Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2011085579
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Nina V. Fedoroff were given to the Library of Congress by Fedoroff in 2011. Additional material was given by Fedoroff 2021.
The papers of Nina V. Fedoroff were arranged and described by Chad Conrady with the assistance of Chanté Flowers in 2018. The addition was arranged and described in 2022 by Chad Conrady with the assistance of Thomas Bigley.
Digital files were received as part of the Nina V. Fedoroff Papers on a variety of storage media, each of which was assigned a unique digital ID number. Use the digital ID number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital
A complete list of digital files in this collection can be found in Appendix A: File Directory Listings.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. An audiotape was transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Serial publications were transferred to the Serial and Government Publications Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Nina V. Fedoroff Papers. Patrons are encouraged to contact these divisions in advance of a research visit.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Nina V. Fedoroff in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information.
The papers of Nina V. Fedoroff are open to research. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Access to digital content is available onsite only in the Manuscript Reading Room and requires advanced notice. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting.
Digital files were created in a number of operating systems including a Windows operating system and Apple OS 7, 9, and 10. Some files were also created on a Kaypro II computer using the CP/M version 2.2 operating system. The content is primarily text files in .doc, .txt, and .pdf; image files in .jpeg, .tif, .psd, and MacDraw format; moving images in the .mov format; and spreadsheet files in Excel and Cricketgraph. Forensic disk images of Apple-formatted removable drives were created. Access to these files requires the use of an emulating program, such as Basilisk II, SheepShaver, or QEMU, with the appropriate operating system and programs installed. The content created on the Kaypro II computer can only be accessed using a hex editor tool.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or digital ID number, Nina V. Fedoroff Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Nina Vsevolod Fedoroff (1942- ) span the years 1914-2012, with the bulk of the material dating from 1977 to 2008. The collection documents Fedoroff’s work as a molecular biologist, including her pioneering research into genetic sequencing. The collection also includes her seminal research and writing on isolating plant transposable elements. The collection chronicles Fedoroff’s involvement in the scientific world, promoting greater international understanding of genetic advances in plants as a method to better support the world’s populations through the creation of plants more resistant to climate change and other agricultural issues. The collection is in English and includes correspondence with other scientists, lab notes, scientific papers and other writings, speaking engagements, and materials from her career at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. The collection is arranged into ten series: Correspondence, Notes and Notebooks, Cross Cards, Negatives and Slides, Writings, Speeches and Events, Subject File, Digital File, 2022 Addition, and Oversize.
The majority of the Correspondence series, 1979-2007, relates to grant applications used to fund and support Fedoroff’s research at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C., and at Pennsylvania State University. Supporting materials provide detailed descriptions of the project goals, document background and research significance, list the type of equipment used in a project, and include feedback from other scientists and the funding institution. In instances where the grant was for a continuation of support for a project, a description of the progress made and information obtained during the previous funding cycles is provided. This series also features correspondence regarding patent applications on methods developed by Fedoroff to isolate and manipulate genetic sequences in plants as well as on isolated cloned genes created through Fedoroff’s research. The correspondence, both physical and digital, includes requests of scientists from around the world asking for plasmids of cloned genes for use in their own experiments. It includes digital files copied from a variety of storage media with each peice of storage media assigned a unique digital ID number.
The Notes and Notebooks series, 1942-2004, is the largest single group of records in the collection and includes materials from when Fedoroff was an undergraduate at Syracuse University through to her research at Pennsylvania State University. The notes from Fedoroff's time as an undergraduate and graduate student set the foundation for her later work and interest in genetics. This series includes Fedoroff’s lab notes as a postdoctoral researcher, working with Donald Brown, when she pioneered deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing by determining the complete nucleotide sequence of African clawed frogs. The core of this series pertains to Fedoroff’s seminal work on isolating the molecular characterization of maize and other plants' transposable elements and applying these lessons to modify the genetics of plants while at the Carnegie Institute of Washington and at Pennsylvania State University. Also included in the series are copies of Barbara McClintock’s lab notes from the early 1940s regarding the “jumping genes” or transposable elements in corn genes. These notes were given to Fedoroff when she first started exploring these topics in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The series also features notes taken by Fedoroff at various conferences and meetings regarding plant and bacterial genetics. Many of the conference notes were taken during the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium and the Carnegie Mini-Symposium of the 1980s and 1990s. These notes also show Fedoroff’s interest in the development of genetics internationally, including work presented at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference on wheat and rye plant genomes, a Soviet gene symposium which focused on a human growth hormone, and notes on the International Genetics Congress meeting in 1988.
The Cross Cards series, 1979-1988, is an extension of Fedoroff’s lab notes while at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, comprising note cards that provide details on parent and offspring plant crosses and their genetic elements. The series provides insight into the preparation and methods used by Fedoroff and her staff to recover DNA from plants and develop a growing media for the plants.
The Negatives and Slides series, 1977-2006, primarily consists of slides of experiments conducted on plants by Fedoroff and her staff at the Carnegie Institute of Washington and Pennsylvania State University. The slides also feature images taken through microscopes of plant development with specific areas of the plant highlighted with dye. The series includes images of maize grown by Fedoroff showing the changes from crossing two plants. The slides concerning maize contain magnified corn kernels with transposable elements and include Fedoroff's notes written on the border of the slide. The series also contain slides from lectures given by Fedoroff during her time at the Carnegie Institute of Washington and Pennsylvania State University. The film negatives consist of plant specimens and maize kernels used in experiments.
The Writings series, 1914-2003, consists of published scientific articles and other writings by Fedoroff. These writings include her earliest research documenting phage f2 replicase at the Rockefeller University, New York, N.Y., and the isolation of messenger ribonucleic acid in mice at the University of California, Los Angeles. The series also features the published articles in the late 1970s on Fedoroff’s experiments sequencing frog DNA. After sequencing frog DNA, her research and published articles changed focus to the isolation and molecular characterization of plant transposable elements making this topic the bulk of Fedoroff’s writing. This series also includes writings from her doctoral students at Pennsylvania State University, and other plant geneticists such as Royal Alexander Brink, Edward H. Cole, R. A. Emerson, Irwin M. Greenblatt, Barbara McClintock, and M. M. Rhoades. The writings of R. A. Emerson span the early 1900s to the late 1920s, while those of Barbara McClintock and M. M. Rhoades date back to the early 1930s and continue to the 1990s. The writings center on the development of plant genetics and the presence of transposable elements in plants.
The Speeches and Events series, 1995-2007, starts when Fedoroff came to Pennsylvania State University, and features correspondence, notes, abstracts, pamphlets, and other materials related to speeches given by Fedoroff at a wide variety of venues including universities, conferences, symposia, and a few international forums. Topics include diversifying the science community by advocating and supporting women in science fields and Fedoroff’s research interests regarding mutating plant DNA through transposon elements.
The Subject File, 1973-2007, spans a variety of topics and includes some teaching files from Pennsylvania State University. The bulk of the materials relates to Fedoroff’s work as a member of consulting committees and professional societies, as well as materials related to doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers she worked with and instructed at both the Carnegie Institution of Washington and at Pennsylvania State University. Those materials concerning her consulting committees include correspondence, travel expenses, nominations for membership, and meeting notes, and those of doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers include correspondence, drafts of published works, and notes on experiments. The series includes digital files copied from a variety of storage media.
The Digital File series, 1989-2008, complements the paper files and includes additional materials related to Fedoroff’s work at Pennsylvania State University, published writings and drafts, grant proposals, presentations, experiments completed at Pennsylvania State University, and Fedoroff’s work on consulting committees and professional organizations. This series includes correspondence, images, videos, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, draft manuscripts, and website materials. In instances where digital media was found with the collection's paper content, the digital materials are described alongside the paper records. A complete list of digital files in this collection can be found in Appendix A: File Directory Listings.
The 2022 Addition, 1971-2012, expands upon material elsewhere in the collection documenting Fedoroff’s research and interest in plant genetics. The addition supplements publications authored by Fedoroff and includes edited drafts, correspondence, and images and graphs related to the publications. The addition also includes photographs and notes associated with research on transposons, known as jumping genes, in plants.
The Oversize series, 2000-2005, consists of a group of large photographs taken of the National Science Board. This series includes a collection of seeds Fedoroff received from Barbara McClintock in the early 1980s when Fedoroff was starting to explore transposable elements of maize. These seeds were housed in labeled envelopes but were relabeled and rehoused in glass vials by Library of Congress staff.
This collection is arranged in ten series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2011085579
The Correspondence series contains Fedoroff’s correspondence with businesses, organizations, and colleagues interested in her jumping gene research on corn and plant DNA. The majority of the correspondence relates to Fedoroff’s research grant proposals and patent applications from discoveries made during her research. The grant proposals document Fedoroff’s planning of her research which included topics such as the molecular biology of the suppressor-mutator controlling elements in corn, and the molecular studies on maize controlling elements. Digital content is included in the grant files and some of the grant proposals also overlap with material in the Digital File series.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material. The grant proposal materials are arranged chronologically based on the date given on the proposal and those that span multiple years are based on the date stated on the renewing documents.
The Notes and Notebooks series constitutes a significant portion of the collection and contains volumes written exclusively by Fedoroff, or in collaboration with others such as laboratory notebooks written by Fedoroff’s students, postdoctoral researchers, or technicians. The series includes copies of Barbara McClintock’s notes dating back to early 1940s, and include McClintock’s research on maize chromosomes and transposition. The Notes and Notebooks series includes volumes detailing Fedoroff’s discovery of how to sequence the nucleotides of Xenopus laevis. The Notes and Notebook series primarily focuses on Fedoroff’s research in transposable elements in plants in order to make them resistant to drought, pesticides, and hardier in adverse climates. The Notes and Notebooks series complements other series in the collection, especially the Cross Cards, Negatives and Slides series, Writings series, and the Digital File series.
Arranged alphabetically by subject. The conference and meetings notes are arranged chronologically by the date of the event.
The Cross Cards series contains the note cards used by Fedoroff to document the plant crosses used in her experiments. In the 1990s Fedoroff started using the Hypermaize program, a derivative of the Hypercard program, to record plant crosses records. These files are found in the Digital File series. The Cross Cards series also compliments other series, in particular the Notes and Notebook series.
Arranged chronologically except the "Notes on plants in Florida".
The Negatives and Slides series contains the photographic negatives and slides of plants used to document genetic experiments done by Fedoroff and laboratory staff members. The Negatives and Slides series complements other series in the collection, especially the Notes and Notebooks series, Cross Cards series, and the Writings series.
Arranged by type of material and alphabetically therein.
The Writings File reflects the breadth of Fedoroff’s research projects and her contributions in identifying and manipulating plant genetics. These files primarily include published articles by Fedoroff but also include published articles of other scientists who researched plant genetics. The Writing Files provide published documentation of some of the discoveries made from Fedoroff’s laboratory. The Writings File complements other series in the collection, especially the Cross Cards, Negatives and Slides, and the Digital File.
Arranged into two groups, those written by Fedoroff and those written by others. Those written by Fedoroff are arranged chronologically and those written by others are arranged alphabetically by the name of the author. In the event of multiple authors or an author’s name was not stated, the article is listed by subject.
The Speeches and Events File consists of speeches and talks given by Fedoroff throughout her career at Pennsylvania State University. The file contains informal talks as well as formal presentations made at professional conferences and meetings. The files include both typescripts and handwritten speeches as well as background material for Fedoroff’s speeches. The Speeches and Events File complements other series in the collection, in particular the Digital File.
Arranged chronologically by the date of the event.
The Subject File documents Fedoroff’s her involvement with businesses and science advisory boards to further the exploration of plant genetics. The series also includes correspondence and other materials related to the doctoral candidates and postdoctoral assistants she worked with in her laboratories starting in the late 1970s.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
The Digital File contains much of the materials produced by Fedoroff from the 1990s to the 2000s, including correspondence with friends and colleagues. The majority of the Digital Files series focuses on her transposable elements research and her involvement at Pennsylvania State University when she became the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. When Fedoroff transitioned to Pennsylvania State University from the Carnegie Institute of Washington many of the research grants she was working on transferred with her. The Digital File series consists of laboratory research notes and documentation recording the methods and procedures used in the experiments. The collection includes a group of Hypermaize cards. Hypermaize is a derivative of Apple’s Hypercard program used to store and analyze data gathered over generations of maize crosses. The Hypermaize stacks and images created using MacDraw require emulation to access. The Digital File series also documents the courses taught by Fedoroff and the administration of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Request files using the Digital ID number. A complete list of digital files in this collection can be found in Appendix A: File Directory Listings.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
The 2022 Addition expands upon earlier material elsewhere in the collection, documenting Fedoroff’s research and interest in plant genetics. The addition supplements publications authored by Fedoroff and includes edited drafts, correspondence, and images and graphs related to the publications. The addition also includes photographs and notes associated with research on transposons, known as jumping genes, in plants.
Arranged in six groupings: Notes and notebooks, Speeches and events, Writings, Photographs, Subject file, and Digital file.
Matted photographs of the National Science Board and a collection of maize seeds given to Nina V. Fedoroff by Barbara McClintock in the early 1980s. The seeds were originally received in seed packets with groups of seed packets bound together with a binder clip. The contents of individual seed packets were rehoused in small glass vials with groups of seed packets organized by a color chart on the back cover of the box.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
The attached .pdf file lists the digital ID number, series, storage media format (e.g. 3.5-inch floppy disk, DVD, etc.), media label information, and a file directory listing for each storage media. The file directory listing includes the file names and paths, date and time stamps, and the number of bytes for each file.
Digital files in the Nina V. Fedoroff Papers were copied from a variety of storage media. Each storage media was assigned a unique digital ID number. Access to digital content is available on-site only in the Manuscript Reading Room and requires advance notice. Use the digital ID number to request access copies of the files; consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for more information.