Guide to the Benjamin Yoe Morrison (1891–1966) papers, 1915–1965, n.d.

HI Archives collection no. 27
3.5 Linear Feet (10 boxes, 10 volumes, 6 oversize items)

Contents List

Correspondence, 1924–1965
Container(s) Description Dates Online
Box 1 Folder 1 Anthes, Mrs. Marjorie S. 1962–1963 View
Box 1 Folder 2 Baldwin–Kent 1946–1950 View
Box 1 Folder 3 "Lycoris" 1957–1963 View
Box 1 Folder 4 Cardénas–Davis, "Amaryllis" 1946–1965 View
Box 1 Folder 5 Christensen, "Lilium" 1957–1958 View
Box 1 Folder 6 Clint, Lee, "Zephyranthus" 1961–1963 View
Box 1 Folder 7 Gillespie, "Glen Dale Azaleas" 1961–1962 View
Box 1 Folder 8 deGraaff, "Daffodils" 1962 View
Box 1 Folder 9 Hannibal 1945–1963 View
Box 1 Folder 10 Hayward 1960–1962 View
Box 1 Folder 11 Livingston, "Penstemon", "American Horticultural Society" 1950, n.d. View
Box 1 Folder 12 Pennington 1958–1959, n.d. View
Box 1 Folder 13 Mayers 1962 View
Box 1 Folder 14 Menninger 1960 View
Box 2 Folder 1 Miscellaneous 1917–1965, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 2 "Azalea", "American Horticultural Society", other topics 1949–1965, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 3 "Azaleas, Japanese/Satsuki" 1951–1966 View
Box 2 Folder 4 "B. Y. Morrison Azalea Garden" 1954–1957, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 5 "Narcissus" 1960–1964, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 6 Ruffier-Lanche 1962–1965 View
Box 2 Folder 7 "Narcissus orders" 1960–1961 View
Box 2 Folder 8 Stapleton 1958–1961 View
Box 2 Folder 9 Stoke, "Tree peonies" 1961 View
Box 2 Folder 10 Silver Bay Nurseries, "Azalea" 1957–1958, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 11 Stryker 1958–1961, n.d. View
Box 2 Folder 12 Johnsen 1963 View
Untitled Azalea manuscripts
Container(s) Description Dates Online
Box 3 Folder 1 Handwritten and typewritten, about growing azaleas, n.d. View
Box 3 Folder 2 Typewritten, about Japanese azaleas, n.d. View
Satsuki azaleas
Container(s) Description Dates Online
Box 3 Folder 5 Notes and sketches 1960–1965 View
Box 3 Folder 6 Flower sketches 1960-1965 View
Glenn Dale azaleas
Container(s) Description Dates Online
Box 4 Folder 1 Horticultural notes, hand- and typewritten 1939–1949 View
Box 4 Folder 2 Check list with descriptions 1951 View
Box 4 Folder 3 Unfinished manuscript on cultivation, typed with handwritten notes, n.d. View
Box 4 Folder 4 Horticultural photographs 1947–1949, n.d. View
Manuscripts
Container(s) Description Dates Online
Box 5 Folder 5 Bulb gardening part 1, notes and sketches, n.d. View
Box 5 Folder 6 Bulb gardening part 2, notes and sketches, n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 1 "Cactus Circular for Beginners" Typed with handwritten notes, n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 2 Japanese gardens, typed translation, with sketches, n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 3 Japanese gardens, handwritten (translation?), n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 4 Daffodils, typed and handwritten, n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 5 Daffodils, draft, notes and correspondence 1962, n.d. View
Box 6 Folder 6 "Daffodils at Hermitage Gardens, 1946", typed and handwritten 1946 View
Box 6 Folder 7 Ornamentals, typed, with photographs, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 1 "Achimenes", typed, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 2 Various articles, typed, with correspondence 1964–1965, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 3 Translation and transcription of two articles published in France in 1929, typed, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 4 Translation/transcription of Iris article by Walter Siehe, published in 1905, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 5 "United States National Arboretum", carbon copy, n.d. View
Box 7 Folder 6 Report of horticultural trip to England, France, Germany and Holland, carbon copy 1931 View
Box 7 Folder 7 "Report on Agricultural Survey of Peru" 1941 View
Box 7 Folder 8 Report on a trip to Colombia 1943–1944 View
Box 7 Folder 9 Libretto "Salve Regina", copyright, correspondence, notes and revisions 1955–1957 View

Biographical / Historical

Benjamin Yoe Morrison (1891–1966) was chief of the Division of Plant Exploration and Introduction at the United States Department of Agriculture (1934–1948) and the first director of the United States National Arboretum (1937–1951). He helped to found the American Horticultural Society. After retirement he ran a nursery in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

Scope and Contents

The papers in this collection deal mostly with Morrison's activities after retirement (1951) when he lived and had his nursery in Pass Christian, Mississippi. The correspondence (1924–[1945–1965], boxes 1–2) concerns plant breeding and the exchange or sale of seeds and bulbs, as well as information about his work and that of fellow horticulturists, publication of his National Horticultural Magazine and business of the American Horticultural Society.

There are six boxes of manuscripts, reports and notes. Also found here are Morrison's libretto for Salve Regina (presumably copyrighted ca.1957) and certificates, letters of introduction and other personal documents (1915–1962).

Additional materials include sketchbooks and over 150 drawings in various media of Chinese and Japanese gardens and other scenes.

Finding Aid Note

This finding aid was created by Nancy Janda in 2020. This finding aid was placed online by J. Dustin Williams in 2020.

Other resources

The Hunt Institute Art Catalogue lists 52 works by Morrison.

Processing Information

This collection was digitized by G. Boardman in 2016.