Carr, Archie Fairly, 1909-1987

Professor of zoology, University of Florida, 1937-1987, herpetologist, turtle conservationist and ecologist, chair IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group, technical director, Caribbean Conservation Corporation.

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, printed material, clippings, and other papers on a variety of topics with which Carr was involved or interested. Some files represent Carr's work; other, material which he collected. Major subjects include alligators, the Australia Turtle Farm Project, the Biological Science Curriculum Study, the Cayman Turtle Farm, ltd. and Mariculture, ltd., national parks in Costa Rica, endangered species and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the Everglades National Park, the Florida State Museum, Lake Alice at the University of Florida, and many aspects of Florida natural history. Some special files include student papers on Alachua County ecology, news clippings on Carr and turtles and especially on turtle excluding devices, and a file of clippings from Costa Rican newspapers on Carr's camp at Tortuguero. Manuscripts of several other authors, including manuscripts on turtles by Jane Frick, David K. Caldwell, and Alex Shoumatoff, a manuscript by Maria Reed Crowell on blue herons, a notebook of Theodore H. Hubbell, a sequence of poems by Lola Haskins, proofs of part of Don Moser's High jungle, and a manuscript on the Cassawary of Papua New Guinea by Noel Vietmeyer, are held. A copy of a little known Florida novel, Betty's pond by Tom Morrill, is also held.

Archie Fairly Carr, Jr., University of Florida Graduate Research Professor of Zoology, was associated with the University for more than fifty years. As a zoologist, he was most noted for his pioneering work in studying sea turtles and especially for discovering their migration patterns. Earlier in his career he specialized in the regional natural history of reptiles and of turtles in general. As a conservationist and writer, he sparked worldwide interest in saving turtles from threatened extinction. His entire career was spent at the University of Florida, first as a student, B.A. (1932), M.S. (1934), and as the University's first Ph.D. (1937) in biology. He continued as a faculty member until his death.

One of the University's Life Sciences buildings, Carr Hall, and the Archie F. Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research are named in his honor. Other distinctions earned by Dr. Carr include the Daniel Giraud Elliott Medal from the National Academy of Science (1952) for his Handbook of Turtles, the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing in 1955, a University Distinguished Alumnus award in 1972 and the University's Presidential Medallion in 1986. In 1987 Carr received the Gold Medallion of the New York Zoological Society and in 1984, the first Hal Borland Award from the National Audubon Society. The Florida Museum of Natural History periodically awards the Archie F. Carr Medal to individuals who have distinguished themselves in biological conservation.

Dr. Carr's most noted work, the Windward Road (1956) is credited with creating world wide attention on the plight of the sea turtle. His other works include High Jungles and Low (1953, republished 1992), Ulendo, Travels of a Naturalist in and out of Africa (1964, republished 1992), So Excellent a Fishe, a Natural History of Sea Turtles (1967), and three Time-Life books, Everglades (1973), Land and Wildlife of Africa (1964), and Reptiles (1963). Dr. Carr was also the author of a Guide to the Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes of Florida (1955) and a Handbook of Turtles (1952). A Naturalist in Florida was published posthumously in 1994 by the Yale University Press.

Sources: Independent Florida Alligator, March 9, 1987, May 26, 1987, April 4, 1989; Audubon, March, 1982, and July, 1984; New York Times, May 23, 1987, Biological Conservation (August, 1987), and letter to Kenneth Cooper, May 18, 1959. A folder of bio-bibliographical information on Dr. Carr may be found in the University Archives Vertical File.

Archie Fairly Carr, Jr., University of Florida Graduate Research Professor of Zoology, was associated with the University for more than fifty years. As a zoologist, he was most noted for his pioneering work in studying sea turtles and especially for discovering their migration patterns. Earlier in his career he specialized in the regional natural history of reptiles and of turtles in general. As a conservationist and writer, he sparked worldwide interest in saving turtles from threatened extinction. His entire career was spent at the University of Florida, first as a student, B.A. (1932), M.S. (1934), and as the University's first Ph.D. (1937) in biology. He continued as a faculty member until his death.

One of the University's Life Sciences buildings, Carr Hall, and the Archie F. Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research are named in his honor. Other distinctions earned by Dr. Carr include the Daniel Giraud Elliott Medal from the National Academy of Science (1952) for his Handbook of Turtles, the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing in 1955, a University Distinguished Alumnus award in 1972 and the University's Presidential Medallion in 1986. In 1987 Carr received the Gold Medallion of the New York Zoological Society and in 1984, the first Hal Borland Award from the National Audubon Society. The Florida Museum of Natural History periodically awards the Archie F. Carr Medal to individuals who have distinguished themselves in biological conservation.

Dr. Carr's most noted work, the Windward Road (1956) is credited with creating world wide attention on the plight of the sea turtle. His other works include High Jungles and Low (1953, republished 1992), Ulendo, Travels of a Naturalist in and out of Africa (1964, republished 1992), So Excellent a Fishe, a Natural History of Sea Turtles (1967), and three Time-Life books, Everglades (1973), Land and Wildlife of Africa (1964), and Reptiles (1963). Dr. Carr was also the author of a Guide to the Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes of Florida (1955) and a Handbook of Turtles (1952). A Naturalist in Florida was published posthumously in 1994 by the Yale University Press.

Sources: Independent Florida Alligator, March 9, 1987, May 26, 1987, April 4, 1989; Audubon, March, 1982, and July, 1984; New York Times, May 23, 1987, Biological Conservation (August, 1987), and letter to Kenneth Cooper, May 18, 1959. A folder of bio-bibliographical information on Dr. Carr may be found in the University Archives Vertical File.