Paul S. Martin papers
Photograph of Paul S. Martin at Tumamoc Hill Desert Lab, 1990.
Collection area: History of Science
Collection dates: 1910-2006
This collection contains correspondence, research files, publication files, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographic transparency slides, and audiovisual materials related to the work and research conducted by Paul S. Martin. Series I consists of correspondence, including letters written by and received by Dr. Martin during of his professional career (principally covers the years 1975-1990). This material includes correspondence with various scientists, researchers, publishers, students and others. This series is arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent.
Series II includes publication files. Publication materials include various materials gathered in the course of scientific and professional research conducted by Paul S. Martin. Additional materials include copies of Dr. Martin’s National Science Foundation grant proposals, data on Southwestern fauna, efforts to stop the controversial construction of a telescope on Mount Graham, as well as other articles and newspaper clippings about varied topics. This series includes two subseries. Subseries 1 consists chiefly of Martin’s published work, or Martin’s work in various states of publication. Subseries 2 consists of publication materials not by Martin, but items that were collected by Martin for his own future research.
Series III consists of research files and records detailing data collected by Dr. Martin. This series is divided into three subseries. Subseries 1 includes general files focusing on different subjects of interest to Martin. These materials are arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2 consists of research materials related to the spraying of Agent Orange on the town of Globe, Arizona in 1969. These materials are arranged alphabetically and chronologically. Subseries 3 contains field notes and field notebooks collected by Paul S. Martin, many of which are his personal notes and musings from the field. They are arranged chronologically, although some of the notebooks are undated.
Series IV includes newspaper clippings collected by Martin. These materials have been kept in the order Martin arranged them in. Note that additional clippings can be found in individual research folders if Martin separated them. A majority of the clippings are about Dr. Paul S. Martin and his research during the years 1959-2000.
Series V focuses on the Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory. This series contains correspondence related to activities at the Desert Lab, as well as fundraising materials, staff bibliographies and library information. Blueprints, planning and policy documents, and research files are also included. Materials about flora and fauna of Tumamoc Hill are also present. Articles and photographs describing the history of Tumamoc Hill Desert Lab form another part of this series. Also, the various threats to the lab and its continued operation from the 1960’s through the early 2000’s are detailed through collected newspaper clippings.
Series VI of the collection consists of nine scrapbooks of newspaper clippings collected by Dr. Martin from 1951-1970 which detail political, social and ecological issues of the times. They are arranged chronologically.
Series VII consists of photographic transparency slides that Martin used in his work as a professor. A majority of the slides are arranged for college-level presentation and instruction. The order of the slides has been preserved as arranged by Martin. Many of the slides are individually labeled but any accompanying notes are also includes in the slide binders. Slides are arranged in their original organizational structure as received by Martin.
Series VIII includes audiovisual materials related to Paul S. Martin’s work. The series includes two ¼” reel tapes that are currently in need of further preservation before they are accessible to researchers. Please contact and archivist if you are interested in working with the audiovisual materials in this collection.
Born-digital material, found mainly on CD and floppy disk, have also been surveyed and processed to make available for public access.
Paul Schultz Martin was born August 22, 1928 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. in Zoology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1951. He then earned a Master’s degree in Zoology in 1953, followed by a Ph.D. in Zoology in 1956, both from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His early career aspiration to focus on collecting and studying plant and fossil specimens from tropical rainforests was cut short when he contracted polio at age 23 while in Mexico. After receiving his Ph.D., he conducted postdoctoral research in Biogeography at Yale University from 1955-1956 and then at Université de Montreal from 1956-1957. In 1957, he moved to Tucson to accept a position as a Research Associate with University of Arizona’s Geochronology Laboratories, thus beginning his long association with Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory. He was named Assistant Professor in 1961 and Associate Professor in 1962. He held the position of Professor in the Department of Geosciences from 1968 until 1989 when he was named Emeritus Professor. He remained an active researcher and vital part of the Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory for more than 50 years.
Dr. Martin is well-known as a primary developer and leading expert on the subject of prehistoric overkill, a pattern of global extinction over the last 40,000 years which coincided with human colonization spreading out of Africa and Asia. His theories have been the subject of much debate since the 1960’s and have helped rejuvenate interest in the study of prehistoric extinctions. His interest in the extinction chronology of late Pleistocene large animals has taken him to fossil sites all around the world including Chile, New Zealand and Australia. This fossil research led him to develop extinction models based on human activity as the main cause of the rapid extinctions of large animals such as the mammoth, mastodon and giant ground sloth. In addition, Dr. Martin conducted research about Pleistocene biotic changes in arid regions. He studied the biogeography of eastern Mexico, the Pleistocene fossil pollen record of Arizona, and the ability of fossil packrat middens to reveal important information about climatic changes. Dr. Martin is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Last 10,000 Years: A Fossil Pollen Study of the American Southwest, Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause, and Twilight of the Mammoths. Before his retirement, he was also a highly regarded professor of Quaternary Biogeography for more than 30 years, well known for his gentle nature, memorable quotes, and enthusiasm for facilitating discovery and learning. His research gave him a unique, long range perspective on the mechanisms and impact of species extinction and environmental destruction. His dedication to ecological and social issues is reflected in his involvement with various efforts to protect endangered flora and fauna of the Southwest from potential human destruction.
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