Joe K. Neel Papers, 1941-1989

Joe K. Neel Papers

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Collection Overview

Title: Joe K. Neel Papers, 1941-1989

ID: OGLMC1004

Primary Creator: Neel, Joe K. (1915-1990)

Extent: 11.75 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

Series 1: Correspondence

Series 2: Subject Files

Series 3: Project Files

Series 4: Oversize Materials

Series 5: Photographs

Series 6: Slides

Date Acquired: 12/28/1984. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: University of North Dakota - Faculty

Languages: English

Abstract

Contains correspondence, files, photographs, and slides related to Neel's life and career as a research scientist.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Joe K. Neel Papers arrived at the Department in 13 boxes. Documents that pertained to Neel's research were contained in seven boxes grouped by project. Two of the other six boxes contained subject files that were arranged alphabetically. Two other boxes contained correspondence. One of these included correspondence that Neel had arranged by correspondent or by topic, as well as other letters that were arranged chronologically. Neel's arrangement of this box was maintained during processing. A second box of correspondence pertained only to Neel's graduate students. These files were arranged alphabetically by student and transcript materials were removed and shredded. Another box contained the manuscript copy of Neel's book on the Turtle River, A Northern Prairie Stream. Finally, one box contained documents related to Science Institutes held at UND and elsewhere between 1960 and 1964. Because these documents pre-dated Neel's tenure at UND and were related to Professor Kannowski, this box was separated from the Neel Papers and deposited into the Paul B. Kannowski Papers, OGLMC 683 (94-1971).

Collection Historical Note

Joe Kendall Neel was born June 12, 1915 in Tacoma, Virginia, the son of George Frank and Evelyn (Herold) Neel. He grew up in Winchester, Kentucky, where he graduated from high school. He attended the University of Kentucky, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1937 and a Master of Science degree in 1938. From 1942-1946 Neel served in an Army medical entomologist supporting a malaria control program administered by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). He attained the rank of captain. In 1947 Neel earned a Doctorate Degree (as a Rackham Fellow) from the University of Michigan. His specialty was limnology, the scientific study of bodies of fresh water as it relates to their physical, geographical, and biological features.

Neel was a faculty member at the University of Kentucky from 1947-1950. From 1950 to 1963, Neel again worked for the USPHS, as a staff member of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. As a result of work performed during this tenure, Neel became known as a pioneer in the study of sewage lagoons as well as an expert at identifying invertebrates, microscopic organisms, insects, and larvae in streams. Sponsored by the State Department in 1962, Neel traveled around the world lecturing on waste treatment. A year later he was named the director of the Potamalogical Institute at Louisville, Kentucky, a job he held until 1966.

In 1966, Neel accepted a professorship in UND's Biology Department and his limnological expertise led him to become involved in many regional research projects. In North Dakota he studied Grand Forks sewage lagoons, the Upper Missouri River Basin, Devils Lake, and Turtle River. Neel was fascinated by the Turtle River and he documented his seven-year study of it in a 1985 publication entitled A Northern Prairie Stream. In Minnesota, Neel coordinated research performed at Lake Sallie and the Pelican River Basin. He was presented the Sigma Xi Research Award in 1972.

Neel was a member of the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography, the Ecological Society of America, the Microscopical Society, and the Water Pollution Control Federation. In 1969 he was one of four UND professors named in the first edition of the World Who's Who in Science. Neel retired from UND after the 1980-81 school year. He died at his Grand Forks home June 22, 1990 at the age of 75.

Neel married Erma Bernice Baugh August 20, 1942 in Lexington, Kentucky. The couple had one son, Joseph Neel, Jr.

Subject/Index Terms

University of North Dakota - Faculty

Administrative Information

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Accruals:

Additional donations made by Joe K. Neel and Paul Kannowski

85-1360

92-1831

98-2242

2000-2478

Access Restrictions: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Source: Joe K. Neel

Acquisition Method: Donation; 84-1347

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Joe K. Neel Papers. OGLMC 1004. Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections. Chester Fritz Library. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in July 2015.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Correspondence],
[Series 2: Subject Files],
[Series 3: Project Files],
[Series 4: Oversize Materials],
[Series 5: Photographs],
[Series 6: Slides],
[All]

Series 2: Subject Files

This series dates from 1949-1977, and contains documents related to a variety of subjects. Most documents here consist of field notes, data, and analyses pertaining to many of Neel's earliest research projects. Especially important is his study of the Fayette Lagoon, Missouri (1957- 1962). Researchers may benefit from comparing the Fayette study to that of Grand Forks sewage lagoons. Files in this series are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Box 2

Folder 1: Aquatic Insects, 1961
Folder 2: Big Muddy Creek, MT, Field Notes, 1952
Folder 3: Blue River, Kansas City, MO, Field Notes, 1952-1953
Folder 4: Boones Creek, Field Notes, 1949-1950
Folder 5: Boysen Reservoir and Wind and Big Horn Rivers, WY, Field Notes, 1951-1952
Folder 6: Cedar Creek, MO, Data and Analysis, October-November 1958
Folder 7: Cedar River, IA, Report 1961
Folder 8: Council Bluffs Setting Basins, Field Notes 1952-1953
Folder 9: Douglas Lake, Psammon Notes, undated
Folder 10: Electron Microscope Images, undated
Folder 11: Elkhorn Creek, KY, Field Notes, 1949-1950
Folder 12: Elkhorn River, NE, Field Notes, May 1961
Folder 13: English Coulee, ND, Chemical Analysis, August 1972
Folder 14: Equipment, ca. 1960
Folder 15: Dykes Branch, Field Notes, 1953
Folder 16: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Miscellaneous Data, 1958
Folder 17: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Core Sediment Samples, 1959
Folder 18: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Vertical Sampling, 1959-1960
Folder 19: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Notes and Observations, 1959-1962
Folder 20: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Evaporation and Climatological Observations, October 1959, January 1960-December 1961
Folder 21: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Solar Radiation Data, 1957-1962
Folder 22: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Activity Reports, 1959, 1961-1962
Folder 23: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Field reports, 1958-1960
Folder 24: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Average Analysis Results, 1957-1958
Folder 25: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Chemical Analysis, 1959-1960
Folder 26: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Chemical Analysis, 1961-1962
Folder 27: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Chemical Data, 1961
Folder 28: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analysis, January-May 1959
Folder 29: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analysis, June-September 1959
Folder 30: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analysis, October-December 1959
Folder 31: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Totals, May-December 1959
Folder 32: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analyses Summary Sheets, 1959
Folder 33: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analyses, September-December 1960
Folder 34: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Plankton Analyses, 1961
Folder 35: Fayette Lagoon, MO, Publication Related to Study, 1968 & 1971
Folder 36: Forest River, ND, Field Notes, July 1967-May 1970 (Not Comprehensive)
Folder 37: Grand Forks Water Supply and Pollution, 1967-1970
Folder 38: James River and Wilson Creek, MO, Pollution Data and Analysis, 1950-1954
Folder 39: Lake Asta Bula, Sheyenne River, ND, Data, Analysis, and Reports, July 1974-June 1976, 1977
Folder 40: Meramec River, MO, Benthos Analysis, 1962
Folder 41: Meramec River Basin, MO, Field Notes, 1962-1964
Folder 42: Meramec River Basin, MO, Comprehensive Data, July 1962-January 1963
Folder 43: Middle River, MN, Field Notes and miscellaneous, 1969-1972
Folder 44: Minnesota Rivers (miscellaneous), Field Notes and miscellaneous, ca 1967-1970
Folder 45: North Dakota Lakes and Streams (miscellaneous) Field Notes and miscellaneous, 1965-1969
Folder 46: Mississippi River, MN, Field Sheets, 1967-1970
Folder 47: Mississippi River Basin, MO, Plankton Counts, October-December 1959
Folder 48: Missouri River Basin, MO, Plankton Counts, December 1959
Folder 49: Missouri River Basin, Kansas City, MO, Plankton Stimulation by Water Discharges, December 1959

Box 3

Folder 1: Missouri River Basin, MO, Shoal and Turkey Creeks, Report Draft, 1958
Folder 2: Missouri River Dams, Publication, ca. 1963
Folder 3: Missouri Sewage Lagoons, Data, 1955-1956
Folder 4: Missouri Sewage Lagoons, State Reports, 1956-1957
Folder 5: Nebraska Sewage Lagoons, Field Notes, 1960
Folder 6: North Dakota Sewage Lagoons, Report and Summary, 1954, 1989
Folder 7: North Platte River, NE/WY, Pollution Reports, 1960-1961
Folder 8: North Platte River, NE/WY, Data and Analysis, 1961
Folder 9: North Platte River, NE/WY, Data and Analysis, Nov 1962
Folder 10: Park River, ND, Field Notes, 1967
Folder 11: Rainy River, MN, Summary of Field Work to date, 1962
Folder 12: Snake River, MN, Field Notes, Aug 1967
Folder 13: Springs in Missouri, Field Notes and Publications, 1960, 1944, and 1965
Folder 14: Thief River, MN, Field Notes, 1967-1969
Folder 15: Travel to Pakistan and Turkey, 1962
Folder 16: Virginia and Kentucky Streams, Field Notes and Data, 1965-1967
Folder 17: Whitewood Creek, Belle Fourche, et al, Homestake Gold Mine area, SD, Field Notes, Reports, and Publications, 1959-1960
Folder 18: Wild Rice River, MN, Field Notes, 1967-1970
Folder 19: Yellowstone River, MT, Field Notes and Report, 1952, 1955-1956

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