Scope and Content Note
The papers of Erwin Frink Smith (1854-1927) span the years 1876-1927 and include diaries, correspondence, notes, photographs, and literary manuscripts. The papers are arranged in four series: Diaries , Scientific File , Literary File , and Miscellany . They have been available for research since 1957, with additional material incorporated principally into the Literary File in 1996. Smith's diaries for the years 1920-1927 constitute the bulk of the collection. In the diaries Smith made note of his laboratory work and employment at the Agriculture Department. Smith also commented on his home life; extensive reading in French, German, Italian literature and texts in Latin; and his reaction to the news of events throughout the world. Smith's travels on behalf of the Agriculture Department are sometimes featured, such as a trip to Florida to study diseases in oranges groves described in his journal of 1891. A three-volume journal of his trip to Europe in the winter of 1924-1925 makes note of official meetings and also includes ink sketches of plants, architectural details, museum exhibitions, and landscapes.
The remaining fragmentary material relating to Smith's scientific career is in the Scientific File . The file includes a notebook describing plants seen in the District of Columbia in 1894, a synopsis of Smith's research, and a catalog of his scientific library. There are no records concerning the publication of his books or Agriculture Department studies on bacterial diseases in plants. The letters of Frank Meyer, mostly typewritten copies, concern an expedition in 1905 to Japan and China in search of plants and information for the Agriculture Department.
Smith's literary endeavors were not confined to science. In 1915 he published a book of poetry, For Her Friends and Mine, and dedicated it to his deceased first wife, Charlotte M. Buffett. Corrected proofs and drafts of the poems are in the Literary File , as are drafts for a second set of poems, "Nature and the Dream." Smith translated sonnets of the Cuban-born French poet, José Maria de Heredia (1842-1905), and planned to publish them with biographical notes, explication, and illustrations. Records for the projected Heredia volume are included in the Literary File .