A small but important collection of correspondence, records, miscellaneous papers, and photographs that documents the Scripps family's role as a foundational supporter of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, originally known as the Marine Biological Association of San Diego.
Scripps Family Papers on the Founding of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1900-1996 (bulk 1903-1938) (SMC 3)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Extent: 1.6 Linear feet (4 archives boxes, and 1 oversize folder)
Digital Content
One photograph from this collection has been digitized, and is linked via the container list.
In 1903, UC Berkeley biologist William E. Ritter and San Diego physician Fred Baker, with the financial support of philanthropists E. W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, founded the Marine Biological Association of San Diego. The purpose of the Association was to advance the study of marine sciences. Ritter was appointed as its first director and supervised the activities of temporary research stations in San Diego Bay. In 1905, the Association leased property above La Jolla Cove and established a marine laboratory. Ellen Browning Scripps added a codicil to her will in 1909 bequeathing a gift to the Regents of the University of California for a permanent marine biological station, and construction of the first building on the current campus, the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, was completed in 1910. In July of 1912, the Association deeded its property to the Regents and became the Scripps Institution for Biological Research, formally becoming part of the UC System. In 1925, it was renamed the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Members of the Scripps family were important early philanthropists in San Diego; the Scripps family fortune, especially under the generous philanthropy of Ellen Browning Scripps, left a lasting mark on many San Diego science, social, and cultural heritage institutions.
Ellen Browning Scripps (1836-1932) was born in London to a publishing family. Her father, after the deaths of his first two spouses and a failed bookbinding venture, immigrated to the United States in 1844 and settled in Illinois. There, he wed his third wife and had five more children, one of whom, Edward Willis Scripps (E. W. Scripps, 1854-1926) became a newspaper tycoon and founder of the E. W. Scripps Company. E. W. Scripps became close to his older half-sister, Ellen, later in life. After studying science and mathematics at Knox College, Miss Scripps took a job as a schoolteacher in Illinois. After the Civil War, she joined her brother James E. Scripps in Detroit, helping him with his publishing business and the Detroit Evening News. She wrote a daily column and became a shareholder in his company. In the 1880s, E. W. led a failed attempt to seize control of the Scripps Publishing Company; this led to a contentious lawsuit and break with his brother James.
Shortly after 1890, following extensive international travels, E. W. and Ellen purchased land in San Diego and established Miramar Ranch. Ellen eventually moved to La Jolla in 1897 and became a fixture of the community there, involving herself in a wide range of progressive causes and institutions. Miss Scripps had made a personal fortune by investing in E. W. Scripps's growing chain of newspapers in the West; she also received a sizable inheritance from her brother George H. Scripps. Continually interested in science and education, she donated considerable funds to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography from its earliest beginnings in 1903, and generously supported many other San Diego schools, hospitals, nature reserves, museums, and social organizations.
The Scripps Family Papers on the Founding of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is a small but important collection of correspondence, records, miscellaneous papers, and photographs that documents the Scripps family's role as a foundational supporter of SIO (originally known as the Marine Biological Association of San Diego). The early correspondence includes exchanges between Ellen Browning Scripps, E. W. Scripps, and Robert Paine Scripps with the first series of officers of the Institution, including Fred Baker, William E. Ritter, Thomas Wayland Vaughan, Harald Sverdrup, and presidents of the University of California. The collection also includes copies of foundational meeting minutes, documentation from the city of San Diego and the Regents, some financial files, and drafts of the Institution's early by-laws. It includes many letters and other documents essential to an understanding of the founding and early years of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, including perspectives of key personnel and the evolution of the research program.
Arranged in four series: 1) EARLY CORRESPONDENCE, 2) INSTITUTION RECORDS, 3) MISCELLANEOUS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.
Provenance
The bulk of these materials were orginally archived within the E. W. Scripps Trust records. They were transferred to the SIO Archives in 1992 due to their direct relevance to the founding of SIO.
Container List
- Special Collections & Archives
- UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla CA 92093
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