William Jacob Robbins (1890-1978, APS 1941) was a botanist and physiologist. From 1937 to 1957 he was director of the New York Botanical Garden. His research focused on culture methods of plants in relation to biochemistry and nutrition, especially on the synthetic abilities of fungi. His studies paralleled the scientific agenda of the Rockefeller Foundation, an agency with which he was closely associated for years as adviser and trustee. He was perhaps the most influential botanist in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the early postwar era, and a principal participant in the plans for the global reconstruction of science. Robbins served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1956 to 1959.

Robbins was born in 1890 in North Platte, Nebraska, the son of Frederick Woods Robbins and his wife Clara Jeanette Federhof. His father was a schoolteacher and administrator and his mother was a journalist. The family moved to Muncy, Pennsylvania, when Robbins was two. After graduating from high school in 1906, he enrolled at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he took classes in a broad range of subjects, including Greek, Latin, physics, mathematics, and botany. He graduated in 1910 and subsequently taught at Lehigh and at the Mining and Mechanical Institute at Freeland, Pennsylvania. In 1911 he entered Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He intended to focus his studies on plant pathology and scientific farming; however, he eventually changed his concentration to plant physiology, studying under Lewis Knudsen (1884-1958), Benjamin M. Duggar (1872-1956, APS 1921) and Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954, APS 1896). From 1912 to 1916, he taught at Cornell and spent the summers as Duggar's assistant at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. He earned a doctorate in 1915. That year he married Christine Faye Chapman, a botanist who later became a scientific biographer. The couple had three sons; one of them, Frederick C. Robbins (1916-2003, APS 1972) won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1954.

In 1916 Robbins became professor and chairman of the Department of Botany and plant physiologist in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn. His research there focused on the effect of growth factors on cultivation of excised plant roots. However, in 1917 he temporarily suspended his research when he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, to manage the hardware store owned by his ailing father-in-law. The following year he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He completed training in bacteriology at Yale's Army Laboratory School and subsequently served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Sanitary Corps. The war ended before he was deployed abroad.

In 1919, after a brief stint as a soil biochemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., Robbins became professor and chairman in the Department of Botany at the University of Missouri. He resumed his research on the cultivation of excised roots and, more specifically, on the propagation of virus-free plants in large quantities, work that was critical for the developing field of tissue culture. Robbins was able to show that vitamins are essential for the growth of fungi and a variety of agricultural crops, including peas, corn, and cotton. He also studied the impact of factors such as light and temperature on a variety of plants. During this period he coauthored with his colleague, the botanist Harold William Rickett (1896- ?) three editions of General Botany, a widely used botany textbook. In 1930 Robbins became the dean of the graduate school at the University of Missouri; from 1933 to 1934 he also served as acting president of the university. In this capacity he was instrumental in securing support from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for the construction of a new library, classroom buildings, and a small research facility. In 1936 he succeeded in persuading Barbara McClintock (1902-1992, APS 1946) to come to the University of Missouri; she eventually stayed for six years.

Robbins' most important influence was in the organization and administration of scientific research. In 1928 Robbins took a two-year leave from the university to join the European Office of the Rockefeller Foundation. From 1928 to 1930, he traveled throughout Europe to interview candidates for research grants and postdoctoral fellowships sponsored by the Foundation. Furthermore, from 1931 to 1937, he served as chairman of the National Research Council (NRC) Fellowship Board in the Biological Sciences, which administered these postdoctoral awards. In 1937 Robbins became the director of the New York Botanical Garden, a position he occupied for the next twenty years. In addition he served as professor of botany at Columbia University. As a plant and fungal physiologist, he was the botanical garden's first director from outside the field of systematic botany. Soon after assuming the position, he set out to revitalize the garden's staff by encouraging retirements and hiring new botanists, using scientific production as the only yardstick. In addition, he developed training courses for professional gardeners, who were urgently needed to work in the gardens in the area. He also encouraged the investigation of South American flora and promoted horticulture through flower shows and displays. Furthermore, he revived the Women's Advisory Council and persuaded the Garden's Board to elect women to its ranks.

Robbins also trained WPA workers to assist in the preparation of herbarium specimens and in the six laboratories he developed for studies of plant physiology, mycology, virology, and plant biochemistry. The workers also reconstructed more than a dozen display houses that had fallen in disrepair, built bridges, fences and other structures, and completed extensive repairs on the Museum Building. Moreover, Robbins cultivated friendly relationships with many individuals, whose support was essential for the success of his programs, including Parks Department Commissioner Robert Moses. Robbins was an effective fundraiser who secured funds not just for the Garden but also for the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., on whose advisory council he served.

Even when much of his time was occupied with administrative duties Robbins spent at least one hour a day in his laboratory. In the early 1930s he used a small quantity of thiamine to demonstrate that it served as a substitute for yeast extract in permitting unlimited growth of excised tomato roots. During World War II, his research group screened Basidiomycetes for antibiotics. They ultimately isolated more than a dozen new antibiotic substances, which they reported in forty-four papers. After World War II, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis funded his research to screen actinomycetes for antiviral activity. Robbins and his team also searched for sources of vitamin B12 in nature. They eventually found major sources in bacteria, actinomycetes and blue-green algae. In 1950 Robbins received a substantial grant to build a separate research lab. The lab, later called Charles B. Harding Laboratory, opened in 1956. During this period Robbins also taught botany classes at Columbia University and developed a program whereby graduate students at Columbia and Fordham Universities could receive degrees for work at the Garden.

In addition to his work at the Garden and with the National Arboretum, Robbins was director of the Torrey Botanical Society (1943), and he was active in developing the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Montgomery, Florida, serving on its board of trustees (1948-1962) and as its president (1962-1969). He was particularly influential in strengthening the Fairchild Garden's scientific research program, including, for example, the study of tropical botany and horticulture. He hosted a National Academy of Sciences Conference on Tropical Botany at the Fairchild Garden in May 1960. In 1967 the Fairchild Garden honored Robbins by naming its plant science building with herbarium, reference library, and laboratories after him.

In 1940 Robbins was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), where he was chairman of the botany section (1944-1947) and treasurer (1948-1960). He served as a member of the executive board of the National Research Council between 1941 and 1960. His recommendation that at least twenty-five percent of funding be reserved to support education at less well-known schools was defeated; almost all of the federal money went to elite universities instead. Robbins also served on a scientific advisory commission to evaluate and give advice on the development of scientific research and to reestablish contact with Japanese scientists after the war.

After his retirement from the New York Botanical Garden in 1957 due to poor health, Robbins started a lab at Rockefeller University. There he focused on the study of physiological and morphological differences between the juvenile and the adult stages of Hedera helix. By studying the growth rate of calluses in adult and juvenile plants, he was able to show that juvenile callus always grows faster. In 1965 the American Philosophical Society awarded him its Lewis Prize for his essay on topophysis.

Robbins was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society in 1941, serving as its president from 1956 to 1959 and executive officer in 1960 when the Society's library building was completed. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences. He was a member and director of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research for almost three decades, serving as a member of its executive committee for twenty-four years. He was also a trustee of Rockefeller University (1956-1965). Despite increasingly serious health problems that eventually included heart disease and hearing loss, Robbins continued to work in his lab until the day before he suffered a massive stroke in October 1978. He died several days later in New York City.

These papers include correspondence on personal and scientific topics, diaries, lectures, notebooks, and photographs, concerning his life and career. There are data relating to the National Academy of Sciences, New York Botanical Garden (Director, 1937-1957), Lehigh University, and University of Missouri (Head of Dept. of Botany; Dean of Graduate School; Acting President, 1933-1934).Of interest is his work with the European office of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1928-1930, and as Chariman of the National Research Council Fellowship Board.

The majority of this collection consists of correspondence to and from William Jacob Robbins. These correspondence represent the major occupational changes in Robbins' life as he assumes new positions of research. They relate to both the professional and the private side of his life. Though many letters of are perfunctory notices of received articles and papers, there is much in the correspondence that shed light on the professional work of Robbins. For instance, several letters document his involvement with the Soil Fertility Investigation concerning the "disappearance of vanillin and other toxics fin some soils and persistence in others."

Personal correspondence also make up a significant portion of the collection. Letters and postcards from John T. Lloyd, pharmacist and son of John Uri Lloyd, chronicle his entrance into World War I as an ambulance driver. Several letters are from the Front and document life in France during this time. Letters from Robbins to his wife Christine and mother give a personal account of his travels in Europe during his time with the Rockefeller Foundation, and help round out the official reports compiled of these trips.

The collection also contains a large number of other items of interest, spanning from grade school report cards to essays and lectures, newspaper clippings and photographs. Undergraduate papers include first term philosophy and psychology papers, as well as the Bachelor of Arts Thesis from Lehigh University, entitled "Municipal Government in United States with Reference to the Commission Plan." Balancing out the collection of papers, are multiple undated essays and speeches on such topics as: "The Advantage of the Large University," "The Constitutional Convention of 1787," "The Future of Plant Physiology," "The Place of Horticulture in the life of a Nation," and "Notes on the Evolution of Botanical Research in New York City."

Other material relates to Robbins's work with various organizations, including the APS. Also present are numerous short letters to and from Christine Robbins concerning her various biographies of scientists, mostly her book on David Hosack.

Restrictions

Some items are restricted; consult the repository.

Provenance

Presented by Dr. William Jacob Robbins and Mrs. Robbins, 1959-1972; initially accesioned, 1959. See in-house shelf list for additional accession numbers and dates.

Related material

The LuEsther T. Mertz Library archives at the New York Botanical Gardens also holds a collection of William Jacob Robbins papers.

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note

William Jacob Robbins was a highly influential member of the scientific establishment that came into being after World War I. His research focused on culture methods of plants in relation to biochemistry and nutrition, especially on the synthetic abilities of fungi. His studies, which emphasized a physico-chemical approach to botany, paralleled the scientific agenda of the Rockefeller Foundation, an agency with which he was closely associated for years as adviser and trustee.

His most important influence was in the organization and administration of scientific research. Beginning as professor of botany and chairman of the botany department at the University of Missouri in 1919, Robbins went on to become dean and president. While on leave from the University of Missouri, he was a member of the European Office of the Rockefeller Foundation (1928-1930), and was chairman of the National Research Council (NRC) Fellowship Board in the Biological Sciences (1931-1937). From 1937 until 1957 Robbins was director of the New York Botanical Garden and professor of botany at Columbia University; he was also president of the American Philosophical Society (1956-1959). Robbins was perhaps the most influential botanist in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the early postwar era, and a principal participant in the plans for the global reconstruction of science.

The Robbins Papers contain correspondence, diaries, lectures (including lecture notes from Benjamin M. Duggar's ecology course at Cornell, 1912-1915), notebooks, and photographs, covering nearly every aspect of his scientific career. Although a relatively small collection, it is an exceptionally rich source on the development of agricultural sciences, on the patronage of the life sciences by the Rockefeller Foundation, and on the political and institutional context of science.

• American Philosophical Society
• Animal Medical Center (U.S.)
• Lehigh University.
• National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
• National Research Council (U.S.). Committee for Research in Problems of Sex
• New York Botanical Garden.
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Smith College. Genetics Experiment Station
• University of Missouri.

• Diaries.
• Lecture notes.
• Lectures.
• Notebooks.
• Photoprints.

• India -- Description and travel.
• Japan -- Description and travel.

• Appleman, Charles Orval, 1878-1964
• Beadle, George Wells, 1903-1989
• Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967
• Blakeslee, Albert Francis, 1874-1954
• Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975
• Cattell, James McKeen, 1860-1944
• Cleland, Ralph E. (Ralph Erskine), 1892-1971
• Coolidge, William David
• Drinker, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1850-1937
• Du Pont, Henry Francis, 1880-1969
• Duggar, Benjamin M. (Benjamin Minge), 1872-1956
• Enders, John F., 1897-1985
• Fackenthal, Frank Diehl, 1883-1968
• Greenleaf, Lewis S., Jr.
• Gregg, Alan, 1890-1957
• Harrison, Ross G. (Ross Granville), 1870-1959
• Ingraham, Mark Hoyt
• Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin)
• Livingston, Burton E. (Burton Edward), 1875-1948
• Lloyd, John T.
• Merrill, Elmer Drew, 1876-1956
• Northrop, John Howard, 1891-1987
• Richards, Alfred N.(Alfred New
• Robbins, William Jacob, 1890-1978
• Schramm, Jacob R. (Jacob Richard)
• True, Rodney H.(Rodney Howard) (1866-1940)
• Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
• Wilson, Edwin Bidwell, 1879-1964
• Zwemer, Raymund L. (Raymund Lull)

• Agricultural ecology.
• Agriculture -- Japan.
• Botany.
• Plant physiology.
• Plants.
• Tropical plants.
• World War, 1914-1918.