The Collection of J. Paul Scurlock
Creator: J. Paul Scurlock, 1909-1994
Extent: Two file cabinet drawers and 18 slide carousels. A total of almost 5,500 slides.
Repository: The Bertram Zuckerman Garden Archives, Fairchild Tropical Garden Research Center, Fairchild Tropical Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Miami, FL 33156-4296.
Abstract: Currently, the Scurlock Collection is housed in one file cabinet and 18 slide carousels. The collection includes the slides Scurlock used in his book Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys, slides for a companion book (never published) on Exotics (non-native) trees and shrubs in the Florida Keys, backup slides for both publications, and indexes, correspondence and manuscripts of both books. In addition, the collection includes slides from 6 trips to the tropics taken by Scurlock with Fairchild Tropical Garden groups from 1975-1980, indexes for those slides, a slide presentation “Our Natural Heritage”, slides of Fairchild Tropical Garden, and over 200 slides of the Gentry Garden Club. The Scurlock Collection also includes a file of correspondence, notes and indexes from presentations and lectures given by Scurlock, and pictures and notes for research he did on insects in the Florida Keys.
Tabebuia caraiba
Administrative Information: Please see Archivist for permission to use collection and specific conditions described in Scurlock Collection folder in Administrative Files.
Acquisition information: The collection was donated to the Fairchild Tropical Garden by Mary-Alice Scurlock Herbert, the daughter of J. Paul Scurlock, in 1999.
Access: The Collection is open for research. Please consult the curator for access.
Usage Restrictions: Copyright to the collection of slides used in the publication The Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys is owned by Mary-Alice Scurlock Herbert. Permission may be granted for other uses.
Preferred Citation: (book) With permission from J. Paul Scurlock. (c1987). Native trees and shrubs of the Florida Keys: A field guide. Laurel & Herbert, Inc., Lower Sugarloaf Key, FL (all others) With permission from the J. Paul Scurlock Collection, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
Biography: Born May 14, 1909, in Greensboro, North Carolina, James Paul Scurlock lived on Sugarloaf Key from 1972 until his death, January 14, 1994.
Delonix regia
He returned more than forty years later, in 1972, with his wife, artist Mary Kathryn Scurlock. He was a veteran of World War II, a colonel in the U. S. Army Reserves, and a retired executive of Bell Telephone of Pennsylvania. He devoted the rest of his life to the natural history of the Keys.
From J. Paul Scurlock. (c1987). Native trees and shrubs of the Florida Keys: A field guide. Laurel & Herbert, Inc., Lower Sugarloaf Key, FL
Processing: The Scurlock collection was arranged in the 1990s by Moyna Prince; updated and completed in December, 2003 by Nancy Korber.
Collection Scope and Content Notes:
File drawer E-1
Index and finding aid: A hard copy of the finding aids and indexes for the Scurlock collection is filed in the front of this drawer. This also includes an index for the slides in the carousels. Please consult the Index for an explanation of the collection and locations of the electronic copies of the indexes.
Slides: Approximately 1,700 slides from the published book: Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys. Slides were previously stored in carousels. They have been archived in hanging sleeves, arranged by family. The index includes Genus and species of plant featured on each slide, Scurlock slide number and sleeve and slide number position within the hanging files.
File E-1-1: Manuscripts: Two working manuscripts for Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys: a draft marked “1-27-83 taken to Gainsville” and a draft marked “Second Draft”.
File E-1-2: Manuscript: Draft of Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys marked “last draft, 11/2/85” with notes, etc.
File E-1-3: Lectures: Lectures, notes, correspondence, indexes, scripts and newspaper clippings from early 1970s to 1989.
File E-1-4: Indexes: Original indexes to Scurlock’s slides for his book(s), text and pictures of insects.
File E-1-5: Index: Index to Scurlock slides taken on Fairchild Tropical Garden trips, 1975-1980.
File drawer E-2
Almost 2,000 slides for a book on ‘exotic’ or non-native trees and shrubs of the Florida Keys. The book was never published. The slides were previously stored in carousels. They have been archived in hanging sleeves, arranged for the most part, by family. The index includes Genus and species of the plant featured on each slide, Scurlock slide number and sleeve and slide number position within the hanging files. For the most part, these were slides Scurlock intended to use in a book. However, the final series of slides (403 series), appears to be extra – sometimes indicated by Scurlock as “backup” slides.
File E-2-1: Manuscript: An unpublished manuscript of what Scurlock planned as the Exotic Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys with pictures and descriptions in sheet protectors. Also includes some notes and other materials. Pt. 1
File E-2-2: Manuscript: An unpublished manuscript of what Scurlock planned as the Exotic Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys with pictures and descriptions in sheet protectors. Also includes some notes and other materials. Pt. 2
File E-2-3: Notes: Partial Manuscripts, additional pictures, descriptions and notes on exotic trees and scrubs.
File E-2-4: Insects: Materials, notes, pictures related to insects in the Florida Keys.
File E-2-5: Notebooks: Two small notebooks (5×7 inches) including alphabetical lists of plants; and a file of notes and index to exotic plants.
Carousels
There are 18 carousels including slides from six Fairchild Tropical Garden trips to various tropical countries dating 1975-1980. Also included are 4 additional carousels as indicated below. Except for the final two carousels, the slides are indexed. The index includes the slide position, Scurlock slide number, and a very brief description of the content of each slide.
Carousel numbers are those added by Scurlock.
Carousel 171-A: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Costa Rica, 1975 (80 slides)
Carousel 171-B: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Costa Rica, 1975 continued (80 slides)
Carousel 172-A-1: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Guatemala, 1978 (80 slides)
Carousel 172-A-2: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Guatemala, 1978 continued (80 slides)
Carousel 173-A: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Venezuela, 1976 (80 slides)
Carousel 173-B: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Venezuela, 1976 continued (80 slides)
Carousel 173-C: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Venezuela, 1976 end (80 slides)
Carousel 174-A: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Colombia, 1977 (80 slides)
Carousel 174-B4: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Colombia, 1977 continued (80 slides)
Carousel 174-C: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Colombia, 1977 continued (80 slides)
Carousel 175 A-1: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Brazil, 1979 (140 slides)
Carousel 175 A-2: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Brazil, 1979 continued (140 slides)
Carousel 176-C: Fairchild Tropical Garden Trip to Trinidad and Tobago, 1980 (140 slides)
Carousel 234 A: Fairchild Tropical Garden (80 slides)
Carousel 301 F: Personal slides. Insurance photos of contents of Scurlock home. Pictures of plants and planting in yard. Pictures of sailboats and Riggs Wildlife Refuge. (80 slides)
Carousel 319: Our Natural Heritage: a slide presentation prepared for community use by the Florida Keys Land Trust, Inc. 1981 (80 slides)
Carousel 326 B: Gentry Garden Club pictures. [No further index or explanation of these slides exits. Presumably they include pictures of member, plants and activities of the Gentry Garden Club (of Sugarloaf Key?)] (140 slides)
Carousel 326 C: Gentry Garden Club pictures. [No further index or explanation of these slides exits. Presumably they include pictures of member, plants and activities of the Gentry Garden Club (of Sugarloaf Key?)] (80 slides)
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs on this page property of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Please contact the Archivist for permission to use or reproduce photographs.