John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Finding Aid Prepared by Holly Frisbee and Caitlin Angelone
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John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Finding aid prepared by Holly Frisbee and Caitlin Angelone This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit June 05, 2017 Describing Archives: A Content Standard The Barnes Foundation Archives 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia, PA 19130 Telephone: (215) 278-7280 Email: [email protected] Barnes Foundation Archives 2014 John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Table of Contents Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3 Biographical Note.......................................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Content.........................................................................................................................................5 Administrative Information .........................................................................................................................6 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................7 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 9 Series I. American Magnolia Society..................................................................................................... 9 Series II. Articles and Papers................................................................................................................18 Series III. Correspondence.................................................................................................................... 19 Series IV. Education..............................................................................................................................53 Series V. Reprints..................................................................................................................................56 Series VI. Research Notes.....................................................................................................................82 Series VII. Tours................................................................................................................................... 85 Series VIII. Miscellaneous.................................................................................................................... 89 - Page 2 - John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Summary Information Repository Barnes Foundation Archives Creator Fogg, John Milton, 1898-1982 Title John Milton Fogg Papers Date 1924-1983 Extent 8.13 Linear feet Language English Abstract This collection consists of correspondence, writings, research, lecture notes, and materials related to tours, written and collected by Dr. John Milton Fogg, Jr., botanist, University of Pennsylvania professor, Dean, and Vice Provost, director of the Morris Arboretum, instructor at the Arboretum School of the Barnes Foundation, and director of the Barnes Foundation Arboretum. Preferred Citation [Description of item], [date]. John Milton Fogg Papers. Barnes Foundation Archives, Philadelphia, PA. Reprinted with permission. - Page 3 - John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Biographical Note John Milton Fogg, Jr. (1898-1982) was born on November 8 at 1707 Arch Street in Philadelphia, in the house where his father and grandfather practiced dentistry. The Fogg family later moved to the suburb of Oak Lane, where Fogg attended Germantown High School and developed an interest in rose gardening. He enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry, but a trip to Florida convinced him of his passion for plants. Fogg was awarded a Jessop Fellowship, which allowed him to study botany at the University of Pennsylvania and work part time at the Academy of Natural Sciences Herbarium. In the summer of 1923, Fogg served as teaching assistant for a botany course in the Elizabeth Islands of Massachusetts. Fogg spent the summer documenting the flora of the area, and published his first paper on the subject in 1924. In 1925, Fogg received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and began to focus on research and taxonomy, traveling to British Columbia and Newfoundland. Hired as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, Fogg worked with Bayard Long to classify the plants of the western New Jersey Shore. In 1927 he enrolled in the doctorate program at Harvard University and, in 1929, published his dissertation, Flora of the Elizabeth Islands. He married Helen Biggs the following year and the couple later had two daughters. In 1934, the University of Pennsylvania acquired the Morris Arboretum and hired Dr. Fogg to survey and identify its plantings. The following year, Fogg and fellow University of Pennsylvania professor Edgar T. Wherry were approached to survey the complete flora of Pennsylvania, a task that would consume much of their careers. In 1940, Laura L. Barnes solicited Fogg’s help with the establishment of a horticulture school at the Barnes Foundation in Merion. Fogg helped Mrs. Barnes organize a curriculum for the program and suggested lecturers. In 1940, he became the school’s first instructor of botany. In 1941, Dr. Fogg was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and, in 1944, Vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, a post he held until 1953. The following year Fogg began consulting for the pharmaceutical company, E.R. Squibb & Sons, and over the next three years traveled in India, Burma, and Thailand researching medicinal plants. Fogg was named director of the Morris Arboretum in 1959. It was around this time that his research turned to magnolias, and he was eventually named International Registrar for magnolias in 1964. That same year, Dr. and Mrs. Fogg led a group of students and teachers from the Morris and Barnes Arboretums on a horticulture tour of Europe. The Foggs would conduct seventeen such botanical tours in their remaining years, traveling to Mexico, Asia, Africa, and across the United States. Upon Laura L. Barnes’s death in 1966, Dr. Fogg was appointed Director of the Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation. As director, Fogg assembled several important living collections including magnolias, cotoneasters, heath, and vines. Focused on creating teaching and learning opportunities on the grounds, Fogg created rock and shrub gardens, a rose garden arranged by subfamily, and an area for the exploration of soil content. He expanded the arboretum’s horticulture library to include books on botany and flora surveys, and assembled a 9,000-specimen herbarium from his own collections and through exchanges with colleagues. Fogg wrote and published dozens of books and articles on a range of subjects, including Weeds of Lawn and Garden in 1945 and the Checklist of Cultivated Magnolias in 1975. In 1970 and 1975 he published revised editions of the Checklist of the Woody Plants at the Arboretum of the Barnes - Page 4 - John Milton Fogg Papers 1924-1983 JMF Foundation, first assembled in 1945. In 1978, he co-founded the American Magnolia Society. The Atlas of the Flora of Pennsylvania was published in 1979 with co-authors Edgar T. Wherry and Herbert A. Wahl. That same year, Dr. Fogg retired as arboretum director, although he continued to teach classes. He died in 1982 at the age of 83. Sources 1 Van Atta, Burr. Philadelphia Inquirer, Obituaries. Oct. 13, 1982. 2 Fogg, John Milton. Reminiscences of a Botanist. Newtown Square, Pa: Harrowood Books, 1982. 3 John M. Fogg. Letters with Laura L. Barnes. John Milton Fogg Papers, Barnes Foundation Archives. 4 Personal Information about John M. Fogg. John Milton Fogg Papers, Barnes Foundation Archives. Scope and Content This collection ranges in date from 1924 to 1983, and consists of correspondence, writings, research, lecture notes, and materials related to tours, written and collected by Dr. John Milton Fogg, Jr., botanist, University of Pennsylvania professor (1925-1966), Dean (1941-1944), and Vice Provost (1944-1953), instructor at the Arboretum School of the Barnes Foundation (1940-1979), director of the Morris Arboretum (1959-1966), and director of the Barnes Foundation Arboretum (1966-1979). The American Magnolia Society series includes correspondence and minutes from 1960-1982. The correspondence pertains to the launch of the society, office changes, member lists, and propagation/ trading of magnolias between other members including Joseph McDaniel, Philip Savage, Philip Seitner, and Elizabeth McClintock. The articles and papers series contains articles written by colleagues or students from 1956-1964. The correspondence series consists primarily of letters from Dr. Fogg’s tenure as Director of the Barnes Foundation Arboretum, and includes correspondence with nurseries, colleagues, various botanical organizations, and students from 1938-1982. Subjects include plant purchases and exchanges, taxonomy, publications, and travel. Earlier material focuses on research projects, such as the flora surveys of Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, and medicinal plant research conducted for E.R. Squibb & Sons. The education series includes manuscript and typescript lecture notes written by Dr. Fogg and former students from 1933-1983. Classes include Botany, Horticulture,