Ernst W. Caspari Papers, American Philosophical Society

Table of contents

Abstract

Ernst Wolfgang Caspari was an important contributor to behavior and developmental genetics, working primarily on the mealmoth Ephestia. Trained in Alfred Kuhn's laboratory at the University of Göttingen (1933-1935), Caspari was forced from his position by the Nazis in 1933, escaping to the United States five years later. As a professor of biology at Lafayette College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Rochester, Caspari continued his research on Ephestia, mouse genetics, and behavior genetics until his retirement in 1975.

The Caspari Papers includes correspondence, papers, grant reports, and lectures relating to Caspari's genetic research dating primarily from the period after his departure from Germany. In addition to substantial material on behavior genetics and human evolution, the collection includes correspondence relating to Caspari's editorial work for Advances in Genetics, and his involvement with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Fifth Banff Conference on Theoretical Psychology, Genetics Society of America, International Conference on the Unity of Science, Social Science Research Council, Committee on Genetics and Behavior, and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Background note
Scope & content
Administrative information
Additional information
- Related material
Added entries
Contact information
Collection inventory

Background note

As a doctoral student and assistant professor at the University of Göttingen, Ernst Caspari was part of Alfred Kuhn's research team investigating the developmental genetics of the mealmoth Ephestia kuhniella. In his groundbreaking work on the effects of a pleiotropic gene, Caspari helped establish the basis for sorting out the complex relationship between genes and the temporal and spatial sequence of events in ontogeny, and he contributed to Kuhn's "one gene, one enzyme" hypothesis. With the rise to power of the Nazi Party, however, Caspari's career in Germany came to an abrupt end and in 1933 he was forced to leave the country. After three years as an assistant in microbiology at the University of Istanbul, where his research was restricted to disease transmission by mosquitoes and bedbugs, he arrived in the United States in 1938 to take up a fellowship at Lafayette College, later earning an appointment as assistant professor of biology.

At Lafayette, Caspari developed fruitful collaborations with L. C. Dunn of Columbia University and his graduate student Paul R. David, working on a variety of problems in mouse genetics, and after studying the effects of the kinky tail mutant, he developed what would become a lifelong interest in behavior genetics. He also managed to revive his work with Ephestia, exploring biochemical aspects of the aa eye color mutant. He remained active in both systems, Ephestia and the mouse, for the remainder of his career.

After becoming a naturalized citizen in 1944, Caspari moved to the University of Rochester to work with another German refugee, Curt Stern, on projects associated with the genetics program of the Manhattan Project. The Rochester group was commissioned to investigate the influence of chronic irradiation by low doses of gamma rays on the mutation rates of genes in the fruitfly Drosophila.

Upon moving to Wesleyan University in 1946, Caspari returned to his interests in the developmental genetics of Ephestia, including pleiotropy (especially behavioral effects), cytoplasmic inheritance, gene modifiers, and evolutionary effects such as selective differentials. During a two-year leave of absence at the Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor (1947-1949), he collaborated with several colleagues to determine the protein differences between the wildtype a+a+ genotype and the aa mutant genotype of Ephestia (as well as another moth Ptychopoda seriata), and he investigated antibody formation in caterpillars and mitochondrial differences in genetic strains of mice. He was twice a fellow of the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (1956-1957 and 1965-1966) working in behavior genetics.

Although administrative commitments as department chair (1960-1966) somewhat curtailed Caspari's research after his return to Rochester in 1960, he and a visiting German colleague, H. J. Pohley, worked productively on somatic mutations induced by purine analogues and on interactions between the endocrine system and developing tissues in Ephestia, and he helped develop a refresher course on behavior genetics for the American Society of Zoologists in 1964. He retired to emeritus status at Rochester in 1975.

Throughout his career Caspari was active in professional organizations, serving as Vice President and President of the Genetics Society of America (1965 and 1966), and Vice President of the American Society of Naturalists (1960). He made a particular impact on the profession as an editor of both Advances in Genetics (1960-1970) and later of Genetics (1968-1972), and in service on the editorial boards of American Naturalist, Behavior Genetics, and Behavioral Science. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959 and was recipient of the Theodosius Dobzhansky Award for Research by the Behavior Genetics Association in 1979.

Scope and content

The Caspari Papers provide a relatively complete record of the research and professional commitments of the developmental and behavioral geneticist, Ernst W. Caspari, after his emigration to the United States in 1938. The 9.5 linear feet of correspondence, manuscripts of papers, lecture notes, and grant reports center on Caspari's research on the genetics of the mealmoth Ephestia and mice and his interests in behavior genetics and evolutionary biology.

The heart of the collection is a thorough run of professional correspondence relating to Caspari's research and his collaborations with Milislav Demerec, L. C. Dunn and others, as well as his correspondence as editor of the journal Genetics and Advances in Genetics. In addition to manuscripts of several of Caspari's papers, the collection includes notes for lectures on developmental genetics, and a small number of grant reports for his research on Ephestia and on mice, and information on his service on the preparatory committees for the 10th and 14th International Congresses of Genetics.

The collection is organized in a single series, arranged alphabetically by the name of the correspondent, writer, or subject. There are approximately 20 photomicrographs.

Administrative information

Restrictions

None.

Provenance

Gift of Ernst W. Caspari, 1980.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Ernst W. Caspari Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued rsc August 2003.

Other finding aids

Also described in Bentley Glass, Guide to the Genetics Collections

Additional information

Related material

The APS has a complete run of Advances in Genetics during the periods it was edited by Milislav Demerec and Ernst Caspari (Call no.: 575.05 Ad9 v.1-29).

Additional correspondence of Caspari's is located in the papers of Milislav Demerec (B D394), L.C. Dunn (B D917), James B. Murphy (B M956), and Curt Stern (Ms. Coll. 5).