ROLF SINGER, 1906-1994
PAPERS, 1923-1954

Biographical Note:

Mycologist Rolf Singer was born June 23, 1906 in Schliersee, Bavaria. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna in 1931 he worked in Munich. By 1933, however, Singer was forced to flee Nazi Germany to Vienna. There he met his wife, Martha Singer. From Vienna, Singer and his wife went to Barcelona, Spain, where Singer was appointed Assistant Professor at the Autonomous University. Persecution by the Spanish authorities on behalf of the German government forced Singer to leave Spain for France in 1934. After a fellowship at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, Singer again moved, this time to Leningrad, where he was Senior Scientific Expert at the Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. During his time at the Academy, Singer made many expeditions to Siberia, the Altai Mountains, and Karelia. In 1941, Singer emigrated to the United States. He was offered a position at the Farlow Herbarium as a research associate, then as Assistant Curator, then as acting Curator following the death of Dr. David Linder. He spent a total of seven years at the Farlow. During this time, Singer also received a Guggenheim Fellowship for studies in Florida, and taught at the Mountain Lake Biological Station of the University of Virginia.

In 1948, Singer left Harvard to become professor at the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman in Argentina. Later, in 1961, Singer became professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. During his time in South America, Singer, his wife, and his daughter Heidi collected extensively. Singer's last faculty appointment was at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, from 1968 to 1977.

Singer was a prolific writer, with more than 400 publications to his name. He was also known for his eagerness to aid other botanists, whether they were professionals or amateurs. He died in 1994.

Sources used:

Mueller, Gregory M. "Rolf Singer, 1906-1994." Mycologia, 87, no. 1 (1995): 144-147.

Singer, Martha. "Glancing Back." Sydowia beiheft 8 (1979): 14-25.

Singer, Rolf. "Curriculum Vitae"

Scope & Content:

Collection consists of correspondence, handwritten and typed manuscript material, notes, and reprints. They date from 1923-1956, with the bulk falling within Singer's years at Harvard (1941-1948).

Series Descriptions:

The collection is divided into six series.

Series I: Correspondence. Correspondence dates from 1923 to 1954 and is contained in 47 folders. This includes one folder of correspondence by Miss Constance Ashenden, Librarian of the Farlow Library.

Series II: Manuscript material. Handwritten and typed materials relating to Singer's publications, contained in 11 folders.

Series III: Notes. Includes general notes and classroom lecture notes for the classes that Singer taught at Harvard. It is contained in 18 folders.

Series IV: Reprints. Articles primarily from the journal Science, contained in one folder.

Series V: Miscellaneous. Items include receipts and advertisements, contained in one folder.

Series VI: Oversize. Consists of one folder of paper sheets with small slips of paper glued to it. The slips are printed with species names, and may have been labels.

Provenance: The provenence of this collection is unknown.

Container List:

Box 1:
Series I: Correspondence.

Folder 1: 1920's, 3 items

Folder 2: 1930-1935, 23 items

Folder 3: 1936, 33 items

Folder 4: 1937-1939, 35 items

Folder 5: 1940-July 1941, 16 items

Folder 6: August-December 1941, 23 items

Folder 7: January-February 1942, 14 items

Folder 8: March-May 1942, 19 items

Folder 9: June-August 1942 (no further correspondence for 1942), 15 items

Folder 10: 1943, 21 items

Folder 11: January-March 1944, 16 items

Folder 12: April-July 1944, 17 items

Folder 13: August-September 1944, 18 items

Folder 14: October-December 1944, 23 items

Folder 15: January-March 1945, 18 items

Folder 16: April-May 1945, 18 items

Folder 17: June-August 1945, 26 items

Folder 18: September-December 1945, 31 items

Folder 19: January-February 1946, 22 items

Folder 20: March-April 1946, 20 items

Folder 21: May-June 1946, 19 items

Folder 22: July-August 1946, 15 items

Folder 23: September 1946, 19 items

Folder 24: October 1946, 16 items

Folder 25: November 1946, 30 items

Folder 26: December 1946, 25 items

Folder 27: January 1947, 35 items

Folder 28: February 1947, 28 items

Folder 29: March 1947, 34 items

Folder 30: April 1947, 31 items

Folder 31: May 1947, 29 items

Folder 32: June 1947, 41 items

Folder 33: July 1947, 25 items

Folder 34: August 1947, 31 items

Folder 35: September 1947, 33 items

Folder 36: October 1947, 27 items

Folder 37: November 1947, 34 items

Folder 38: December 1947, 26 items

Folder 39: January 1948, 24 items

Folder 40: February 1948, 32 items

Folder 41: March 1948, 42 items

Folder 42: April-May 1948, 26 items

Folder 43: June-October 1948 (no further correspondence for 1948), 15 items

Folder 44: Undated correspondence, 43 items

Folder 45: Correspondence from Walter Snell, 1941-1946 & undated (many undated fragments), 36 items

Folder 46: Correspondence from Roger Heim, 1946-1948, 10 items

Folder 47: Correspondence to and from Miss Constance Ashenden, Librarian of the Farlow Library, 1947-1954, 51 items

Series II: Manuscript material

Folder 48: "Fungi of the Presidential Range." 1 item, 11 pages

Folder 49: "New and Interesting Species of Basidiomycetes II." 1 item, 50 pages

Folder 50: "Notes on Farlow's Agaricales from Chocorua." 3 copies, 21 pages each

Folder 51-55: "The Agaricales (Mushrooms) in Modern Taxonomy." 1 item, 998 pages total [Published in Lilloa, tomo 22, p.5-832, 1949]

Folder 56: "Report on the 1939 Foray [Mycological Society of America]" 1 item, 8 pages

Folder 57: "Emendations to our Proposals Concerning the Nomenclature of Gill Fungi" (with Alexander Smith), 1 item, 3 pages

Folder 58: "The Boletinae of Florida with Notes on Extralimital Species: II. The Boletaceae (Gyroporoidea)" 1 item, 109 pages

Folder 59: Manuscript material by David Linder: "The Seventh Century of the Reliquiae Farlowianae," and "A New Rust of Orchids," plus illustrations and notes, 31 items

Box 2:
Series III: Notes

Folder 1: On lichens, 4 items

Folder 2: On Rhinotrichium, 20 items

Folder 3: On Rhinotrichium, 25 items

Folder 4: On Rhinotrichium, 28 items

Folder 5: On Rhinotrichium, 7 items

Folder 6: Miscellaneous notes, 27 items

Subseries I: Classroom notes

Folder 7: For Botany 1, 20 items

Folder 8: For Botany 1, 20 items

Folder 9: For Botany 1, 18 items

Folder 10: For Botany 2, 1 set of index cards

Folder 11: For Botany 2, 28 items

Folder 12: For Botany 2, 1 item, 66 pages

Folder 13: For Botany 3, 19 items

Folder 14: For Botany 5, 6 items

Folder 15: Lecture on Ascomycetes for Botany 6, 1 item

Folder 16: Lecture on Phycomycetes for Botany 6, 1 item

Folder 17: For Biology 106b, 49 items

Folder 18: For Biology 12, 8 items

Series IV: Reprints

Folder 19: Reprints, primarily from Science, 6 items

Series V: Miscellaneous

Folder 20: Miscellaneous papers, 11 items

Series VI: Oversize

Small slips of paper (labels?) bearing species names glued to 10 sheets of paper

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