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Notes from the Archives

Step back in time with us. From rare photographs and historic documents to personal accounts and scientific breakthroughs — stories of the people, places, and discoveries that shaped our legacy.

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Latest storyOctober 2026

Charlton Ogburn, Jr. at Highlands Biological Station

How a seventeen-year-old birder helped begin the first check-list of Highlands’ birds, and kept his ties to the Station for the rest of his life. By Lily Haney · Reinke Archives InternRead the story →

Recent stories

Nearly a century of HBS

The people, places and discoveries behind the Station, from the photographs, letters and records in its archives.

William Hamilton Gibson's original watercolor for Plate XXIII, Strobilomyces strobilaceus: three shaggy, dark-scaled mushrooms with a cut-away cap and a square detail of the poresOctober 2026The Mystery of the Misplacement of the Mycological WatercolorsIn 1957 a Columbia graduate student cleaning out a storeroom found a stack of grimy oak frames, each holding a watercolor of mushrooms. They were William Hamilton Gibson’s originals for his 1895 guide to edible fungi. Six are now in the Reinke Archives and six at the New York Botanical Garden, and seventeen are still unaccounted for. With an artist’s aside by Sarah Vickery.Holly Compton Shields & Bryding AdamsRead →George Masa's 1931 photograph of the Samuel T. Weyman Memorial Laboratory: a long raking window wall under a sloping clerestorySeptember 2026A Stranger No MoreGeorge Masa, the Weyman Laboratory and a 1932 fold-out map.Bryding AdamsRead →The Mico Standard Engraver, a cast-iron bench-top pantograph machineAugust 2026What's in a Name?The 1966 Mico Standard Engraver and the labels of the Highlands Botanical Gardens.Bryding AdamsRead →Nature Films and Public Education at the Highlands Museum, 1935June 2026“They Give Us Those Nice Bright Colors”Nature films and public education at the Highlands Museum.Bryding AdamsRead →A. S. Wheeler, Veterinary Surgeon — archival portraitMay 2026Dr. Arthur Seaver Wheeler: A Renaissance Man of Science and ArtBryding AdamsRead →Quoth the RavenMay 2026Quoth the Raven, Forever MoreBryding AdamsRead →Institutional MembershipsApril 2026Institutional Memberships: The Force Behind the Success of HBSBryding AdamsRead →How a Lake Made for Leisure Became the Heart of a LaboratoryFeb / Mar 2026How a Lake Made for Leisure Became the Heart of a LaboratoryBryding Adams & Sarah VickeryRead →A First Gift to the Highlands MuseumJanuary 2026A First Gift to the Highlands MuseumBryding AdamsRead →

Earlier stories

Back to the first

Every earlier story in the series, newest first.

  1. December 2025The Legacy of Margaret Ashley TowleBryding Adams
  2. November 2025Dr. Lindsay Shepherd Olive: A Life in Mycology and ConservationHolly Compton Shields
  3. October 2025Highlands Mineral Society, 1955–1962Bryding Adams
  4. September 2025Lydia Sargent Macauley (1932–2025)Bryding Adams
  5. July 2025Franklin Reed Dulany, Sr. (1897–1982)Bryding Adams
  6. June 2025Margaret Louise Cannon Carr Howell ClarksonBryding Adams
  7. May 2025Tabled for 80 Years — A Mystery SolvedBryding Adams
  8. April 2025Step Back in Time: Interactive Masa Photograph of the Sam T. Weyman Laboratory DedicationBryding Adams
  9. March 2025Ralph Millard Sargent and Louise Alexandria Anderson SargentBryding Adams
  10. February 2025Laura M. Bragg — 1941 Summer Director of The Highlands Museum of Natural HistoryBryding Adams
  11. January 2025The Clark Foreman Museum: Now the Highlands Biological Station Nature CenterBryding Adams
  12. December 2024Samuel T. Weyman BuildingCora Bauman
  13. November 2024E. E. ReinkeBryding Adams

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Notes from the Archives is a living record, shaped by volunteers, researchers, and community members who care about the history of the Highlands Plateau. If you have photographs, documents, or a story to contribute, we’d love to hear from you.

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