Papers of Carl Leavitt Hubbs, documenting his extensive research in ichthyology, zoology, natural history, conservation, taxonomy, archaeology and paleoclimatology. The collection includes voluminous photographic documentation, and some film and sound recordings.
Carl L. Hubbs Papers, 1858-1988 (bulk 1920-1979) (SMC 5)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW TWO TO THREE (2-3) WEEKS FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions: Original sound recordings are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available
for researchers.
Extent: 112 Linear feet (251 archive boxes, 19 card file boxes, 2 flat boxes, 3 cartons, and 16 map case folders)
Digital Content
A selection of photographs from this collection have been digitized.
Carl Leavitt Hubbs (1894-1979) was a American ichthyologist who spent the majority of his career at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
Two excellent short biographies of Hubbs are available online.
From The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (1997): http://www.nativefishlab.net/library/textpdf/15387.pdf
From the National Academy of Sciences (1987): http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/hubbs-carl-l.pdf
Papers of Carl Leavitt Hubbs, documenting his extensive research in ichthyology, zoology, natural history, conservation, taxonomy, archaeology and paleoclimatology.
The Hubbs Papers include correspondence, field notes, manuscripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, data, audiovisual recordings, maps, and other files collected by Carl Hubbs and Laura Clark Hubbs, his wife and colleague. The files include a small amount of personal and family material such as letters, photographs, and genealogical information, but consist predominantly of material documenting Hubbs' work as a naturalist and ichthyologist. Most of the papers date between 1944 and 1979, the years that Hubbs worked at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Additional material dated 1929-1944 documents the years Hubbs spent at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan.
The three most voluminous series consist of Hubbs's original research files, which he divided into three categories: Marine Life – Fishes, Marine Life – West Coast, and Subjects. These series contain detailed information on fish species and groups, including photographs, field data, research, manuscripts, and correspondence about specific fishes and other animals, in addition to research files on related topics.
The collection was built, maintained, and organized by both Carl and Laura Hubbs. He determined file structure and folder headings, and she did the filing, primarily by subject. The Hubbs Papers are a very large collection arranged in a complex manner that reflects this original organizational method. Please consult the descriptive notes at the beginning of each series for contextual information about the structure of the series, tips on searching, and where to find related materials.
Arranged in ten series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) MARINE LIFE - FISHES, 3) MARINE LIFE - WEST COAST, 4) SUBJECT FILES, 5) CORRESPONDENCE, 6) WRITINGS AND TALKS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES, 8) SLIDES, 9) AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS, and 10) OVERSIZE.
Provenance
Carl Hubbs began discussing the disposition of his personal library with UC San Diego Librarian Melvin Voigt in late 1971. On June 20, 1979, Carl and Laura Hubbs signed a deed of gift donating all the Hubbs scientific books and papers to the University. This gift was accepted on behalf of the Regents of the University of California by Scripps Institution of Oceanography Director William A. Nierenberg on July 3, 1979. The Hubbs Library and personal papers were transferred by Betty Shor from Hubbs' office in the Marine Biology Building to the SIO Archives in early 1980. Laura Hubbs maintained an office in the SIO Archives from 1980 until 1986, and continued her active management of the collection. Over the years, she and her grown children located additional material at her home and added those files to the collection.
The bulk of the Carl L. Hubbs papers were acquired by the former SIO Archives in 1981. The collection was processed, respecting the original order of the material, by Deborah Day and Gisele English in 1991. They published their finding aid, "A guide to the Carl Leavitt Hubbs papers, 1920-1979" in the serial SIO Reference.
In 2021, Special Collections & Archives converted the 365-page PDF finding aid into an EAD (Encoded Archival Description) document. To do so, staff analyized the structure of the data in original finding aid and assigned series and sub-series levels to the inventory. Some material was emphasized in the new structure, and box numbers changed, but overall Hubbs's original organization of folders and folder titles remains intact. The new finding aid contains a Correspondence series (formerly the "Biographics" and "Publications" categories within the Subject Files), and also includes a detailed list of the photographic images. Photographs that had been removed from Hubbs's research files were returned to their original folders.