Michael A. Spencer Bromeliad Research Collection

Series I: Mulford and Racine Foster Files, 1910-1991 documents the work of these two individuals in discovering and propagating bromeliads. Correspondence, publications, notebooks, drawings, research materials, memorabilia and photographs show all aspects of their work including plant collecting, landscape designing and publishing. Photographs may be black and white or color prints, negatives or slides. Additional materials about the Fosters may be found in Series II and III.

Series II: Subject Files, 1880-2003 contains catalogues, journals, photographs, memorabilia and correspondence that Michael Spencer brought together under his chosen subject headings and arranged alphabetically. Many of the materials in this series originally came from Mulford and Racine Foster, which means that there is some overlap with the previous series. Spencer's own collecting interest lay in documenting the importance of bromeliads in society, and he collected many common items that showed bromeliads, especially pineapples.

Series III: Author Files, 1754-1997 includes a variety of media used for research, such as articles, books, magazines, newspaper clippings, and photographs. There are a significant number of materials authored by Mulford and Racine Foster and Lyman B. Smith, including original manuscripts.

Series IV: Plants by Family Files, 1908-1990 contains alphabetical files on plant families, which include newspaper clippings, books and other research materials.

Series V: Natural History Files, 1853-1997 holds alphabetical files on a wide range of natural history topics including plant societies, authors, drugs and diseases. The files contain published materials, photocopies, web resources, plant and geological samples that document's Michael's Spencer's considerable research interests.

Series VI: Medicinal Files, 1988-1996 contains alphabetical files on diseases and therapies. Not all these files relate to plants though many of them concern natural therapies.

Series VII: Lyman Smith Files: 1905-1994 holds alphabetical files that belonged to Lyman B. Smith. His notebooks, manscripts, teaching materials and correspondence may all be found here.

Series VIII: Personal Files, 1863-2014 contains alphabetical files showing Spencer's interest in collecting books and his wide interests. Materials that do not clearly belong in the other series may be found here.