McLaughlin, John, 1968-1969

The personnel materials primarily contain correspondence, grant applications and reports, reprints, and other documents pertaining to the work of the staff of the Osborn Laboratories of Marine Sciences; the series also includes a few files on New York Aquarium employees. Most material of a personal nature was removed and set aside for Human-Resource Department review; the records retained in the collection largely document the research interests and grants pursued by OLMS scientists.

This research focused on the genetics, toxicology, and pathology of various fish, barnacles, crustaceans, and other aquatic species, as well as on related topics like marine ecology. Major funders of the work included several governmental agencies—especially the Atomic Energy Commission, National Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Institute, National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research, and the National Science Foundation—as well as the Rockefeller and Whitehall foundations.

The files also document the work of being a scientist in the 1960s and 1970s: conducting both bench and field research, giving papers at conferences, the publishing process, the planning involved in setting up a new lab, and the differing levels of responsibilities of various lab staff—for example technicians, research assistants, research fellows, primary investigators, and so on. Other topics include the increasing interest in pollution and its effects on marine ecology and habitats, including the New York Bight. Finally, there are brief but illuminating mentions of the Aquarium’s relationship with Murray Handwerker and the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, and the May-June 1968 country-wide general strike in France.