Describing Archives: A Content Standard

CFM2006_08b Finding Aid for the Michael A. Spencer Collection on Theodore Mead, 1887-1939 Processed by Judith Beale; finding aid prepared by Judith Beale University of Central Florida, Special Collections and University Archives

P.O. Box 162666 Orlando FL 32816 Telephone: 407-823-2576.

Finding aid encoded by Judith Beale October 2006 Description is written in English Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard Descriptive Summary All the materials are written in English Michael A. Spencer Collection on Theodore Mead 1887-1939 CFM2006_08b These Papers were collected by Michael A. Spencer 1 Box; 0.2 linear feet Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries,

P. O. Box 162666 Orlando, FL 32816, Telephone: 407-823-2576, E-mail: speccoll@mail.ucf.edu

Theodore Mead was a horticulturist who owned an orange grove in Eustis, Florida and developed a property in Oviedo, Florida to research and hybridize plants. The collection contains Mead's notebook and family correspondence, together with a brochure and news clipping about the founding of Mead Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. Selected Subjects and Access Points

Similar records may be found by searching under the following index terms.

Eustis (Fla.) Winter Park (Fla.) Oviedo (Fla.) Mead, Theodore Luqueer Botany--Florida Tropical Plants Gardening--Florida Gardens--Florida Plants, Ornamental--Florida Horticulture--Florida Acquisition Information

Michael A. Spencer donated these materials to the University of Central Florida Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Department in 2006.

Processing History

Materials were placed in pH neutral folders and boxes and fragile items were sleeved in polyester. Loose sheets in the notebook were interleaved with pH neutral tissue to protect the book.

Access

The entire collection is open for research.

Unpublished records are protected by copyright. Permission to publish quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Related Material

Michael A. Spencer also donated collections on Henry Nehrling and Julian Nally. Please see the finding aids for those collections for further information. The Theodore L. Mead Collection is held at Rollins College.

Preferred Citation

Michael A. Spencer Collection on Theodore Mead, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

Biographical/Historical Note

Theodore Mead was born on 23rd February 1852 at Fishkill, New York to Samuel H. and Mary C. Luqueer. He graduated from Cornell University in 1877, and he worked at Cornell after graduation doing research in natural history. His first interest was in butterflies, and he published Report upon the collections of diurnal Lepidoptera made in portions of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, during the Years 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874, with notes upon all species known to inhabit Colorado in 1875. Mead first visited Florida in 1869 and moved to Eustis, Florida in 1881 where he spent five years developing an orange grove. He then purchased eighty-five acres of land in Oviedo, Florida where he hybridized orchids and amaryllis and later, caladiums. Mead worked with Cornell University in studying orchids. He died on 4th May 1936. The Mead Gardens in Winter Park, Florida are dedicated to his memory.

Collection Scope and Content

Series I: Writings, 1887-1934 contains correspondence written or received by the Mead family. Transcripts of the letters were created by Julian Nally, but he apparently had access to letters that Mr. Spencer did not acquire because there are transcripts for letters that are not in this collection. Series II: Printed Matter, 1938-1939 holds a brochure and news clipping about establishing the Mead Garden.

Contents List Series I: Writings, 1887-1934. 3 folders.

This series holds materials written by the Mead family. Theodore Mead's notebook contains lists of plants organized chronologically. At the end of the book are some separate lists that are not dated. Correspondence includes letters written by Mead, his mother, Mary and his wife, Edith. Some letters are written to Mead and to his father, Samuel. The handwritten correspondence does not discuss plants, but the transcripts, which do not match the handwritten letters, are more revealing of life in Central Florida.

Box Folder 1 1 Horticulture Notebook. 1905-1934. 1 2 Correspondence. 1875-1914. 1 3 Transcripts of Correspondence. 1884--1885. Series II: Printed Matter, 1938-1939. 2 folders.

This series contains a brochure on the founding of the Mead Garden in Winter Park, Florida and a news clipping about Mead and establishing the memorial garden.

Box Folder 1 4 Brochures. Circa 1939. 1 5 News Clippings. 1938.