The papers of Isabella Karle and Jerome Karle span the years 1912-2012, with the bulk of the material dating from 1948 to 2008. The collection documents the Karles’ sixty-five year careers as physical chemists in the field of x-ray crystallography, most of which was spent at the Laboratory for the Structure of Matter at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC. The papers are primarily in English, with Polish and some German, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. The papers are organized into four series: Isabella Karle Papers, Jerome Karle Papers, Collaborations, and Oversize.

The collection focuses almost entirely on the Karles’ professional careers with little documentation of their personal lives. With the exception of the files in the Collaborations series, Isabella and Jerome maintained separate files which are arranged into distinct series, the Isabella Karle Papers and the Jerome Karle Papers. Both of their papers reflect the development and use of methods for crystal structure analysis with Jerome’s work skewing more toward theoretical investigations and Isabella’s work involving the development and execution of specific processes to analyze crystal structures, most of which were based on Jerome’s theories and calculations. Furthermore, Isabella’s papers focus mostly on her work within the laboratory, while Jerome’s reflect his wider involvement in the field as an administrator and participant in a variety of professional organizations and institutions. Though their working relationship is rarely evidenced in the files, it is explored through oral history interviews and other biographical materials throughout the collection. There is no documentation in the collection of their involvement with the Manhattan Project or other aspects of their career outside the NRL.

The Isabella Karle Papers series documents Karle’s scientific contributions to the field of x-ray crystallography and chiefly includes research and writing files produced at NRL, mostly between 1960 and 2008.

The Jerome Karle Papers document Karle’s contributions to the field of crystallography, his administrative career at NRL, and involvement in numerous scientific organizations, mostly between 1948 and 2008.

The Collaborations series contains materials related to projects, writings, speeches, and presentations on which Isabella and Jerome participated together, the bulk of which span from 1950 to 2009.

The remaining series contains Oversize files.