Rosalind Morris, Agronomy Papers
Title: Rosalind Morris,
Agronomy Papers
Creator: M.
Rosalind Morris, 1920-
Dates: 1940-2009
Quantity: 4 boxes (4 linear feet)
Collection Number: RG 08-08-17
Language: English
Restrictions: None
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Historical Records Statement: Please see our statement on historical records and materials.
Preferred Citation: Rosalind Morris, Agronomy Papers (RG 08-08-17). Archives & Special
Collections, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.
Alternative Format: None
Biography:
Rosalind Morris (1920-), University of Nebraska professor of plant cytogenetics
(1947-1990), is internationally recognized for her pioneering work in wheat
cytogenetics and the effects of irradiation on corn. She is the first woman to be
named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.
M. Rosalind Morris was born on May 8, 1920 in Ruthin, North Wales. The 1918 influenza
outbreak left her father in poor health, so, in 1925, the family immigrated to
Canada for a quieter life. They purchased a fruit farm in rural Ontario, Canada,
where Rosalind became interested in agriculture.
Morris received a Bachelor of Science and Arts in horticulture from Ontario
Agricultural College in 1942. In 1947, she and Leona Schnell became the first women
to receive PhDs in plant breeding and genetics from Cornell University. Morris
initially studied fruit plant breeding at Cornell, but transitioned to the study of
crop plants. Morris came to the University of Nebraska in 1947 as an assistant in
the newly created plant cytogenetics program. She worked on an Atomic Energy
Commission grant led by E.L. Frolik to study the cytogenetic effects of atomic
irradiation on corn. To receive the samples for her studies, she harvested corn
tassels and shipped them in dry ice by air to the Argonne Laboratory near Chicago,
where they were exposed to radiation and returned for study.
As the first woman on the Agronomy Department faculty, Morris became an assistant
professor (1951), associate professor (1953), and professor (1958-1990). In 1956, on
a Guggenheim Fellowship, she spent nine months studying the irradiation effects on
crops plants in Sweden and England. After her fellowship, she changed her research
focus from irradiation effects to the cytogenetics of bread wheat. Morris is most
notable for her contributions in wheat cytogenetic stocks and substitution lines of
Chinese Spring, Cheyenne, and Wichita wheat varieties. Her substitution lines helped
researchers study the effects of single chromosomes on hardiness, frost tolerance,
flour quality, protein quantity, and other variations in winter wheat.
Morris received a fellowship to the American Society of Agronomy (1980), Crop Science
Society of America (1985), and the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. She served as President of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, the first
woman in over 50 years. Morris also received an Outstanding Scientist Award from
Sigma Xi-Nebraska Chapter, a Women of Distinction award from Soroptimist
International of Lincoln, a Distinguished Service to Agriculture award from Gamma
Sigma Delta-Nebraska Chapter, and several others.
Scope and Content:
The Rosalind Morris, Agronomy Papers relate to Morris's pioneering research on wheat
cytogenetics and correspondence about distribution of seed lines and data books on
Cheyenne, Wichita, and Chinese Spring wheat strands. Teaching materials include
syllabi and lecture notes from the classes Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics and
Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics. Also included are correspondence between E.
F. Frolik and Robert Cushing in 1947 regarding her appointment to the university, as
well as publications, articles on her research, honors and awards, and retirement
materials.
Subjects:
Frolik, Elvin F., 1909-19999
Morris, M. Rosalind, 1920-
Agronomy
Plant cytogenetics
Wheat
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of
Agronomy
Series Description:
Series 1: Personal and Professional Materials, 1946-2009Rosalind Morris' personal and professional records includes correspondence
between E. F. Frolik and Robert Cushing in 1947 regarding appointment to the
university, materials regarding her Guggenheim Fellowship in Sweden, and
records of her professional activities at UNL. Materials also include
articles on Morris, interviews, and awards.
Series 2: Cytogenetics Research and Data, 1949-2001Cytogenetics research and data includes correspondence about distribution of
seed lines and data books on Cheyenne, Wichita, and Chinese Spring wheat
strands. Materials are arranged with correspondence first, data records
second, and then chronologically. Oversize data books from this series are
located after series 5 in boxes 3-4.
Series 3: Agronomy Department Teaching Materials, 1947-1989Teaching materials include syllabi, lecture notes, and exams from Agronomy
918: Plant Cytogenetics and Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics.
Significant materials include proposed plans for the University of Nebraska
Genetics Institute, 1947-1953. Materials are arranged by class, then
chronologically by lecture.
Series 4: Publications, 1942-2000This series contains publications authored and co-authored by Morris on
irradiated corn pollen, corn cell abnormalities, wheat cytogenetics, a
biography on UNL professor Rollis Adams Emerson, and effects of chromosomes
on winter wheat quality and variations, arranged chronologically.
Series 5: Photographs, 1942-2006Photographs include prints, negatives, and glass negatives of portraits of
Morris in her lab, office, and in the greenhouse. Also included are lecture
slides from Agronomy 918: plant cytogenetics class, and photographs of crop
cells and cytogenetics. Significant materials include glass negatives on
irradiated corn pollen. Photographs are arranged with prints first,
negatives second, and then arranged chronologically.
Container List:
Series 1: Personal and Professional Materials, 1946-2009Box 1. Folder 1. Correspondence, Morris hire, UNL, 1946
Box 1. Folder 2. Correspondence, 1981-2009
Box 1. Folder 3. Correspondence, retirement, 1990
Box 1. Folder 4. Articles, on Rosalind Morris, 1946-2008
Box 1. Folder 5. PhD diploma, Cornell University, 1947, Feb. 12 (see oversize box OSB 34)
Box 1. Folder 6. Trip journal, article, application, Guggenheim Fellowship,
Sweden, 1956-1957
Box 1. Folder 7. Annual activities report, UNL 1962-1980
Box 1. Folder 8. Annual activities report, UNL, 1981-1991
Box 1. Folder 9. Interviews, talks, 2002, 2009
Box 1. Folder 10. Award certificates, 1947-2009
Box 1. Folder 11. Award nominations, event programs, 1979-2004
Box 1. Folder 12. Award plaque, Certificate of Achievement, Soroptimist
International of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1982 (see oversize box 4, folder 3)
Box 1. Folder 13. Award plaque, Distinguished Scientist Award, Sigma XI Nebraska
Chapter, 1984 (see oversize box 4, folder 4)
Box 1. Folder 14. Award, Citation for Service, retirement, UNL, 1990
Box 1. Folder 15. Award, retirement keepsake book, UNL, 1990 (see oversize box 4, folder 2)
Box 1. Folder 16. Award plaque, Women of Distinction award, Soroptimist
International of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1991 (see oversize box 4, folder 5)
Box 1. Folder 17. Award plaque, President's Club, University of Nebraska
Foundation, 1992 (see oversize box 4, folder 6)
Box 1. Folder 18. Award plaque, Friend of Science award, Nebraska Academy of
Sciences, 1997 (see oversize box 4, folder 7)
Box 1. Folder 19. Award plaque, Service to Mankind Award, University Sertoma
Club, 2005 (see oversize box OSB 34)
Series 2: Cytogenetics Research and Data, 1949-2001Box 1. Folder 20. Correspondence, E.G. Anderson, Corn Radiation project, California
Institute of Technology, 1949-1950
Box 1. Folder 21. Dissertation, Correspondence, "Distribution
of CNN (Cheyenne) substitution seeds to others," 1963-1976
Box 1. Folder 22. Correspondence, Cheyenne substitutions in Chinese Spring, status
of seed lines, 1971-1990
Box 1. Folder 23. Correspondence, Atlas 66 substitution in Chinese Spring, status
of seed lines, 1973-1988
Box 1. Folder 24-25. Data book, Aneuploids Chinese Spring, Wichita,
Cheyenne, 1976-1989
Box 1. Folder 26-27. Data book, Monosomics, Disomics, Chinese Spring, Wichita,
Cheyenne, 1976-1989
Box 1. Folder 28. Data, "Cheyenne in Wichita, Wichita in Cheyenne," substitution
lines, 1986?
Box 1. Folder 29. Data, Cheyenne, Wichita recombinant lines
development, 1989-1990
Box 1. Folder 30. Data, Identity test lists, Cheyenne, Wichita
monosomics, 2000
Box 1. Folder 31. Data, Wheat Cytogenetic lines, 2001
Series 3: Agronomy Department Teaching Materials, 1947-1989Box 1. Folder 32. Proposed plans, UNL Genetics Institute, 1947-1953
Box 1. Folder 33. Exams, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, 1950-1989
Box 1. Folder 34. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, deletions and
duplications, 1989
Box 1. Folder 35. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, reciprocal
translocations or interchanges, 1989
Box 1. Folder 36. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, changes in
structure within chromosomes, 1989
Box 1. Folder 37. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics,
inversions, 1989
Box 1. Folder 38. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics,
euploidy-haploids, 1989
Box 1. Folder 39. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, deficiency
aneuploids, 1989
Box 1. Folder 40. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, aneuploidy,
trisomics, tetrasomics, 1989
Box 1. Folder 41. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, euploidy
autopolyploids, 1989
Box 2. Folder 1. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, euploidy
autopolyploids, 1989
Box 2. Folder 2. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, transfers of
genes, 1989
Box 2. Folder 3. Lecture notes, Agronomy 918: Plant Cytogenetics, exercise
abnormalities in maize, 1989
Box 2. Folder 4. Lecture notes, Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics, drosophila
experiments, undated
Box 2. Folder 5. Lecture notes, Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics, genetics of
reproduction mechanisms in higher plants, undated
Box 2. Folder 6. Lecture notes, Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics,
transposable genetics elements in plants, undated
Box 2. Folder 7. Lecture notes, Agronomy 919: Experiments in Genetics, self and
cross incompatibility in plants, undated
Series 4: Publications, 1942-2000Box 2. Folder 8. Thesis, correspondence, Ontario Agricultural College, 1942
Box 2. Folder 9. Thesis, Cornell University, 1947
Box 2. Folder 10. Publications, 1950-1959
Box 2. Folder 11. Publications, 1960-1969
Box 2. Folder 12. Publication, Rollin Adams Emerson biography, 1969
Box 2. Folder 13. Publications, 1970-1979
Box 2. Folder 14. Publications, 1980-1989
Box 2. Folder 15. Publications, memorial tributes, 1990-1992, undated
Box 2. Folder 16. Article, "Retrospection on a Career in Cytogenetics," A Spectrum
of Achievements in Agronomy: Women Fellows of the
Tri-Societies, 2000
Series 5: Photographs, 1942-2006Box 2. Folder 17. Photos, harvesting apples, family farm, Canada, 1938
Box 2. Folder 18. Photos, graduation portraits, Ontario Agricultural
College, 1941-1942
Box 2. Folder 19. Slide, Rosalind Morris, cornfield, Pasadena,
California, 1949
Box 2. Folder 19. Slide, Rosalind Morris, wheat greenhouse, 1961-1962
Box 2. Folder 19. Slide, Rosalind Morris with microscope, undated
Box 2. Folder 20. Photos, Rosalind Morris in apartment, 1954-1958
Box 2. Folder 21. Photos, Rosalind Morris in office, Keim Hall, 1962-1968, 1984
Box 2. Folder 21. Photo, display board, Handling and Baking Properties, undated
Box 2. Folder 22. Photo, Morris in lab with microscope, 1962-1971
Box 2. Folder 23. Photo, wheat cytogenetics workshop, University of
Missouri, 1966
Box 2. Folder 24. Photos, Morris in lab, Nebraska
Quarterly article, 1968, June
Box 2. Folder 25. Photos, Morris in wheat greenhouse, UNL, 1968, 1970s
Box 2. Folder 26. Photos, awards, American Society of Agronomy Fellowship, Gamma
Sigma Delta, Sigma Xi, Sertoma Club Environmental Award, 1979-2004
Box 2. Folder 27. Photos, studio portraits, 1979, undated
Box 2. Folder 28. Slides, Agronomy 918: plant cytogenetics class, 1989?
Box 2. Folder 29. Photos, retirement party, 1990
Box 2. Folder 29. Photo, Women of the Wheat, Lincoln Journal
Star article, 2008
Box 2. Folder 30. Photos, Morris with her dog, Cym, 2002, 2006
Box 2. Folder 31. Record book, photo index, 1946-1986
Box 2. Folder 32. Photo negatives, corn pollen, meiosis, no. 3-64, 1946-1949
Box 2. Folder 33. Enlarged photo negatives, prints, corn pollen, meiosis, no.
20-34, 149, 172-173, 1947
Box 2. Folder 34. Photo negatives, corn, barely, sorghum cells, meiosis, no.
123-155, 1952-1953
Box 2. Folder 35. Photo negatives, corn, wheat, barley cells, meiosis, no.
183-932, 1953-1954
Box 2. Folder 36. Glass negatives, corn kernel abnormalities, corn chromosomes,
meiosis, (FRAGILE), 1946-1949
Box 2. Folder 37. Glass negatives, corn pollen neutron irradiation no. 1-8,
(FRAGILE), 1947-1949
Box 2. Folder 38. Glass negatives, corn pollen neutron irradiation no. 9-14,
(FRAGILE), 1947-1949
Box 2. Folder 39. Glass negatives, corn pollen neutron irradiation no. 15-16,
(FRAGILE), 1947-1949
Series 2: Cytogenetics Research and Data, 1949-2001 (continued)Box 3. Folder 1. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, Cheyenne subsets in Wichita,
G60-G89, 1966-1989
Box 3. Folder 2. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, Cheyenne in Chinese Spring
disomic lines, G61-G88, 1961-1988
Box 3. Folder 3. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G67-G76, 1961-1988
Box 3. Folder 4. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G68-1507-G70-1414, 1968-1970
Box 3. Folder 5. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G70-1415-G72-9140, 1970-1972
Box 3. Folder 6. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G72-9161-G75, 1972-1975
Box 3. Folder 7. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G75-1461-G76-3944, 1975-1976
Box 3. Folder 8. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G76-3945-G78-3195, 1976-1978
Box 3. Folder 9. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, Wichita subsets in Cheyenne,
G76-G89, 1976-1989
Box 3. Folder 10-11. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G78-3196-G79-2088, 1978-1979
Box 3. Folder 12. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G80-5341-G81-2105, 1980-1981
Box 3. Folder 13. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G81-2105-G83-2602, 1981-1983
Box 3. Folder 14. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G83-2603-G85-1712, 1983-1985
Box 3. Folder 15. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat,
G85-1731-2031-G87-1356, 1985-1987
Box 4. Folder 1. Data record book, Cytogen Wheat, G87-1361-1927,
2031-G90-516, 1987-1990
Series : Oversize MaterialsBox 4. Folder 2. Award, retirement keepsake book, UNL, 1990
Box 4. Folder 3. Award plaque, Certificate of Achievement, Soroptimist
International of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1982
Box 4. Folder 4. Award plaque, Distinguished Scientist Award, Sigma XI Nebraska
Chapter, 1984
Box 4. Folder 5. Award plaque, Women of Distinction award, Soroptimist
International of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1991
Box 4. Folder 6. Award plaque, President's Club, University of Nebraska
Foundation, 1992
Box 4. Folder 7. Award plaque, Friend of Science award, Nebraska Academy of
Sciences, 1997
Box OSB 34. Folder 1. Award plaque, Service to mankind Award, University Sertoma
Club, 2005, Jan.
Box OSB 34. Folder 2. PhD diploma, Cornell University, 1947, Feb. 12
Related Material and Resources: See also Rosalind Morris interview located in the UNL Emeriti Oral History Project
Collection (RG 49-02-01). Information for Rosalind Morris's biography comes from her
resume and UNL annual report of activities (box 1, folder 8-9), obituary (box 1,
folder 4), her article, "Retrospection on a Career in Plant Genetics," A Spectrum of
Achievements in Agronomy: Women Fellows of the Tri-Societies (box 2, folder 16), and
various journal and newspaper articles from "Articles on Rosalind Morris, 1946-2008"
(box 1, folder 4). |