The Nature of the Plant Community, undated: Original manuscript.
Item 2: The Evolution of Certain Floristic Associations in Western North America, undated: Handwritten note on item: First edition, later added to for publication.