White Mountain Research Station Administrative Files, 1947-1996 (RSS 2308)

Access: Original media recording formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for researchers.

Extent: 4 Linear feet (4 cartons, 7 film, and 3 oversize folders)

Administrative files of the White Mountain Research Station, a University of California Multicampus Research Unit (MRU) supporting high altitude research.

The White Mountain Research Center (WMRC) is a University of California multi-disciplinary and Multicampus Research Unit (MRU) located in the vicinity of Bishop, California. Formerly known as the White Mountain Research Station (WMRS), it was established in 1950 to provide high-altitude laboratory facilities to scientific researchers in the areas of astronomy, ecology, and physiology, WMRS serves as a teaching facility for field courses offered at the University of California.

In 1947-1948, the California Institute of Technology and the Naval Ordinance Test Station (NOTS) developed a proposal for the creation of a research facility in the White Mountains. This facility would support research on sunspots, the physics of the upper atmosphere, and cosmic radiation. The facility was constructed, and the NOTS turned the facilities over to the US Navy Office of Naval Research (ONR) in August 1950. University of California professor Nello Pace, who had assisted in securing funding and establishing the location, was influential in this conveyance.

The WRMC has been involved in many monumental scientific discoveries, including the measurement and polarization of the cosmic background radiation, Holocene paleoecology, and paleoclimate in bristlecone pines.

Currently, the WMRS works out of three separate high-altitude field stations: 1) the Owens Valley Station at 4,050 feet, 2) the Crooked Creek Station at 10,150 feet, and 3) the Barcroft Station at 12,470 feet. The Barcroft Station includes the Summit Laboratory at 14,250 feet, the third highest point in the state of California.

Oversight of the facility is jointly shared by a Director and the UC President's Advisory Committee for WMRS, which is comprised of faculty representatives from every UC campus. Directors have been Nello Pace (1950-1977), William J. Welch (1977-1979), Clarence A. Hall, Jr. (1980-1995), Frank Powell (1995-2012), Antony Orme (2012-2014), and Glen MacDonald (2014-present).

Administrative files of the White Mountain Research Station, a University of California Multicampus Research Unit (MRU) supporting high altitude research. The files largely relate to facilities administration and development, funding through contracts and grants, maintenance, events, and symposia. The collection includes annual reports, contracts and proposals, symposia files, teaching materials, publicity films, and photographic materials. Also included are two films, an early promotional and informational work entitled White Mountain Research Station (ca. 1960) and Scientific Diversity: White Mountain Research Station (1988).

Accessions Processed in 2000

The White Mountain Research Station administrative files document the activities and development of a University of California Multi-Campus Research Unit (MRU) supporting high altitude research. The files include committee files, contracts and proposals, annual reports, subject files, publications, photographs, and films.

Arranged by campus of administrative responsibility in three series: 1) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979), 2) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995) and 3) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO (1995 to present).

Series 1: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979) is arranged in four subseries: A) Publications, B) Subject Files, C) Photographs, and D) Films.

Series 2: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995) is arranged in six subseries: A) Committees, B) Contracts and proposals, C) Publications, D) Subject Files, E) Photographs, and F) Films.

Series 3: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO (1995-present) is arranged in four subseries: A) Committees, B) Publications, C) Subject Files, and D) Photographs.

Accession Processed in 2005

The accession processed in 2005 includes correspondence, grant proposals, publications and a large scrapbook documenting the construction of the Summit Laboratory.

Arranged by campus of administrative responsibility in two series: 4) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979) and 5) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995).

Series 4: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979) is arranged in two subseries: A) Publications and B) Subject Files.

Series 5: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995) is arranged in one subseries: A) Publications.

Container List

Accessions Processed in 2000

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979)

Scope and Contents of Series

Arranged in four subseries: A) Publications, B) Subject Files, C) Photographs, and D) Films.

The Publications subseries contains mimeograph lists of flora and fauna observed in the White Mountain range. The Subject Files subseries contains annual and miscellaneous reports and other files documenting early activities at the station. The Photographs subseries documents local landscapes and people.

Publications

Box 1 Folder 1
Birds of the White Mountain Range, California, 1963
Box 1 Folder 2
Climatological Data Summary for the Crooked Creek Laboratory, 1949-1973 and the Barcroft Laboratory, 1953-1973, 1974

Fourth edition.

Box 1 Folder 3
Insect Families of the White Mountain Range (WMR); Mammals of the WMR, California, 1961, 1963
Box 1 Folder 4
Nello Pace manuscripts and notes - "Dynamics of the distribution of substances when introduced into the human circulation," and carbon dioxide in blood, 1948
Box 1 Folder 5
Plants of the White Mountains, California and Nevada, 1966

By Robert M. Lloyd and Richard S. Mitchell, Department of Botany and White Mountain Research Station, University of California, Berkeley.

Box 1 Folder 6
White Mountain News Letter, 1957

Number 8 (25 June 1957) and Number 9 (29 October 1957).

Subject Files

Box 1 Folder 7-12
Annual Report, 1971-1979
Oversize FB-270 Folder 3
Antarctica Data, 1955-1956

Includes unidentified data.

Box 1 Folder 13
Brochures and clippings, 1969
Oversize FB-270 Folder 1
Carmel Submarine Canyon maps

Ca. 1970 maps issued by Environmental Physiology Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, and the County of Monterey.

Box 1 Folder 14
Justification Statement for Maintaining the White Mountain Research Station, 1975

Submitted to the United States Forest Service by the University of California.

Box 1 Folder 15
Office of Naval Research, 1951

Includes press release announcing establishment of a research station in the White Mountains.

Box 1 Folder 16
Report on the White Mountain Research Station, 1962

Report submitted to Regent's Meeting on October 19, 1962.

Box 1 Folder 17
UC Davis - Wildlife and Fisheries Biology course, 1969-1972
Box 1 Folder 18
Weather graphs, 1948-1952
Box 1 Folder 19
White Mountain Research Station, 1961-1964

Includes artwork for cover of WMRS reports.

Photographs

Box 1 Folder 20
Strawberry Canyon, 1968

Includes slides and prints of terrain.

Box 1 Folder 21
White Mountain area photo maps

Ca. 1950-1960s.

Box 1 Folder 22
White Mountain Research Station, 1949

Includes early photograph copies of UC Berkeley trailer at Sheep Mountain and UCLA Physics Dept. "Attenuation of Sound at High Altitude" group.

Oversize FB-270 Folder 4
White Mountain, with man in foreground

Films

Box 1 Folder 23
WHITE MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION - Script

Ca. 1960. Produced by Nello Pace. Photographed and directed by George Woodward.

Box 1 Folder 24
WHITE MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION - VHS User Copy

Dubbed from the exhibition print at UCSD Media Center.

Box 1 Folder 25
WHITE MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION (ca. 1960) - Betacam SP Master

Dubbed from the exhibition print by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, 02/04/2004.

Box 1 Folder 26
WHITE MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION (ca. 1960) - VHS User Copy

Dubbed from the exhibition print by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, 02/04/2004.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995)

Scope and Contents of Series

Arranged in six subseries: A) Committees, B) Contracts and proposals, C) Publications, D) Subject Files, E) Photographs, and F) Films.

The Committees subseries includes the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The Contracts and Proposals subseries includes a tectonic framework proposal. The Publications subseries contains a publicity brochure and guidebook and a natural history research papers. The subject files document dedications, funding, symposiums, and activities summarized in annual reports. The Photographs subseries contains informal photographs taken by researchers and visitors of landscapes, flora, fauna, and events. Of particular interest are images printed on contact sheets from Ansel Adams's negatives created for the illustration of Fiat Lux (1967). The Film subseries comprises videorecording transfers for the film entitled "Scientific Diversity: White Mountain Research Station."

Committees

Box 1 Folder 27-28
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - Parts 1-2, 1989-1994

Contracts and Proposals

Box 1 Folder 29
Evolution of Faulting, White-Inyo Range, California: A Tectonic Framework, 1985

Proposal evalution from National Science Foundation. Includes untitled proposal correspondence dated 1993.

Publications

Box 1 Folder 30
Crooked Creek Guidebook, 1994

Edited by Clarence A. Hall, Jr. and Barbara Widawski.

Box 1 Folder 31
Geology and Metamorphic Mineral Assemblages of Precambrian and Cambrian Rocks of the Central White-Inyo..., 1993

Map by W. G. Ernst, C. A. Nelson, and C. A. Hall.

Box 1 Folder 32
White Mountain Research Station color brochure, 1985

Subject Files

Box 1 Folder 33
Animal Research, 1989-1992
Box 1 Folder 34-35
Annual Report, 1981-1982, 1984-1985
Box 2 Folder 1-9
Annual Report, 1986-1994

Crooked Creek

Box 2 Folder 10
Accounting information, 1990-1993
Box 2 Folder 11-13
Appleton and Associates (architects), 1986-1991

Includes materials for presentation including slides, prints and drawings of proposed facility design.

Box 2 Folder 14
Dedication, 1994
Box 2 Folder 15-16
Funding, 1988-1992
Box 2 Folder 17
Miscellaneous, 1991-1994
Box 2 Folder 18
Planning, 1986-1988
Box 2 Folder 19
Library, 1980-1985
Box 2 Folder 20
Log Building Project, 1989-1990

Includes correspondence regarding insurance, purchase orders and a newsclipping regarding the project.

Box 2 Folder 21
Mary DeDecker Symposium, 1987

Includes correspondence, photographs and introduction materials.

Box 2 Folder 22
Nello Pace Laboratory Dedication, 1983

Includes correspondence from David B. Dill, Nello Pace and others.

Box 2 Folder 23
Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS), 1988-1992
Box 2 Folder 24
Owens Valley Laboratory improvements, 1980-1984
Box 2 Folder 25
President's and Regent's visit to White Mountain Research Station, 1981-1982
Box 2 Folder 26-27
Symposium I, 1985

"Natural History of the White-Inyo Range, Eastern California and Western Nevada and High Altitude Physiology."

Box 3 Folder 1-2
Symposium III, 1989

"Natural History of the White-Inyo Range." Includes abstracts and correspondence regarding the Paul J. Manis Student Paper Award.

Box 3 Folder 3-5
Symposium III research reports, 1989

Includes research reports for the White Mountain Research Station Symposium, Vol. 3, UCLA, (1991).

Box 3 Folder 6-7
Symposium IV, 1991

Includes VHS video tape of Marc Reisner lecture given at "The History of Water: Eastern Sierra, Owens Valley, White-Inyo Mountains" symposium.

Box 3 Folder 8
University Survey of Photographic Collections, 1984-1985

Correspondence and list titled "Known Photographic Collections in the UC System."

Box 3 Folder 9
White Mountain Research Station Bibliography, 1950-1993
Box 3 Folder 10-11
Wind Turbines, 1980-1981

Includes correspondence and publications regarding installation of a wind-generated electric power supply at the Barcroft Laboratory.

Photographs

Box 3 Folder 12-13
Alumni Activities, 1986

Includes shots of Alumni Day groups, individuals, field trip activities, and terrain. Slides and photographs.

Box 3 Folder 14
Annual Report, 1992

Includes shots of terrain and Crooked Creek Facility construction. Also artwork for White Mountain Research Station logo. Slides.

Box 3 Folder 15
Ansel Adams

Photographs of White Mountain Research Station printed by the University of California from Ansel Adams's negatives.

Oversize FB-270 Folder 2
Ansel Adams prints

Oversize photographs of White Mountain Research Station printed by the University of California from Ansel Adams's negatives.

Box 3 Folder 16
Ansel Adams - Correspondence about photographs that Adams took of WMRS for the book FIAT LUX, 1981-1991

Includes list titled "Ansel Adams Photographs of White Mountain and Vicinity, Commissioned for the University of California Centennial, 1964."

Box 3 Folder 17
Department Picnic, 1986

Shots of groups of unidentified people. Slides.

Box 3 Folder 18
Eureka Valley Sand Dunes

Undated shots of terrain, individuals and groups. Slides and negatives.

Box 3 Folder 19
Mary DeDecker Symposium, 1987

Includes shots of Mary DeDecker, groups, meetings, field trips, terrain, and plants. Slides.

Box 3 Folder 20
Nello Pace Laboratory Dedication, 1983

Includes shots of Nello Pace, Clarence Hall, David B. Dill, and others. Prints and slides.

Box 3 Folder 21
Volcanic Activity

Undated shots of individuals, volcanic terrain and facilities. Slides.

Box 3 Folder 22-23
White Mountain Research Station, 1982-1987

Includes groups, terrain, the Griggs apparatus, Steve Lipshie party activities, Sue Kietter textbook figures, K. D. Watson, Harrison C. Jamison, UCLA Dept. of Geology Faculty and students dated 1933, Grand Canyon drawings, and individuals. Prints, negatives and slides.

Box 3 Folder 24
White Mountain Research Station brochure, 1985

Includes shots of terrain, individuals, groups and animals. Also includes UCLA sculpture made of geodes. Slides.

Films

Box 3 Folder 25
Scientific Diversity: White Mountain Research Station, 1986-1988

Includes correspondence with Robert G. Dickson, Film Production Specialist - OID Instructional Media Services, UCLA.

Box 4 Folder 1-2
Scientific Diversity: White Mountain Research Station, 1991

VHS videorecording dubbed from the film version by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, 02/05/2004. 3/4 inch videotape, two copies.

Box 4 Folder 3
Scientific Diversity: White Mountain Research Station (ca. 1988) - Betacam SP Master

Dubbed from the film version by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, 02/05/2004.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO (1995-present)

Scope and Contents of Series

Arranged in four subseries: A) Committees, B) Publications, C) Subject Files, and D) Photographs. The materials represented from UCSD are sparse. The files related to the Advisory Committee for the White Mountain Station were created by Frank Powell.

Committees

Box 4 Folder 4-8
Advisory Committee for the White Mountain Research Station, 1986-1996

Frank Powell's notes.

Publications

Box 4 Folder 9
White Mountain Research Station, 1995

Report designed for researchers and educators.

Subject Files

Box 4 Folder 10
UCLA to UCSD transition, 1995-1996

Photographs

Box 4 Folder 11
Barcroft Facility, 1996

Includes images of unidentified individuals and groups, equipment and terrain. Prints.

Accession Processed in 2005

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (1950-1979)

Scope and Contents of Series

Arranged in two subseries: A) Publications and B) Subject Files. The Publications subseries contains published reports of studies conducted at the station and a newsletter. The Subject subseries contains a brief biography of Nello Pace and a map of the station used in publications.

Publications

Box 4 Folder 12
Climatological Data Summary for the Crooked Creek Laboratory (1949-1967) and the Barcroft Lab. (1953-1967), 1968
Box 4 Folder 13
Climatological Data Summary for the Decade (1 January 1953-31 December 1962), 1963
Box 4 Folder 14-17
Comprehensive Progress Report - Brain Functions in Rats During Altitude Acclimatization, 1963, 1969, 1972, 1976
Box 4 Folder 18
Design Guide for the Barcroft Laboratory
Box 4 Folder 19-20
Environmental Planning Study, 1974

Includes October draft and November published edition.

Box 4 Folder 21
Mammals of the White Mountain Range, California, 1963
Box 4 Folder 22
Newsletter - "Whiskey Mike Poop Sheet", 1956-1960
Box 4 Folder 23
Plants of the White Mountain Range, California, 1961
Box 4 Folder 24
Publications regarding research performed at WMRS, 1950-1979

Subject Files

Box 4 Folder 25
Biography form of Nello Pace, 1947
Box 4 Folder 26
Map Used in Publications - Directions to and elevations of the station

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (1980-1995)

Scope and Contents of Series

Arranged in one subseries: A) Publications. The Publications subseries contains brochures, mailings and a 1983 annual report.

Publications

Box 4 Folder 27
Brochures and Mailings, 1980-1995
Box 4 Folder 28
Annual Report, 1983