He described many dozens of new species, and was a kind and patient tutor to the young bryologists that sought him out. Unfortunately in the 1950's Bartram's eyesight began to fail. He began to severely limit his research to a few hours a day. In 1964 he was forced to give up on his work all together because his eyes were almost useless. Barnhart, J. Botanical Notes Upon Botanists .
Collection consist of correspondence, specimen lists, keys, and manuscripts.
They deal with Bartram's bryological research both in the United States and overseas. Series I - Correspondence. The correspondence dates from 1920- 1964. There are 30 boxes of correspondence. These are arranged by date, and then alphabetically within a specific date range.