Series 1: Personal and Biographical, 1939-1999

This series contains materials related to the personal life of Christian Anfinsen. This small series consists of four subseries covering biographical reminiscences, articles about Anfinsen, awards, and sailing. There is little on Anfinsen's childhood or pre-college years. Instead, much of the material in this series recalls Anfinsen's accomplishments as a scientist through various biographical sketches and dedications. These items are primarily from the 1970s through the mid-1990s. In addition to scientific biographical information, the sailing materials in this series reveal aspects of Anfinsen's favorite leisure activity. Other personal accounts from life outside of the laboratory are few.

The first subseries contains biographical sketches, curricula vitae, and several folders of material from memorial services following Anfinsen's death in 1995. The second subseries includes various articles about Anfinsen's life, mostly focusing on his scientific accomplishments. These accounts include a 1964 article by Anfinsen describing his college years at Swarthmore, Nobel Prize articles, and assorted clippings spanning the 1970s through the 1990s. The next subseries is a small collection of awards, some of which are kept with the oversize materials. The fourth subseries consists of materials documenting Anfinsen's favorite leisure activity, sailing. When outside of the laboratory, Anfinsen spent many hours sailing, and this subseries contains sailing logs, sailing charts, and details sailing his ship the Good Girl. Photographs from several sailing excursions as well as other personal images can be found in the photographs and slides series.