Finding Aid for Arthur G. Vestal Papers, 1899-1964 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Arthur G. Vestal Papers, 1899-1964

ID: 15/4/24

Primary Creator: Vestal, Arthur Gibson (1888-1964)

Extent: 2.9 cubic feet

Arrangement: Chronological.

Subjects: California Grasslands, Colorado, Eastern Illinois University, Ecology, Faculty Papers, Field Trips, Plant Communities, Stanford University, Student Life, University of Chicago

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

Papers of Arthur Gibson Vestal '11 (1888-1964), professor Botany (1929-57) and Wanda Pfeiffer Vestal (1882-1969), instructor of Botany (1944-45), including correspondence, photographs, course and lecture notes, manuscripts and publications concerning graduate study and botany field trips at the University of Chicago (1906-16), undergraduate life at Illinois (1909-11), expense records of a faculty family at Eastern Illinois (1916-20) and Stanford (1920-29), biology at Stanford (1920-27), botany field work and summer teaching in Colorado and neighboring states (1922-30), California grasslands research, plant community investigation methods and family matters, and photocopies of correspondence related to service as the Ecological Society of America Secretary (1928-42).

The series contains files on botany field trips (1929-60), departmental correspondence (1950-58) and student papers (1925, 1930, 1935-39, 1950-52).

Correspondents include Charles C. Adams, Henry C. Cowles, Max M. Ellis, Henry A. Gleason, Roland M. Harper and A.G. Tansley.

Arthur Gibson Vestal (1888-1964) was professor of botany (1929-57) and professor emeritus (1957-64) at the University of Illinois (UI). He was an influential ecologist, who made significant contributions to the study of plant and animal ecology, phytogeography, and phytosociology.

Vestal was born in LaGrange, Illinois, on September 10, 1888, and grew up in Chicago. He earned a bachelor's degree from UI (1911) and a master's degree from the University of Colorado (1913). In 1915, he obtained a PhD from the University of Chicago with a dissertation titled, "Phytogeography of the Eastern Mountain Front in Colorado." Vestal held teaching positions at the University of Colorado (1911-14), Eastern Illinois State Normal School (1915-20), Stanford University (1920-29), and UI (1929-57). Over the course of his long academic career, he "made valuable contributions toward the development of concepts and statistical methods to be used in describing and classifying plant communities and regional vegetation complexes from a phytosociological point of view" (Martin). He published widely, including his influential 1949 monograph Minimum areas for different vegetations: their determination from species area curves, and made extensive study of the ecologies of Illinois, Colorado, and California.

Vestal married fellow botanist Wanda Pfeiffer Vestal (1882-1969) in 1916, and they had three children. He died on June 5, 1964.

Sources:

"Trelease Woods," Illinois LAS, accessed April 29, 2020, https://las.illinois.edu/news/2019-09-06/trelease-woods.

"Arthur G. Vestal," The Ecological Society of America's History and Records, accessed April 29, 2020, https://esa.org/history/vestal-a-g/.

W. E. Martin, "Resolution of Respect, Arthur Gibson Vestal," Ecological Society of America, accessed April 29, 2020, https://www.esa.org/history/obits/Vestal_AG.pdf.

California Grasslands
Colorado
Eastern Illinois University
Ecology
Faculty Papers
Field Trips
Plant Communities
Stanford University
Student Life
University of Chicago

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Accruals: 3/21/1969; 4/5/74; 6/22/79; 9/23/2014

Other Note: 7 Pages

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1504024.pdf

PDF finding aid for Arthur G. Vestal Papers (15/4/24)