UVic Archives > ESA

W. Gordon Fields fonds
(Acc. Nos. 1986-053, 1996-028)

W. Gordon Fields fonds. — 1929-1978.

90 cm of textual records.
1,233 photographs.
15 drawings.

Gordon Fields was a noted Invertebrate Zoologist, and was Canada's leading authority on squid. He attended Victoria College from 1929-30, and 1934-35, after working at various jobs. He graduated with a B.A. from UBC in 1938, with an M.A. from Stanford University, California in 1949, and with a Ph.D. from Stanford University, California in 1963. After serving as a high school teacher, 1939-40, Fields joined the Victoria College Biology Department in 1941, and served as the Chair from 1951-63. Fields was active in the Victoria College Faculty Association, Victoria College Board, and Victoria College Faculty and Staff Association. He was also a member of the Victoria College Building Committee, 1957-63 and UVic Campus Planning Committee, 1963-67; Chair of the Department of Biology, 1963-71, and involved in the planning and construction of UVic's Cunningham Building. He had strong views about the building program, and did not always agree with the Dean and President. His files add a personal touch to the official record of the time. Fields retired in 1978, and died at the age of 74 on 26 January 1986.

The fonds documents the development and working procedures of an academic scientist, 1929-78, as student, laboratory instructor, professor, researcher, Department Chair. It also documents his contribution to the development of Victoria College and UVic during this time. The fonds consists of historical notes on Jeffree Cunningham and Victoria College, student notes, Ph.D. research data on squid and sardines (including photographic data), lecture notes by subject, and course notes. Photographic data include a collection of electron microscope photographs, and a 35 mm slide collection of west coast marine invertebrates, compiled by Fields and his students, both of which provide an outstanding portrayal of B.C. marine invertebrates. Also included are files documenting Field's involvement in the Victoria College Building Committee, 1957-63.

Title based on contents of fonds.
Acquired from Gordon Fields in 1986, and from his widow, Barbara Fields, in 1996.
Inventory available with series and file level control.
Related fonds include: Victoria College Biology Department, Victoria College Faculty Association, Victoria College Faculty Board, Victoria College Faculty and Staff Association.
A related collection is the W. Gordon Fields Memorial Collection of Cephalopod Reprints, which is available to researchers at the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C. The collection consists of approximately 500 published articles and limited distribution documents.
Acc. Nos. 1986-053, 1996-028.

Series Level Descriptions

  1. Historical notes. — 1962-1978. — 8 folders.
    Files arranged by title.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (Files 1.1-1.8)
  2. Student notes. — 1929-1953. — 13 folders.
    Series includes 1 Botany notebook from Victoria College in 1929, created by his sister, Ruth Fields. The notebook reflects a time when lectures on a topic did not vary much from year to year. A student could rely on notes taken by a previous student if a lecture was missed. Files arranged by school and year.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (Files 1.9-2.7)
  3. Ph.D. dissertation research. — 1931-1979. — 35 folders.
    Series includes notes, drawings of samples, statistics, figures, and related documentation related to Fields' dissertation research.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (Files 3.4-4.16)
  4. Lecture notes and courses. — 1965-1975. — 8 folders.
    Series consists of lecture notes for Fields' courses relating to marine invertebrate embryology.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (files 5.1-6.1)
  5. B.C. marine invertebrates slide collection. — ca. 197-. — 881 slides.
    The series consists of a 35 mm slide collection of west coast marine invertebrates, compiled by Fields and his students, both of which provide an outstanding portrayal of B.C. marine invertebrates.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (Files 2.8-3.3)
  6. Electron microscope photographs. — 1970-1974. — 342 photographs.
    The series consists of a collection of electron microscope photographs documenting squid embryology.
    Acc. No. 1996-028 (Files 2.8-3.3, 4.17-18, 6.2-6.6)
  7. Victoria College Building Committee. — 1957-1963. — 2 folders. The series consists of minutes, reports and notes about the requirements for a Biological Sciences Building.
    Acc. No. 1986-053 (Files 1.1-2).
(photo of hatched embryo)

An electron microscope photograph of the nuclei, mitochondrial spurs and tails of a Loliga opalescens sperm (Neg. No. 24). Taken March 12, 1974. From Acc. No. 1996-028 (file 6.4).

Inventory of Acc. No. 1986-053

Box 1

1.1
Victoria College Building Committee — Science Building Requirements, 1958-63
1.2
Victoria College Building Committee — Survey and reports, 1957-58.

Inventory of Acc. No. 1996-028

Box 1

1.1
Historical notes — Biographical information, plus notes by D. Ellis, Feb. 2003.
1.2
Historical notes — Biology Department History
1.3
Historical notes — Orca cruise, 1949
1.4
Historical notes — Travels to South Pacific, 1977-78
1.5
Historical notes — Jeffree Cunningham (Cunningham was the first Head of Biology at UVic; the Cunningham Biology Building was named after him).
1.6
Historical notes — Bamfield Marine Station, 1969
1.7
Historical notes — Elliott Building construction, 20 photographs, 1962-64
1.8
Historical notes — Research grant application, 1968-76
1.9
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Ruth Fields, Botany I, 1929.
1.10
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Zoology, 1935
1.11
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Zoology I
1.12
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Botany, 1935-36
1.13
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Botany Lab Work
1.14
Student notes — Victoria College/UBC — Biology 2a, 1937

Box 2

2.1
Student notes — Stanford University — MA Thesis: "The Spawning Population of the Squid Loligo Opalescens Berry in Monterey Bay," 1949
2.2
Student notes — University of California — Zoology (Invertebrates), 1952. (1)
2.3
Student notes — University of California — Zoology (Invertebrates), 1952 (2)
2.4
Student notes — University of California — Marine Ecology, 1953
2.5
Student notes — University of California — Zoology (Invertebrates embryology)
2.6
Student notes — University of California — Miscellaneous
2.7
Photographs — Annelids, arthropods (82 slides)
2.8
Photographs — Echinoderms, tunicates, etc. (134 slides)

Box 3

3.1
Photographs — Molluscs and crustacea (154 slides)
3.2
Photographs — Various invertebrates (97 slides)
3.3
Photographs — Unnamed (32 slides)
3.4
Ph.D. Dissertation — Correspondence, 1962
3.5
Ph.D. Dissertation — Notes on Dissertation, 1973-79
3.6
Ph.D. Dissertation — Loligo opalescens data, 1968-76
3.7
Ph.D. Dissertation — Nervous system
3.8
Ph.D. Dissertation — General body features
3.9
Ph.D. Dissertation — Mantle cavity
3.10
Ph.D. Dissertation — Digestive system
3.11
Ph.D. Dissertation — Venous system
3.12
Ph.D. Dissertation — Arterial system
3.13
Ph.D. Dissertation — Branchila circulation, gills, etc.
3.14
Ph.D. Dissertation — Squid taxonomy and maturing factor omitted from Ph.D. Thesis
3.15
Ph.D. Dissertation — Selected samples, 1946-51
3.16
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unselected samples, male, 1947-51
3.17
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unselected samples, female, 1948-50
3.18
Ph.D. Dissertation — Predators and parasites
3.19
Ph.D. Dissertation — Appendices for Ph.D. Thesis, 1948-62
3.20
Ph.D. Dissertation — Data for CFG paper where they differ from MA figures
3.21
Ph.D. Dissertation — Loligo statistics, 1950
3.22
Ph.D. Dissertation — Four major samples (reprod. measured), 1948-49

Box 4

4.1
Ph.D. Dissertation — Second sheets
4.2
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed, 1931-57
4.3
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (1)
4.4
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (2)
4.5
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (3)
4.6
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (4)
4.7
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (5)
4.8
Ph.D. Dissertation — Figures (6)
4.9
Ph.D. Dissertation — Comparative anatomy Loligo
4.10
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (1)
4.11
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (2)
4.12
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (3)
4.13
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (4)
4.14
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (5)
4.15
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (6)
4.16
Ph.D. Dissertation — Unnamed (7) (21 photos)
4.17
Ph.D. Dissertation — Photography data of L. opalescens embryology (7 prints and negatives)
4.18
Ph.D. Dissertation — Embryology photograph album (95 b&w prints)

Box 5

5.1
Lecture notes and courses — Marine invertebrate embryology (1)
5.2
Lecture notes and courses — Marine invertebrate embryology (2)
5.3
Lecture notes and courses — Natural history, May-June 1975
5.4
Lecture notes and courses — Sea urchins
5.5
Lecture notes and courses — Sponges. Course field trips, 1965.
5.6
Lecture notes and courses — Based on Field's manuscript, Chemical Embryology.
5.7
Lecture notes and courses — Biology 310 (WGF's course on oceanography for non-oceanographers).

Box 6

6.1
Lecture notes and courses — Biology 314 (WGF's course on natural history of marine invertebrates)
6.2
Electron microscopy, manuscripts, drawings and photographs, 1970s (42 prints)
6.3
Electron microscopy, binder of photographs, 1974 (51 prints)
6.4
Electron microscopy, binder of photographs, 1974 (42 prints)
6.5
Electron microscopy, binder of negatives, 1973-74 (270 negs., 2 prints)
6.6
Electron microscopy, 5 envelopes of drawings, photographs and negatives, 1973-74 (82 prints, 65 negs.).
6.7
Ink drawings of Loligo peatii embryology by E. Potts, June 1944 (15 drawings), and photostat copies of embryology plates from textbook (14 pp), n.d.
6.8
Squid b&w negatives by DeBoyd Smith, June and July 1962 (40 negs.)

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UVic Archives > ESA