Scope and Content of SeriesSeries 1) SIO SUBJECT FILES: The larger of the two series in the collection, the SIO
SUBJECT FILES include materials ranging from the Institution's early inception as
the Marine Biological Association of San Diego; to the development of the La Jolla
campus; to research projects, programs, and ocean expeditions. Materials include correspondence,
budgets, staff lists, contracts, and designs of buildings and ships, in addition to
proposals and reports for programs, research projects and expeditions.
Arranged in 15 subseries: A) Administration; B) Alpha Helix Program; C) Budget; D)
Buildings and Property; E) Ceremonies; F) Conferences; G) Expeditions; H) Marine Biological
Association of San Diego; I) Marine Facilities; J) Marine Physical Laboratory; K)
Marine Vertebrates Division; L) Public Affairs Office; M) Research; N) Ships; and
O) Miscellaneous.
A) Administration: Documentation dating from the 1920s to 1970s on SIO and its relationship
to University of California, as well as administrative memoranda, committee correspondence,
reports, and notes from faculty meetings.
B) Alpha Helix Program: Correspondence, research proposals, and cruise reports related
to the Program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation.
C) Budget: Annual and biennial budget reports and correspondence covering the years
1906-1980. Budgets include expenditures for departments and projects.
D) Buildings and Property: Correspondence, budgets, copies of land deeds, building
design sketches and property maps documenting planning and construction of the SIO
campus. Structures including the original SIO cottages, the pier, Ritter Hall, George
H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory (the "Old Scripps Building"), the
Eckart Building (formerly the SIO Library), Physiological Research Laboratory (PRL),
Nimitz Marine Facility, Camp Elliot, as well as roads and seawall development. Some
folders also include materials on long range campus planning.
E) Ceremonies: Announcements, programs, correspondence, and other papers documenting
celebrations sponsored by SIO. Includes dedications for buildings and ships, UC Charter
Day, and celebrations for the 75th anniversaries of SIO and the University of California.
F) Conferences: Correspondence, programs, transcripts, and other papers documenting
SIO-related conferences. Meetings include the CalCOFI Sardine Conferences, Eastern
Pacific Ocean Conference, and Pacific Tuna Conference. Also includes a copy of the
"Position of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the University, State and
Nation" as presented at the 83rd Anniversary of the Charter of the University of California
(see also Charter Day in Ceremonies subseries).
G) Expeditions: Correspondence, schedules, maps, expedition planning and participation
proposals, reports, ship logs, and a few diaries from people who participated in expeditions.
Folder titles typically include the expedition name, dates and ship(s). Files are
arranged chronologically and include general and expedition-specific folders. Several
dozen expeditions are included here, but major ones include the Operation Crossroads,
MidPac, Capricorn, Naga, Monsoon, Lusiad, Antipode, and Billabong expeditions.
H) Marine Biological Association of San Diego: Correspondence, meeting minutes, budgets
and other records pertaining to the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, including
the record of incorporation and by-laws for the Association.
I) Marine Facilities: Correspondence, memoranda, schedules, summaries of operations,
financial records, crew lists and other materials documenting the work of Marine Facilities,
established in 1948 to oversee the SIO fleet and coordinate services of crew and maintenance
staff.
J) Marine Physical Laboratory: Correspondence, reports, and other papers documenting
MPL activities. The MPL was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the University of
California Division of War Research (UCDWR).
K) Marine Vertebrates Division: Correspondence, reports, and other papers documenting
the Division's establishment (1948) and activities.
L) Public Affairs Office: Includes SIO fact sheets, correspondence, and scripts for
films and shows produced and/or filmed at SIO.
M) Research: Correspondence, contracts and research summaries concerning broad areas
of research pursued by SIO scientists, including beach erosion, waves and currents
dynamics, fisheries, tuna, kelp, and Bathyscaphe development.
N) Ships: Correspondence, specifications, plans, contracts, memoranda, ship operations
data, maintenance logs, and other papers documenting vessels and platforms owned,
chartered, operated, or otherwise affiliated with SIO. Materials include information
on the vessels Scripps, E.W. Scripps, Alexander Agassiz I and II, Crest, Horizon and New Horizon, Melville, Loma, Spencer F. Baird and many others.
O) Miscellaneous: Diverse files on SIO-related history and subjects, ranging from
staff lists to folders on major projects or initiatives such as the Deep Sea Drilling
Project, Institute of Marine Resources, and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary
Physics. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, data, contracts, reports, publications,
and oversize concept drawings. Of particular interest is documentation on, and responses
to, the controversial 1950 loyalty oath required by the University of California;
and documents on the development of an expanded radio communications network, Radio
Station WWD, following the expansion of the SIO fleet after World War II. Files are
arranged alphabetically by folder title.
