Walter Kiener, Botany Papers

Creator: Kiener, Walter Bigler, 1894-1959

Quantity: 126 boxes (47 linear feet)

Language: English, German, French, and Spanish

Restrictions: None

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Preferred Citation: Walter Kiener, Botany Papers (RG 12-07-16). Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.

Walter Bigler Kiener was born on 18 October 1894, in Bern, Switzerland. He attended school until the age of 15, when he began work as an apprentice to his father, a sausage makerKiener attended night classes to continue his education.

During World War I, Kiener served in the Swiss Citizen Army. In November of 1922, Kiener left Switzerland and his family for United States. After seven months in New York, Kiener moved to Denver, where he became a foreman at a small sausage-making plant. In Denver, Kiener took classes in English and Citizenship and spent time climbing in the Rocky Mountains.

Kiener entered the University of Nebraska in the fall of 1925 as an adult special student. He earned his A.B. degree in 1930 and his master's degree in 1931. He became a United States citizen in 1929. Kiener was elected to Sigma Xi in 1931. His master's thesis was entitled On the Vegetation of an Isolated Peak in the Rocky Mountains. Kiener continued his work at the University of Nebraska and completed his doctoral dissertation, Sociological Studies of the Alpine Vegetation on Longs Peak, in April of 1939. He received his Ph.D. in 1940.

After graduating, Kiener was hired by the University of Nebraska where he held the following positions over time: Assistant in Botany (1930-1940); Ecologist, UNL Conservation and Survey Division (1941-1943); and Biologist, State of Nebraska Game, Forestation, and Parks Commission, (1943-1955). He eventually became the Chief Biologist for the Commission and established the Commission's Fisheries Research Department.

Kiener established an extensive personal herbarium of lichen and bryophyte specimens that eventually numbered well over 50,000. Several species of plants were named after Kiener: Pleuridum kieneri; P. exsertum; Splachnobryum kieneri; and Chara kieneri. Today the entire Kiener plant collection is housed within the Charles E. Bessey Herbarium of the University of Nebraska State Museum's Botany Division.

Kiener died on 24 August 1959, at Lincoln General Hospital, after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Scope and Content:

The papers consist of Kiener's personal and professional papers arranged into 11 series and include oversize materials. The series include Personal Effects, Correspondence, Kiener's Writings, Research Files, Maps, Writings about Kiener, Newspapers, Negatives and Photographs, Postcards, and Articles and Reprints. Work on the Kiener papers included the incorporation of three smaller collections into a single collection. Kiener organized his research files alphabetically and this original arrangement was maintained throughout the materials. The final collection consists of materials from the Nebraska State Museum and the Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.

Kiener's personal effects contain journals, diaries, and other more intimate items. The correspondence series documents Kiener's professional and personal life, mostly from the 1920s to the 1950s. Kiener's writings include published and unpublished works and research done for publications. The bulk of the collection is comprised of Kiener's research files. These materials document his extensive lichen and botany research, Nebraska and Colorado wildlife, mountaineering, and his other interests. Kiener also kept a collection of maps from North and South America, Switzerland, and areas of local interest in Nebraska and Colorado. The writings about Kiener include articles published on his research or about plants named after him, newspaper articles about him before and after his death, and a book about the history of Longs Peak that mentions the Agnes Vaille tragedy and his climbing accomplishments. Also included is a short article about him written by Mari Sandoz.

Kiener was an accomplished amateur photographer. The photograph collection includes photographs and negatives of his lichen and botany research, the Rocky Mountains, Nebraska and Colorado wildlife and vegetation, and friends and family.

Subjects:

Elias, M.K.

Kiener, Walter Bigler, 1894-1959

Sayre, Geneva

Vaille, Agnes

Alpine vegetation

Botany

Fisheries

Forests and Forestry -- Colorado

Lichens

Mountaineering

Mountain plants -- Colorado -- Longs Peak

Mountains

Natural history -- Colorado

Plant communities -- Colorado -- Longs Peak

Riccia

Swiss Colony

Vegetation classification -- Rocky Mountains Region

Colorado

Longs Peak (Colo.)

Nebraska

Rocky Mountain National Park

Switzerland

Twin Sisters (Colo.)

Nebraska Game, Forestation, and Parks Commission

Swiss Alpine Club

University of Nebraska-Lincoln