The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) Subject Files contain materials documenting the history of SIO and, more broadly, the historical development of oceanography in the twentieth century.
SIO subject files, 1890-1982 (bulk 1930-1970) (SAC 6)
Extent: 35.2 Linear feet (88 archives boxes and 5 map case folders)
Digital Content
A selection of material from this collection was digitized for the California Explores the Ocean Project in 2002. To find archival material exclusively from SAC 6, go to the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections website, and do a search on the following term, in quotes: "SIO Subject Files Records, 1890-1981".
The SIO Subject Files were started in the late 1970s by Elizabeth Shor, who organized all materials acquired by the SIO Archives - including personal papers of individuals and records from SIO offices - into separate subject and biographical files. Papers determined to be pertinent to specific subjects were placed in the Subject Files (SAC 6), while correspondence specific to individuals was filed by name in the Biographical Files (SAC 5). Shor maintained this system until her departure in 1981, whereupon no further materials were added.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) Subject Files contain materials documenting the history of SIO and, more broadly, organizations with relationships to SIO and the history of the study of oceanography in the twentieth century. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, budgets, proposals, reports, and oversize materials such as blueprints and drawings.
The collection was originally conceived and arranged in two major sections: materials related to the history of SIO, and materials not directly related to SIO, but which document parallel organizations, projects and developments in the history of oceanography.
Arranged in two series: 1) SIO SUBJECT FILES, and 2) NON-SIO SUBJECT FILES.
The Subject Files received major processing attention twice: first in 1981, and next in 2016. In 1981 Deborah Day, the incoming SIO archivist, closed the collection and gave it the number AC 6 (now SAC 6). Day sorted through the subject files, preserving the organizational structure created by Elizabeth Shor, and wrote a descriptive finding aid.
To enhance searchability and ease of use, the finding aid was modernized in 2016 and the collection was culled for out-of-scope materials. Though the physical order of materials was largely retained, subject file groups of substantial size and importance were restructured as subseries, and oversized and digitized materials previously not included the finding aid were linked and made easily accessible. The bulk of the papers were left in their alphabetical arrangement, sorted by subjects, with the folder titles originally conceived by Shor.