The collection was created by Dr. Russell Harold Johnsen

The Russell Harold Johnsen Papers documents the development of the nuclear science and radiation chemistry programs at Florida State University from the 1950s through the 1960s. FSU began its nuclear program in 1955. It was the direct outgrowth of a recommendation by the Conference of Southern Governors, which called for southern states to develop nuclear science programs in institutions of higher education. Governor LeRoy Collins that year appointed a nine-man committee to set up a nuclear program, and in 1957 the Florida legislature appropriated $5.25 million for studies at FSU, the University of Florida, and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

The Johnsen Collection documents the early history of the Center for Research in College Instruction of Science and Mathematics (CRICISAM). CRICISAM was a cooperative effort of 18 major universities to investigate, develop, and disseminate new materials, techniques, and syllabi for teaching in various fields of science and mathematics on the college level. FSU served as the "executive headquarters" for the Center, which began its operations on April 1, 1966. FSU Physics Professor Dr. Guenter Schwarz was its director, and Johnsen was elected its Vice-Chair. According to Dr. Johnsen, the Center terminated its operations in the early 1970s.

The collection also illustrates the work of the Florida Committee on Science and Public Affairs, a committee of science professors from several Florida universities that was formed in 1952 "to disseminate information on critical issues involving science and the public domain." In May 1952, this committee, which included Johnsen and 12 FSU colleagues, wrote a letter to the editors of Science protesting the U.S. State Department's denial of a passport to chemist Linus Pauling to visit Great Britain, calling it a threat to scientific research and to "the democratic tradition of this country." Pauling's passport had been refused because his anticommunist statements were "not strong enough."