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Remembering Garland Edward Allen, III (1936–2023), Second Editor of Journal of the History of Biology

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Notes

  1. See his obituary: In memory of Garland Edward Allen, III. Ever Loved. https://everloved.com/life-of/garland-edward-allen/obituary/, viewed April 20, 2023.

  2. Shirley Roe (another student of Everett’s) served as Book Review Editor and became Associate Editor in 1981 and Co-Editor, 1982–1987.

  3. M. Shindell, February 13, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/garland.allen.167 (viewed April 21, 2023).

  4. N. Comfort, personal communication, February 13, 2023. 

  5. Obituary: Garland Allen, professor emeritus of biology, 86, The Record, Washington University in St. Louis. https://source.wustl.edu/2023/02/obituary-garland-allen-professor-emeritus-of-biology-86/.

  6. Gar’s prodigious knowledge of genetics, evolution, and eugenics is on full display in an interview recorded for an educational project on the history of DNA designed for high school students (DNA from the Beginning, DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, released in 1999, relaunched in 2011 (https://dnalc.cshl.edu/websites/dnaftb.html); in it see the Video clips for Concepts 7, 9–14, Classical Genetics, http://www.dnaftb.org/#classical (viewed April 21, 2023).

  7. In his Bibliographical Essay (Allen 1978), Gar duly credited the beginning of the history of genetics with the works of geneticists, namely L. C. Dunn, A Short History of Genetics (Dunn 1965), Alfred H. Sturtevant, A History of Genetics (Sturtevant 1965) and Elof Axel Carlson, The Gene: A Critical History (Carlson 1966). Gar, as a trained historian, however, went far beyond simply outlining the historical development of genetics. Based on meticulous examination of available archival records, especially correspondence, as well as his understanding of the science, his biography of Morgan is a model for how to do history. Moreover, his Bibliographical Essay in lieu of a reference list should be required reading for all fledgling historians of genetics.

  8. This claim appears in Chapter 3 of T. H. Morgan: The Man and His Science (Allen 1978)

  9. Allen (1980, 1992, 2001) explains these views more thoroughly. For Allen's Marxist historiography, see Kleinman 2023b.

  10. Jane Maienschein and David Magnus, In memoriam: Garland Allen, Bioethics Today, 20 February 2023. https://bioethicstoday.org/blog/in-memoriam-garland-allen/# (viewed April 21, 2023).

  11. For Gar’s discussion of Morgan’s views of eugenics, see his 1978 T. H. Morgan (pp. 224–237).

  12. Erin Gerrity, Gar Allen office moving project, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, https://biology.wustl.edu/news/gar-allen-office-moving-project (viewed April 21, 2023). The piece concludes with Gar’s description of various “retirement” projects.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Jane Maienschein for her beneficial information. I am also grateful to Matt Shindell, Nathaniel Comfort, and Kim Kleinman for permitting me to cite their reminiscences of Gar.

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  1. Emerita Professor of History, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Marsha L. Richmond

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Richmond, M.L. Remembering Garland Edward Allen, III (1936–2023), Second Editor of Journal of the History of Biology. J Hist Biol 56, 219–226 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-023-09724-w

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