SI Records
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 134, United States. Canal Zone Biological Area, Barro Colorado Island, Records
In 1923 the Institute for Research in Tropical America, a group of private foundations and universities under the auspices of the National Research Council, first established a research laboratory on Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone, in order to investigate the flora and fauna of tropical America. This arrangement continued until 1940, when the facility was renamed the Canal Zone Biological Area (CZBA) and, by act of Congress, placed under control of a board composed of the heads of certain executive departments and prominent scientists. In 1946 the operation was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, a sponsor from 1923, and has been known as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) since 1966. In recent years the Institute has expanded its interests to include marine biology.
These records document the creation and development of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, from preliminary discussions in 1918 to the selection of a site on, and reservation of, Barro Colorado Island in 1923, and its subsequent development as a center for research into the ecology of the American tropics. The records include correspondence of Thomas Barbour, David Fairchild, Alexander Grant Ruthven, James Zetek, and others. Records of the planning stage, 1918-1923 are particularly interesting, though not so full as might be wished. Correspondence, research reports, administrative records, publications, photographs, and maps are included, in English and in Spanish. Researchers should also consult Record Unit 135 and records of the Secretary's Office, Smithsonian Institution, which contain related material, c. 1926-1964.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Correspondence, incoming and outgoing, 1920-1930, of the executive committee of the Institute for Research in Tropical America; documents relations with National Research Council, search for a laboratory site, choice of Barro Colorado Island, Gatun Lake, Panama Canal Zone, and subsequent development and operation to 1930, primarily through the records of Alexander Grant Ruthven, sometime secretary of the Institute, who corresponded with Thomas Barbour, Albert Spear Hitchcock, and other members of the executive committee, as well as James Zetek, resident custodian.
Correspondence, incoming and outgoing, 1918-1939, between James Zetek, resident custodian, staff members, professional colleagues, and government officials; documents operation and activities of the facility; correspondents include Ralph Buschbaum, Arthur Merton Chickering, William James Clench, David Grandison Fairchild, Ludlow Griscom, Burton Edward Livingston, Altus Lacy Quaintance, Franz Schrader, William Seifriz, Thomas Elliot Snyder, Paul Carpenter Standley, Alexander Wetmore, William M. Wheeler.
Correspondence, incoming and outgoing, loose, 1940-1964, and undated, between James Zetek and Martin Humphrey Moynihan, resident directors of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and scientists, government officials, and employees; concerned largely with maintenance of facilities and fiscal matters; some material on conversion to Canal Zone Biological Area; correspondents include John Enos Graf, William Henry Weston, and Alexander Wetmore.
Visitors' registers, freight invoices, electrical power need survey, grant applications, 1920-1956; records dealing with supply and finance of STRI.
Records, largely scientific research, created by James Zetek, in his capacity as an entomologist for the U. S. Department of Agriculture in the Canal Zone; includes reports on termite control tests prepared for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).