I. Overview of the Collection
Title: Records of the Department of Physical Sciences
Dates: 1948--
Location: 07/12
Extent: 1 boxes (0.5 linear ft.)
Language: English
II. Historical note
When Barry College opened in 1940, Sister Mary Jane Hart was the lone faculty member in the sciences. Sister Ann Charles Duggan joined her in 1947. With gradual addition of faculty in the forties and fifties, course offerings were increased. Sister Marie Joannes O'Donnell joined the faculty in 1958 and the Department of Physical Sciences was formed in 1961. With the completion of the Wiegand building in 1969, physical facilities were greatly expanded.
The annual Science Olympiad sponsored by the physical sciences department is a six-hour competition usually held in April, and is open to south Florida high school students. The fifth annual Olympiad received special publicity in The Miami Herald, April 20, 2006.
The Barry Chemistry Club, under the guidance of Dr. George Fisher, was named one of 29 "Outstanding Chapters" nationwide by the American Chemical society. Records of Barry Chemistry Club can be seen in Student Organizations Records.
III. The Collection
The records include a detailed history of the physical sciences department, reports and materials documenting significant events in the history of the physical sciences area prepared for the 40th anniversary of Barry College. The collection also includes flyers about the chemistry and physics programs and information and publicity about the annual Science Olympiad sponsored by the Department. Also newspaper articles and pictures of Barry's chemistry faculty involved in cancer research in the early years of the college, 1948. Mention is made in the article that Barry's chemistry department supplied shark oil to the Institutum Divi Thomae during World War II for use in treating wounds and skin cancer in soldiers.
Included in the history of the department is a list of chemistry graduates from 1959 through 1990, with their post-graduate education and professional status.
IV. Container list:
Box Title
12 Dept. of Physical Sciences, general information, 1980--
Academic Programs
Faculty
Science Olympiad
Self-Study Report, 1971
Chemistry
Chemistry: Institutum Divi Thomae, 1941-1946
V. Administrative Information
Acquisition Information: Transfer, n.d.
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research
Processed by: Sister Arnold Benedetto, O.P., revised by Ximena Valdivia, 2012
Preferred Citation: Records of the Department of Physical Sciences, Barry University Archives and Special Collections, Miami Shores, Florida
