The Justus F. Mueller PhD Papers, 1921-2009, bulk 1928-1986
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Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Mueller, Justus Frederick
- Abstract:
- This collection contains the papers of Justus F. Mueller, who was a Professor of Microbiology at the university now known as SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. The collection has six series: Mueller-Ward Models, Subject Files, Memorabilia, Printed Materials, Photographs, and Scrapbooks.
- Extent:
- 8.67 linear feet
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
The Justus F. Mueller PhD Papers, Archives and Special Collections in the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University
Background
- Scope and content:
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This collection contains the personal papers of Justus F. Mueller that relate to his research and career as a Professor of Microbiology at Syracuse University and SUNY. There are six series in this collection.
Mueller-Ward Models: these records concern the Mueller-Ward Models, which Dr. Mueller created in partnership with Ward's Natural Science Establishment, Inc. Included in the materials are publications, printed keys, sketches, ledger books, contracts, correspondence, photographs, diagrams, and copyright registration and renewals from the 1940s to 1980s.
Subject Files: these papers contain a variety of materials collected by or about Dr. Mueller from the 1930s to 2000s, including forms, photographs, correspondence, awards, ledgers, maps, notes, sketches, and printed materials he assembled, such as publications and newspaper clippings.
Memorabilia: these records from 1968 to 1982 include a certificate of merit, a plaque of recognition, and a certificate for Dr. Mueller's membership in The Explorers Club.
Printed Materials: these papers are primarily the publications of Dr. Mueller from the 1920s to 1980s, along with corresponding notes, lists of publications, and correspondence on publications.
Photographs: these materials have been sub-divided into travel photographs, personal photographs, and research photographs. The first sub-series contains photograph prints, slides, and negatives from Dr. Mueller's international travels from the 1930s to 1950s organized by location; in addition to the areas listed in the finding aid, the locations include: India; Cambodia; Grenada; the Galapagos Islands; Machu Picchu, Peru; Burma or Myanmar; Bali and Java, Indonesia; Ecuador; Panama; Guatemala; Mexico; Thailand; South Africa; Malaysia; Singapore; Philippines; Hong Kong, China; Bahamas; New Orleans, Louisiana; New Hampshire; Florida; New York; Costa Rica; and Martinique. The second sub-series has professional photograph print portraits of Dr. Mueller from the 1940s to 1970s, and the third sub-series contains scientific photograph prints and glass slides from the 1930s to 1960s that appear to have been primarily used for teaching, research, and publications with some travel glass slides from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Trinidad, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Cuba, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Scrapbooks: the twelve scrapbooks from the 1930s and 1940s primarily contain materials from Dr. Mueller's travels, such as postcards, photographs, and paperwork for travel.
- Biographical / historical:
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Justus F. Mueller (1902-1993) was an American parasitologist known for the development of the Mueller-Ward Models. Born in Baltimore in 1902, he received a BA in Zoology at Johns Hopkins University in 1923. While at John Hopkins and shortly thereafter, he was a Scientific Assistant to the US Bureau of Fisheries at the upper Mississippi River; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His background in art included studies at the Corcoran Art School and The Maryland Institute, and he held part-time jobs between 1923 and 1928 as an illustrator for the US National Museum, the US Bureau of Fisheries, and the Natural History Museum at the University of Michigan. In 1924, he became a research assistant to Henry Baldwin Ward at the University of Illinois, where he received a MA in Zoology in 1926 and a PhD in Zoology in 1928 after completing a thesis on microscopical anatomy and physiology of ascarids.
After receiving his PhD, Dr. Mueller moved to Syracuse to be a Field Naturalist and Instructor in Zoology at the Roosevelt Wildlife Station through the New York State College of Forestry, which is now known as the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He obtained the rank of Assistant Professor in 1929 and Associate Professor in 1938, and, after 1930, he simultaneously served as a Lecturer in Parasitology at the Syracuse University College of Medicine. While at the Roosevelt Wildlife Station, he studied parasites in Oneida Lake fishes, and his research of cultivation in vitro and discovery of the sparganum growth factor started when he found Spirometra mansonoides, a pseudophyllid cestode, in local cats and its sparaganum larva in water snakes. He utilized his artistic background to partner with Ward’s Natural Science Establishment, Inc. to create the Mueller-Ward Models, which covered 16 zoological subjects through 118 models.
Dr. Mueller left the Roosevelt Wildlife Station in 1943 to be an Associate Professor of Microbiology at Syracuse University. After SUNY acquired the Syracuse University College of Medicine, Dr. Mueller went on to become the Chairman of the Microbiology Department at SUNY Upstate Medical Center between 1954 and 1957 and a Professor of Microbiology between 1956 and 1972. His numerous publications included the widely circulated “Nature of Tropical Diseases,” and he traveled extensively in Asia and Central and South America for his research. He was well-known in the field of parasitology after serving as the editor of the Journal of Parasitology between 1962 and 1978 and as President of the American Society of Parasitologists in 1973. Later in life, he continued to study the sparganum growth factor and received various honors, including a Scholar in Residence appointment by SUNY, an honorary membership to the Helminthological Society of Washington, and election as President of the American Society of Parasitologists. He received an honorary Doctor of Science from SUNY Upstate Medical University in 1991 and died on April 2, 1993 at the age of 90.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2017.
- Arrangement:
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The Justus F. Mueller PhD Papers have been arranged into six series.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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There are no access restrictions on this material.
- Terms of access:
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Written permission must be obtained from the Archives and Special Collections of the SUNY Upstate Health Sciences Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
- Preferred citation:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
The Justus F. Mueller PhD Papers, Archives and Special Collections in the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University
- Location of this collection:
- Contact:
- history@upstate.edu