Earl E. Berkley Papers 1892-1989

Earl Berkley received a Ph.D. in 1933 in plant physiology from Washington University in St. Louis. Afterwards, Berkley worked in the textiles field with the Cellulose Research Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Cotton Council of America, Anderson, Clayton & Company, and Pacolet Industries. Berkley made contributions to fiber chemistry, structure, physical properties and end uses of cotton and other natural cellulose fibers.

Earl Berkley was born in Clayton, West Virginia, on July 9, 1902. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia in 1929, a Master of Science degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1930, and a Ph.D. in 1933 in plant physiology, also from Washington University. Berkley worked as a chemist at the Cellulose Research Corporation in East Alton, Illinois, and as an associate cotton technologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture before holding several positions at the National Cotton Council of America, including cotton technologist, senior fiber technologist, and chief fiber technologist. Following these appointments, Berkley accepted the position of Director of the Fiber and Spinning Lab at Anderson, Clayton & Company in 1949, an office he held until 1961. In 1961, he joined the Fiber Research and Testing section of the Cotton Department, Pacolet Industries, Inc., Deering Milliken Service Corporation. Throughout his career, Berkley made contributions to fiber chemistry, structure, physical properties and end uses of cotton and other natural cellulose fibers.

The Earl E. Berkley Collection relates to Berkley’s work in textiles including numerous contributions to the fields of fiber chemistry, fiber structure, and the physical properties and end uses of cotton and other natural cellulose fibers. The collection is divided into eight series. Together, series highlight Berkley’s scholarly work, materials related to Berkley’s areas of research specialization, travels to Europe and Asia, interactions with family and colleagues, genealogy and local history research, and books. The collection spans almost a century’s worth of gathered information and work from 1898 to 1989.

Items were only rearranged as to allow each folder to correlate to one of the identified series. Some series overlap with each other and the eight series spread throughout the collection. This collection is organized into series:

• 1, Professional Publications and Notes, 1920-1970
• 2, Correspondence, 1919-1988
• 3, Personal Documents and Memorabilia, 1920-1988
• 4, Travel, 1946-1959
• 5, Photographs, 1950-1960
• 6, Genealogy and Local History, 1892-1989
• 7, Books, 1908-1988
• 8, Articles, Reprints, and Reports, 1898-1966

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“This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

[Identification of item], Earl E. Berkley Papers, MC 00287, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Processed by Lisa Withers, October 2016; finding aid updated because of addition by Hannah Chapman, 2020 November, updated by Phillip MacDonald 2022 March.