1967 - 1998
Manuscript Collection 31
(6 linear feet)
Processed by Melissa Lamont
Processing of this collection was partly supported by a grant from
the Friends of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute
of Physics
Access: unrestricted
Copyright: Permission to publish material from the collection
must be authorized by
the Institution Archivist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Data Library and Archives
MS#8
Woods Hole, MA 02543
April 2001
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Charles Davis Hollister (1936-1999) joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution (WHOI) in 1967 as an oceanographer/sedimentologist in the Department
of Geology and Geophysics. His early research documented the global
effects of deep ocean circulation on sediment texture and on the distribution
of current controlled sediment rifts. Hollister started the
development of the giant piston coring system and documented the longest
continuous record of ocean basin history in a single 100 foot long core.
He also made significant discoveries concerning ocean sediment transport
and directed the High Energy Benthic Boundary Layer Experiment (HEBBLE).
In addition, Hollister initiated the sub-seabed concept and led the international
team that studied the scientific feasibility of isolating high-level radioactive
material into sediments below the sea floor.
Hollister graduated from Columbia University in 1967 with a Ph.D. in
geology. He served the Institution in a number of capacities both
scientific and administrative. He was named Senior Scientist in 1979
and was appointed Dean of Graduate Studies for the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution?s Joint Program for
the years 1979 -1989. In 1989 he accepted appointment as WHOI?s Associate
Director for External Affairs and in the same year was appointed Vice President
of the Corporation. He spent the later part of his career administering
and fund raising for the Institution.
He was the author of numerous papers and books including Face of the Deep, 1971 and three books on sediment transport and waste disposal. He testified before several U.S. Congressional committees concerning disposal of nuclear waste. Hollister was a member of the American Geophysical Union and a fellow of the Geological Society of America, among other professional affiliations. He was also a past president of the American Alpine Club.
Charles Hollister deposited several cartons of data in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Data Library and Archives (DLA) including cruise data from USS Pensacola and USS Portland as well as data from the Deep Sea Drilling Program (DDP) Leg 35. Jacqueline Hollister, his wife, donated five cartons of files from his office upon his death in 1999. She donated four additional cartons of files in 2001. Mary Zawoysky transferred to the Archives the planning materials from a 1993 conference on radioactivity. In 2003 the Archives received an additional carton from Mrs. Hollister.
The Hollister papers dating from 1967 to 1998 consist of twelve boxes, 24 folders of photographs and three filing cabinets of ocean floor photography, a total of 6 linear feet.
Files from the later part of Hollister?s career, particularly those files related to development and fund-raising, have been incorporated into the papers of the Development Office. Development Office files from the 1990s will be retained in that office until scheduled to be deposited in the DLA.
The series incorporates several versions of the Hollister curriculum vita, and several versions of short biographical introductory pieces. A history of the Hollister family and copies of personal documents, a permit to carry a concealed weapon for example, were also found in these folders and were retained. The series also includes folders of news clippings from Hollister?s mountain climbing and trekking expeditions. The 2003 accession includes photographs of trekking expeditions and notebooks from mountain ascents.
In nearly chronological order, this series incorporates paper drafts, proposals, conferences and meetings. Included here is information about Hollister?s work on Komsomolets (box 6), nuclear waste disposal as well as some data from oceanographic cruises earlier in his career (boxes 2-3). Drafts of Face of the Deep (box 9) and Abyssal Sedimentation and Circulation (box 3) are included as are transcripts from Congressional testimony.
This series includes numerous photographs. Photographs used for book illustrations are located in the Hollister photograph collection. His work also produced a large quantity of ocean floor photography housed in the Library?s bottom photography collection.
All materials were housed in acid free boxes and folders, staples and other metal clasps removed. Photocopies were made of a large volume of older fax paper. Since the collection was donated to the Data Library and Archives in several pieces, the original order could not be discerned. Effort was made to retain original folder titles and the material was arranged nearly chronologically.
Processing of this collection was partly supported by a grant from the Friends of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics.
As Dean of Education for 1979 to 1989 Hollister?s work is documented in the records of the Education Office, in particular box 43. Data from scientific cruises aboard the Portland and Pensacola are located in the Data Collection. The HEBBLE project was documented in a number of WHOI Technical Reports.