Institutions, 1940-1950

The series primarily contains correspondence between the director and other organizations, branches of the government, foundations and institutions. The ‘Scripps Institution, 1944’ file contains correspondence with H. Sverdrup, director of Scripps (box 8, f.7). The file ‘1942-C.O’D. Iselin unfinished business, 1943’ contains correspondence from Professor Sidney C. Hsiao detailing the tribulations of trying to develop a department in a small Chinese college at the start of the US war with Japan (box 8 f.12). This was most probably passed on to Iselin by a Harvard connection since it is addressed to a Professor Hisaw, and there is not indication of intent, but it is an interesting document of the period. This file also contains Iselin’s handwritten summaries of observer vessels dated May 6 [ca. 1942]. Iselin was inconsistent as to the filing of his “unfinished business” folders, which are found at the beginning or end of different series, but always contain an interesting collection of personal writing, correspondence, reports, and photographs. The file ‘Unfinished Business, 1944’, at the beginning of the administrative series, contains two memos by R. Shropshire to the director on experiments with the Mak XII ground mine and a report an underwater camera for divers’ use, both with photographs (box 10, ff.18-19). There is also a handwritten article or speech by Iselin on "the sea in subsurface warfare" and a "statement on the conduct of the wave experiment of January 7, 1998," in addition to a handwritten report on the progress of NYBOS (part of a government contract).