Kendall W. King
A Guide to his papers, MS2002-002
Prepared by
Tamara Kennelly
Encoded by
Tamara Kennelly
2002
Collection Summary
| Title: | Kendall W. King Papers |
| Span Dates: | 1959-2000 (bulk 1960-1979) |
| Creator: | King, Kendall W. |
| Size: | 2 containers; 0.8 Linear Feet |
| Repository: | Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
| Abstract: | Reports and publications by Kendall King and other scientists about nutrition appraisal, ameliorating malnutrition, Mothercraft (Nutritional Rehabilitation) Centers in Haiti and other developing countries, and United Nations' nutrition policies and programs for combating malnutrition and meeting world food needs. Front matter and six chapters of King's manuscript "Mothercraft Centers and the Malnourished Child." Reports by King on cellulase and cellulose substrates. |
Administrative Information
Provenance: The papers of Kendall W. King were donated to Special Collections at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in May 2001 by his brother, Robert M. King, and his daughter, Virginia L. King.
Processing History: The collection was processed, arranged, and described by Tamara Kennelly in 2002.
Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Kendall W. King Collection, Ms 2002-002, Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Biographical Note
Kendall King (1926-1990) was the son of Hilda Bainton King of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and Charles Glen King, a widely known biochemist and former professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He had two siblings, a brother, Robert D. King, M.D., Chancellor's Distinguished Service Professor of Neurological Surgery at Upstate Medical University, and a sister, Mrs. Dorothy Hammel. Kendall King married Kathleen Abbitt (later Young), who graduated from Virginia Tech in the class of 1947, and they had two children, Russell and Virginia. He received B.S. (class of 1949) and M.S. degrees in biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin.
King was a member of Virginia Tech's faculty for 15 years. He had a split appointment in biology and biochemistry and nutrition, but he transferred entirely to the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition shortly after R. W. Engel came to Virginia Tech to head the new department in 1952. King was a member of the faculty for 15 years and served as department head from 1966 to 1968. He helped develop the new department's curriculum, generated more than $1 million in teaching and research grants, and helped start its study abroad program. King pioneered work in how complex carbohydrates are digested by microorganisms, but he was most noted for his pioneering work in Haiti, establishing the Mothercraft Center concept. He served as consultant to the U. S. Agency for International Development and World Health Organization, establishing similar programs in other nations.
In 1968 he joined the Research Corporation, a New York foundation for scientific research, as assistant vice president for grants. He became vice president in 1977 with full responsibility for planning and managing the corporation's $6 million annual grants program. That program became a major source for basic research funds for liberal arts colleges. He also administered the corporation's research and training project in public health and nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 1983 to 1986 King was vice president of Remick Associates, a chemical, pharmaceutical, and microelectronics industries recruiting firm. In 1986 he became associate dean at Western Carolina University (WCU) with principal responsibilities in research administration. He worked closely with WCU's international educational and technical assistance projects and started the university's first scholarship fund for international students. He died in 1990 at age 64.
Scope and Content Note
Kendall W. King (1926-1990) Collection spans the years 1959 to 2000 (bulk 1960-1979). It includes materials on cellulase, Mothercraft Centers, nutrition in Haiti, nutrition and world food needs, and miscellaneous prsonal and professional papers.
Two reports on cellulase concern King's pioneering work on how complex carbohydrates are digested by microorganisms. The reports deal with the shortcomings of cellulose and of cellulose substrates for studying the mechanism of cellulose action and the site of attack on substrate by cellulose.
The collection includes front matter and six chapters of the King's manuscript, "Mothercraft Centers and the Malnourished Child," as well as reports, speeches, guidelines, and publications by King and others, including several reports by Ivan D. Beghin. Mothercraft or Nutritional Rehabilitation Centers aimed to educate mothers about how to feed and care for infants and young children using techniques compatible with their understanding and financial limitations. In developing countries, pre-school children are most vulnerable to restrictions in the food supply and, therefore, the group in which malnutrition is most serious.
King did pioneering work in Haiti in establishing the Mothercraft Center concept and did research work for the Haiti project at Virginia Tech. He began his work in Haiti in 1958 when he served on a nutrition survey investigating for the first time the nutritional status of the Haitian people. In 1959-1960 he lead a nutritional research project in Haiti. The collection includes reports and publications about appraisal of nutrition in Haiti and efforts to ameliorate malnutrition in children through research and Mothercraft Centers.
The collection contains United Nations' publications, reports, and guides from 1977-1979 on world hunger, family nutrition programs, and food and nutrition appraisal, research, education, and policies. Toics include efforts to combat malnutrition in pre-school children, the place of vegetables in meeting the food needs of emerging nations, community action, and United Nations' nutrition policies and programs.
Correspondence in the colleciton primarily with publishers about the Mothercraft Center manuscript (1972-1982). Other correspondence relates to the King scholarship fund. The colleciton also contains Warren Strother's interview with King, materials by King on generating research grants and evaluating faculty, poems by King, "Dr. Kendall King Memorial Address" by Frederick W. Harrison, and a "Resolution in Memory of Dr. Kendall King" adopted by the Council on Research of the University of North Carolina.
CONTAINER LIST
Box 1
Folder
- Cellulase Reports by Kendall King, c1969
- Publications about Mothercraft Centers by Kendall King, 1967-1968
- Reports by King with Other Authors about Nutrition Research, c1964-1979
- Speeches, 1971 and undated
- Targeted Maternal Child Health Guidelines
- Mothercraft Centers Operations
- Publications about Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers by Other Authors, Including Beghin, Suter, Beaudry-Darisme, and Latham
- "Mothercraft Centers and the Malnourished Child" Manuscript-Outline and Agreements, 1978
- "Mothercraft Centers and the Malnourished Child"--Front Matter
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 1: Chronic Malnutrition in the Third World
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 2: Necessary First Steps in Haiti
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 3: Operations of a Prototype Mothercraft Center
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 4: Operational Variations
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 5: Measuring Success and Failures
- "Mothercraft Centers" Chapter 6: Positioning Among Other Attacks on Malnutrition
- Photographs
- L'Alimentation et la Malnutrition en Haiti by Ivan Beghin, William Fougerre, and Kendall W. King, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1970
- Nutrition in Haiti Research
Box 2
Folder
- "Analyses and Compilations of Nutrition Data and Studies," by Joyce M. King, 1978
- Publications by King and Others on Nutrition in Haiti, 1959-1979
- Nutrition in Haiti Publications Articles by Other Authors, 1959-1976
- Malnutrition and Meeting Food Needs, Publications by King, 1970-1978
- Community Action-Family Nutrition Programmes, UNICEF
- United Nations University World Hunger Programme Food and Nutrition Bulletins, 1978-1979
- Community Handbook for Developing Countries; Field Guide for Evaluation of Nutrition Education, 1978-1979
- Correspondence, 1971-2000
- Research Grants, 1981
- "A Faculty Evaluation Designed to..."
- "A Candid Conversation with Kendall W. King," interview by Warren Strother, Context (Winter 1976): 18-24
- Poems, Memorial Service, Obituaries, 1961-1990
For images and more about Dr. Kendall King, see Kendall King: Head of the Department of BIochemistry, 1966-1968
