Established in 1968 with funds from Duke and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Phytotron is a controlled environment research facility located on the Duke University campus housing plant growth chambers, controlled greenhouses, and associated instrumentation and laboratories. The Phytotron Records contain correspondence, memoranda, financial records, reports, grant proposals, blueprints, schematics, contracts, supplier catalogs, specification books, and other records of the planning, construction, and operation of the facility. Major subjects include the Duke University Dept. of Botany and Dept. of Biology, greenhouses, and global environmental change. English.
The Department of Botany existed at Duke from 1935 until 2000, when it joined with the Department of Zoology to re-form the Department of Biology. Collection contains assorted records from the Department of Botany, spanning from 1932 to 1978. Included are ledgers of financial records from the late 1930s, newspaper clippings from throughout the department's history, promotional materials, and committee reports from the mid 1960s.