John R. Reeder and Charlotte Goodding Reeder papers
Grass study instructions, part of a larger document discussing the process for an ongoing study.
Collection area: History of Science
Collection dates: 1907-2009 bulk 1970 to 2005
John R. Reeder and Charlotte Goodding Reeder papers, 1907-2009 (bulk 1970-2005).
The collection consists of the personal and professional papers of John R. Reeder and Charlotte Goodding Reeder relating to their careers as agrostologists. The collection is comprised of 6 series, with 5 sub-series under those in total.
Series I includes biographical materials including curriculum vitae, historical documents, academic work, and personal records.
Series II contains correspondence between the Reeders and different individuals, organizations, and corporations regarding both personal and professional matters. Sub-series 1 includes personal and professional correspondence, mainly queries regarding reprints and grass determinations. There is also international correspondence with other agrostologists and botanists from around the world. Sub-series 2 contains correspondence during the Reeders' time at the University of Arizona Herbarium. This correspondence deals mainly with Loans and Determinations. It also includes information about Accessioning and Collections/Specimens found at the UA Herbarium.
Series III contains general botanical, predominantly grasses, research files which make up the bulk of the collection. Sub-series 1 are general botanical research files with grasses being the bulk of the sub-series. Drawings, microphotographs, and specimens are also present. Sub-series 2 includes the Reeders' work on Muhlenbergia. Drawings, photocopies, and bound research materials are present. Sub-series 3 contains the Reeders’ contributions to Paul S. Martin’s update to Howard S. Gentry's seminal work on the Rio Mayo plants. Drawings, photocopies, and bound research materials are present.
Series IV contains publications both written by the Reeders, such as offprints, as well as those used in their research and careers. Some are international publications, both original and photocopies.
Series V contains photographic materials, such as photographs, negatives, slides, and microfilm. These materials are predominantly of plant research subjects and pertain to the genetic structure of grasses. There are also travel photos found in the large number of negatives.
Series VI contains scrapbooks consisting of weekly local newspaper articles by and about Leslie N. Goodding, a renowned botanist who was Charlotte Goodding Reeder’s father. Other articles regarding botanical and ecological subjects are also found in the scrapbooks.
Born-digital material, found mainly on floppy disks, have also been surveyed and processed to make available for public access.
John R. Reeder and Charlotte Goodding Reeder were American agrostologists (grass specialists). They became leading authorities on grasses found in the western and the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In their lifetimes, they were recognized internationally for their work on various grass species - most notably, Muhlenbergia.
John Raymond Reeder was born on July 29, 1914, in Charlotte, Michigan. He attended school at (what is now) Oregon State University where he met Charlotte Olive Goodding, marrying in 1941. During World War II, John was stationed in Papua New Guinea. While posted there, he collected grasses sending them back home for curation. Upon his return to the States, he earned his PhD from Harvard University, while working at the Arnold Arboretum. In 1947, he accepted a position at Yale University, teaching classes on dendrology, agrostology, and plant taxonomy through the Forestry Graduate School. From 1947 to 1968, he was also Curator of the Herbarium at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, retiring from Yale that last year. According to that institution’s website, "Reeder's work centered on the world's true grasses. Along with his wife Charlotte, he expanded the Herbarium's collection of Gramineae."
Charlotte Olive Goodding was born on July 26, 1916, in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was the daughter of prominent botanist Leslie Newton Goodding, whom she helped identify species from a young age. She attended the University of Wyoming, where she studied under renowned botanist Aven Nelson, earning her M.A. in 1939 for her thesis on Muhlenbergia. She then studied at Oregon State University, where she met John R. Reeder, marrying in 1941. During World War II, Charlotte worked at the Smithsonian Institution under the suffragette Agnes Chase.
After John’s retirement from Yale, the Reeders continued their research at the University of Wyoming’s Rocky Mountain Herbarium, where John was Curator and Head of the Department of Botany. In 1983, they moved to Tucson where they continued and eventually concluded their research work at the University of Arizona Herbarium. In 2003, John and Charlotte Reeder were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the first annual Arizona Botanists Meeting. John died on February 8, 2009 while Charlotte followed on October 23, 2009. The botanical species Muhlenbergia reederorum is dedicated to them.
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