The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs.
William E. Ritter Papers, ca. 1890-1944 (SMC 4)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW TWO TO THREE (2-3) WEEKS FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Extent: 3.25 Linear feet (5 archives boxes, 1 flat box)
Digital Content
Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list.
William E. Ritter (1856-1944) was a biologist and co-founder of the Scripps Institution for Oceanography. Ritter received his BA from the University of California and his MA and Ph.D. in zoology from Harvard. He returned to Berkeley in 1891 to teach biology at the University of California, shortly thereafter becoming chair of the new Department of Zoology. He married physician Mary Elizabeth Bennett in 1891. Ritter was determined to set up a coastal laboratory for the study of marine biology, and in 1903, with the support of E.W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps, Ritter founded the Marine Biological Association of San Diego. The laboratory settled into its present location in La Jolla in 1905. Negotiations between the Scripps family and the University of California were completed in 1912, and Ritter served as the first scientific director of SIO from 1912-1922. A humanist, scientist, and prolific author, Ritter developed the organismal theory of biology and advocated for popular science literacy and education after his retirement from SIO. He remained active in the scientific community until his death.
The collection consists of professional correspondence, administrative papers documenting the formative years of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a selection of Ritter's manuscripts and notes, and photographs. The material is principally related to Ritter's role as the first scientific director of the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, revealing his interests, management philosophy, fundraising efforts, and research as a zoologist and marine biologist.
Arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF SAN DIEGO AND SCRIPPS INSTITUTION FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 3) NOTES, WRITINGS AND LECTURES, 4) PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, and 5) PHOTOGRAPHS AND MISCELLANEOUS.
William E. Ritter's literary executor, Edna Watson Baily, donated Ritter's papers on the administration of SIO to the Scripps Library in 1963. In 1979, material concerning the following individuals was removed and interfiled in the SIO Biographical Files (SAC 5): Winfred Emory Allen, Fred Baker, Percy Spencer Barnhart, S. Stillman Berry, Wesley Clarence Crandall, Christine Essenberg, Calvin Olin Esterly, Jacob Chandler Harper, Charles Atwood Kofoid, George Francis McEwen, Ellis Leroy Michael, James Ross, E. W. Scripps, Ellen Browning Scripps, Francis Bertody Sumner, Margaret E. Sumner, Harry Beal Torrey and Julius Wangenheim. The remaining papers were processed in 1982, and a revised finding aid with a correspondent index was published (SIO Reference Number 82-16). Eight additional small accessions of Ritter material, including photographs and the guestbook, were added to the papers in 2014.
Container List
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