Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

David Baltimore Oral History, David Baltimore

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

We met in Dr. Baltimore's office at the Whitehead Institute, and our meeting was short (less than 45 minutes) but direct and to the point: Baltimore credits The Jackson Laboratory for setting him on his course as a biologist, but beyond that, he sees Jax as a dated, low-key place. One speaking engagement at Jax that left him astonished to see an empty parking lot at 5PM made an indelible impression on him and he echoes the attitudes of others outside Jax--like Law and Sprott--that Jax is not a dynamic, hotshot institution on the cutting edge of …

Barbara Sanford Oral History, Barbara Sanford

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

Barbara Sanford's interview echoes most of what I have heard from many of the staff regarding the Lab's mission and goals. The Lab's ideal size, geographical location--with its pluses and minuses--and the environment in which to do science in the current period--all find echoes on other tapes. There is little of candor, consequence or calculation here. Sanford clearly recognizes the stressful nature of scientific life in these times of federal cutbacks, and, as well, the frustrations of directing a laboratory whose size, complexity and needs preclude personal scientific work by the Director. In the face of such …

Donald Bailey Oral History, Donald Bailey

Oral History Collection

Susan Metrhens' Note:

Regarded by many of his peers at Jax as one of the most intuitive, prescient and creative scientists at the Lab, Bailey was a very reflective narrator. While he provides one anecdote of c.c. Little1s sartorial habits, this tape is largely devoid of anecdotal material, and is more a reminiscence by a scientist who was at Jax in the early '50's, who left and returned in 1967. I tried, through a variety of questions, to probe the synergy between Bailey and the Lab, the degree to which his prescience and creativity might be due to the freedom …

Priscilla "Skippy" Lane Oral History, Skippy Lane

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

We have in this tape the recollections of one of the most prolific authors in the field of mouse mutants, an indefatigable co-worker of Margaret Dickey, Margaret Green and currently, Muriel Davison. Full of scientific terms, this tape reveals clearly Lane's thorough absorption in the field to which she has devoted nearly the last forty years of her life. Toward the end of this tape, Lane alludes to Earl Green's sexist attitude, which other women have also mentioned to me on and off tape. Lane also waxes eloquently here about her efforts to establish a hiera'rchy within …

Thomas Roderick Oral History, Thomas Roderick

Oral History Collection

Susan Metrhens' Note:

Roderick has been a scientist at Jax for thirty years, working in no other place. He was hired just as Earl Green replaced C.C. Little and Roderick worked with and for Green for some dozen years before moving into his own lab, on his own grants. Roderick is both perceptive and analytical and this tape is valuable for his willingness to reflect on trends and personalities. He also has a philosopher's willingness to consider the values that drive the lab. Roderick was forthcoming with anecdotes, including a most telling one of Rich Prehn showing the courage of …

John Paul Scott Oral History, John Paul Scott

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

Dr. J.P. Scott was the head of animal behavioral research at Hamilton Station. He carne to our meeting with a thoughtful outline, and spoke to it for most of our interview. His tape, as a result, is mostly a monologue. This tape is extremely valuable because Jax threw away all the records of Hamilton Station, so only the accounts of Scott, Fuller and Fox (in this project) can provide a record of this aspect of the Lab's past. Scott indicates how pervasive was the network in which his work was conducted, and how many noteworthy figures or …

Dale Foley Oral History, Dale Foley

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

Dale Foley was the administrative "right arm" of both Little and Green, and, as such, was in a position to comment on the Lab's financial and administrative activities from the perspective of a key participant. As we began, he brought out several pages of notes, which formed the basis of the monologue that followed. To my surprise, his tape consists almost totally of accounts of the acquisition of property and building of the major Jax buildings. Aside from references to several valued Jax volunteers--several of them wealthy Trustees--Foley stuck to the physical plant in his interview. Intuitively, …

Willys Silver Oral History, Willys Silver

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

Both Will Silvers and I enjoyed this interview, despite the hot, stuffy room we had at the Lab (in which the wind seemed to howl incessantly, through some pinhole crack somewhere, as is audible on tape). Initially at a loss as to what to expect in this process, Silvers soon moved into high gear and his verve and excitement are obvious. Perhaps more than anyone else included in this project, Silvers spans the constituencies ~f the Lab, as summer student, employee, summer investigator, and finally BSO member. He is forthcoming about all these roles, giving us a …

James Ebert Oral History, James Ebert

Oral History Collection

No abstract provided.

Victor Mckusick Oral History, Victor Mckusick

Oral History Collection

No abstract provided.

Earl Green Oral History, Earl E. Green

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

This remarkable interview is just what one would expect from the Jackson Lab Director whose conscientious (compulsive?) attention to detail and careful planning are legendary. When I arrived (at 7:50AM), Dr. Green was ready, with his 21+ pages of notes, in outline form, on every aspect of my outline that he wished to discuss. I could tell we were going to have a long interview! In fact, we talked for most of eight hours, although only c. four of those hours are represented on the tapes. What is provided here are the recollections, drawn carefully beforehand from …

Elizabeth "Tibby" Russell Oral History, Elizabeth Russell

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

This three-way interview, between Tibby, Judith Swazey and me, took place in Tibby's home. In the days before this interview, I had interviewed many Jax personnel whose reminiscences had "primed" me for this meeting with one of the most colorful, distinctive and beloved old-time Jax scientists. Tibby has had a remarkable impact on Jax, both in terms of substantial science and also in a human, personal way, as a friend, mentor and colleague to many of the summer students, later to be lab scientists and administrators. Where she could have spoken at length of C.C. Little and …

George Snell Oral History, George D. Snell

Oral History Collection

Susan Mehrtens' Note:

George Snell's quiet voice and calm demeanor contrasted sharply with the background atmosphere of our taping session: constant interruptions from visitors, the telephone and a very solicitous spouse, and, on top of all this, a lengthy thunderstorm. George remained unperturbed, but he may have been distracted, and this may account for the anecdotal thinness of this tape. Despite his c. 40 years at Jax, Snell provides little here of the colorful vignette. He does recall his early days, living in a tent on the Lab grounds, and the locals' referring to the Lab as the "mouse house;" …

American Philosophical Society Finding Aid For Jax Oral History, Aps Phila, Pa

Personal Papers Collection

In 1929, the geneticist C. C. Little founded the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, a major center for the study of mammalian genetics, cancer, and related areas in basic biomedical research. An independent institution, the Lab has maintained a consistent scientific reputation both as a supplier of inbred strains of mice for genetic and biomedical research and for the scientific achievements of its researchers. Conducted by Susan Mehrtens in 1986, the Oral History Collection includes transcripts of extensive interviews with fifty scientists, administrators, and staff members of the Jackson Laboratory. At greater or lesser length depending …