Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Davenport, Demorest, 1911-2004
- Abstract:
- The collection contains the correspondence, research files, lecture notes, slides, and videos of Biology and Zoology professor Demorest Davenport.
- Extent:
- 6.4 linear feet (15 document boxes and 2 half-sized document boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
Demorest Davenport Papers. UArch FacP 45. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
- Arrangement
Series I, Biographical, consists of one folder including a biographical/bibliographic sketch and personal educational records.
Series II, Correspondence, contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, arranged alphabetically or by subject (1939-1979, 1981-1994). Subject files titled and organized by Davenport. Also includes correspondence relating to Animals in Art research, 1975-1989, arranged by regional origin of art. See also Series III, Writings for additional correspondence relating to individual articles and Series IV, Research for correspondence relating to specific research. Additional correspondence is also at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER).
Series III, Writings, includes articles (arranged chronologically) and his unpublished monograph An Ethnologist Looks at Animals in Art, as well as editorial letters and writings by others in response.
Series IV, Research, includes research in the field of UV lights and orchids, and representations of animals in ancient and native cultures. Includes some integral correspondence, articles by others, and grant paperwork. Additional publications are also at CCBER.
Series V, Teaching and Lectures, includes lecture notes from his courses taught at UCSB and lectures at the Museum of Natural History.
Series VI, Slides, contains slides relating to his UCSB course lectures and presentations at the Museum of Natural History, arranged by carousel order, not by included guides. Additional slides, including images of the installation of the UCSB sea water system, are arranged alphabetically by subject as organized by Davenport.
Series VII, Audio/Visual, contains video recordings of lectures.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Demorest Davenport was born September 26, 1911 in Utica, New York. He received his B.A. from Harvard, his master's degree from Colorado College, and then returned to Stanford where he received his PhD in Biology in 1937. His obtained his first academic position in 1938 at Reed College in Portland, Oregon where he studied first entomology and later comparative pharmacology of heart control in mollusks and arthropods. It was here that he met his wife, Winnifred Bailey, a dancer in the Portland City Ballet. In 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force to research aviation physiology. Later he was promoted to captain, heading the altitude and night vision training program until 1946.
After the war he came to UC Santa Barbara where he studied bioluminescence in marine invertebrates. He pushed for the development of a marine facility after the move to the current campus in 1954, which eventually became the UCSB Marine Science Institute. While at Santa Barbara his research focus settled first in the biology of behavior and later transitioned to the study of animals in primitive and ancient art. While at UCSB he was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, making him the first UCSB professor to be awarded the fellowship. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Zoologists, Society of Sigma Xi, The Western Society of Naturalists, and the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. He retired from teaching in 1974. After his retirement he worked with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, where he served as a trustee.
Davenport passed away in 2004.
See Office of Public Information biographical files (UArch 11) for further information.
- Acquisition information:
- Material donated by Jennifer Thorsch from the Museum of Systematics and Ecology.
- Physical location:
- Del Sur.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
None.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
- Preferred citation:
-
Demorest Davenport Papers. UArch FacP 45. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062