Theodore L. Bissell papers
Collection
0250-UA
A 1920 graduate of the Maryland State College of Agriculture, Theodore Lemuel Bissell (1899-1992) was an entomologist for the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology and Georgia Experiment Station, who also taught entomology at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1947 to 1969. The collection contains correspondence, news clippings, notes, and horticultural meeting and conference programs. The bulk of the materials document Mr. Bissell's interest in the history of the University of Maryland campus and its surrounding community between 1916 and 1979 and his scholarly interests in hickory aphids. Also included are six letters from Milton Ellsworth Poole to Theodore Bissell. Poole was a classmate of Bissell's during their freshman year at the Maryland State College of Agriculture. Poole left after the first year and served overseas during World War I. His correspondence discusses his wartime experiences overseas, particularly in France, his decision not to return to school after the war, and former classmates at the Maryland State College of Agriculture.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
0.50 Linear Feet
The papers of Theodore L. Bissell include materials dating from 1910 to 1982. The collection contains correspondence, news clippings, notes, and programs. The bulk of the materials document Mr. Bissell's interest in the history of the University of Maryland campus and its surrounding community. Other materials in the collection include personal correspondence, horticultural meeting and conference programs, photographs and slides, and professional correspondence relating to Bissell's work with aphids. This personal correspondence includes six letters from Milton Ellsworth Poole to Theodore Bissell. Poole left the school after the first year and served overseas during World War I. His correspondence discusses his wartime experiences overseas, particularly in France, his decision not to return to school after the war, and former classmates at the Maryland State College of Agriculture.
Theodore Lemuel Bissell was born in St. Mary's, Ohio, on December 9, 1899. He attended the Maryland State College of Agriculture, now the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received a B. S. in entomology in 1920. During his college years, he was an active member of the New Mercer Literary Society, the Horticulture Club, and the Rossborough Club, as well as serving as captain of Company C of the corps of cadets during his senior year. Bissell received an M. S. in entomology from Cornell University in 1936. He worked as a quarantine inspector for the State Bureau of Industry in Pennsylvania in 1920 and for the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture from 1921 until 1924. Bissell was an entomologist for the Georgia Experiment Station from 1925 to 1947, when he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland as an associate professor of entomology; he taught at the university until 1968.
Areas of particular interest to Mr. Bissell included the taxonomy of hickory aphids, insect control, and the history of University of Maryland campus.
Bissell died on September 22, 1992.
The collection has been divided into four series.
The materials in the collection were donated to the University of Maryland Libraries by Mr. Bissell in December 1961, April 1974, September 1980, and July and August 1985.
Digital copies of the letters in this collection from Milton Poole to Theodore L. Bissell are available at http://digital.lib.umd.edu/results.jsp?index1=dmKeyword&query1=theodore+bissell in the University of Maryland's Digital Collections.
Processing of the papers of Theodore L. Bissell began in June 1997. Department of Entomology grade books were removed from the collection and destroyed. Two issues of The Diamondback (March 6, 1956; April 19, 1982) were removed from the collection because they are available on microfilm. One file of correspondence relating to the career of Dr. John E. Savage was removed from the collection and transferred to the archives at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Two University of Maryland football programs from 1923 were transferred to the university publications collection. One folder containing Epsilon Sigma Phi newsletters was removed and added to the records of Epsilon Sigma Phi. One railroad ticket from the Chesapeake Beach Railway, dated June 24, 1909, was transferred to the memorabilia collection.
Photographs and slides were transferred to the photograph collection. Staples and metal paper clips were removed and replaced with strips of acid free paper and plastic clips. All materials were placed in acid-free folders and an acid-free box, and the guide was completed.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives