Figure 1. A circa 1920-30 microscope slide by Roy M. Allen, of archegonia of Marchantia (female sexual organs of a liverwort). Allen moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey in approximately 1918, and remained there until at least 1950.
Roy Morris Allen, 1882 - 1971
by Brian Stevenson
last updated February, 2021
Roy M. Allen was an amateur and professional microscopist. He was a long-time member of the New York Microscopical Society, serving as President from 1917 until 1920, and exhibited on a wide breadth of microscopical topics. He worked as an electrical and metallurgical engineer, employing the microscope in analyses of metals and other objects. Allen published several books on microscopy, including The Microscope and Photomicrography, for general audiences, and technical works such as The Microscope in Elementary Cast Iron Metallurgy.
Figure 1.
A circa 1920-30 microscope slide by Roy M. Allen, of archegonia of Marchantia (female sexual organs of a liverwort). Allen moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey in approximately 1918, and remained there until at least 1950.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Covers of two of Roy M. Allen's books, "The Microscope" (1940) and "The Microscope in Elementary Cast Iron Metallurgy" (1939). Adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from internet retail sites.
Figure 3.
Figure 3. A 1940 advertisement for "The Microscope", from "Scientific American".
Figure 4.
Figure 4. Some announcements of talks by Roy M. Allen to the New York Microscopical Society. He served as President from 1917 - 1920. From "The Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies".
Roy Morris Allen was born on February 12, 1882 in Kane, Pennsylvania, one of at least five children of William and Mary Allen. The 1900 census listed the father's occupation as "machinist".
Roy moved to New York City and took up work as an electrical engineer. On April 26, 1911, he married Gertrude May Child, with whom he had three children, all sons. In 1911 or 1912, he moved across the Hudson River to East Orange, New Jersey. Soon afterward, they moved to nearby Bloomfield, New Jersey.Moore joined the New York Microscopical Society, and was elected President for the years 1917 - 1920. Throughout the years, he presented on a wide variety of topics (e.g. Figure 4). In 1961, he was awarded the NYMS Ashby Award.
I located several published exchange requests from Allen, such as a 1919 offer of "Several choice mounted microscope slides for projection", and a 1922 offer of "mounted slides for the microscope". In 1925, he donated "seven interesting microscope slides" to the Agassiz Association.
Allen joined American Microscopical Society in 1928.
Allen applied his microscopical knowledge to many aspects of his work. He contributed to a report to the American Society for Testing Materials on the weathering of varnishes, noted as, "the micro-photographs reproduced in Fig. 1 were obtained by the kind cooperation of Mr. Roy M. Allen, Microscopic Expert, of the Western Electric Co., Past-President of the New York Microscopical Society".
In 1932, he presented on "The Microscope as a Practical Aid in the Cast Iron Foundry" to the American Foundryman's Association. This was expanded upon to become his 1839 book, The Microscope in Elementary Cast Iron Metallurgy.
His skills provided help to other professions, too. In 1939, he coauthored a paper in The American Journal of Pathology, "A study of normal and rachitic bone structure by microphotographic methods", which featured his images of sectioned bones that were photographed under normal, ultraviolet, and infrared lighting.
Allen's 1940 The Microscope was followed the next year by Photomicrography. His Practical Refractometry by Means of the Microscope was published in 1954.
Roy Allen was a member of the American Scientific Affiliation, an organization of religious scientists. In 1971, their journal published his obituary: "Roy M. Allen, who has been a resident of the Elim Park Baptist Home in Cheshire, Connecticut, died February 20, 1971. The ASA National Office received word of his death from his son, H. T. Allen. Dr. Allen had received as honorary Sc.D. degree from Wheaton College in 1942 and had been a member of ASA since 1949. For many years he lived in New Jersey and was church organist at Brookdale Baptist Church in Bloomfield. He had been in private consulting work as a metallurgist since 1925 until his retirement a few years ago. He was the author of 'The Microscope' and 'Photomicrography', both published by D. Van Nostrand; 'The Microscope in Elementary Cast Iron Metallurgy' published by Loizeaux Bros.; and numerous papers dealing either with metallurgy or with the relationship of science and Scripture. A number of his papers and notes appeared in early issues of JASA. Besides the American Scientific Affiliation (Emeritus Fellow), he was a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the American Microscopical society; he was an Honorary Life Member of the American Foundryman's Society, had been a Member of the Council of the New York Academy of Sciences and President of the New York Microscopical Society. He was a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and was listed in Who's Who in the East and Who's Who in Engineering".
Figure 4.
"Archegonia of Marchantia", prepared by Roy M. Allen (see Figure 1). Photographed with a 10x objective lens and a C-mounted digital SLR camera.
Resources
Allen, Roy M. (1932) The microscope as a practical aid in the cast iron foundry, Transactions of the American Foundrymen's Association, Vol. 3, page 735
Allen, Roy M. (1939) The Microscope in Elementary Cast Iron Metallurgy, American Foundrymen's Association, Chicago
Allen, Roy M. (1940) Mounting insects by the pressure method, Bulletin of the New York Microscopcial Society, Vol. 1
Allen, Roy M. (1940) The Microscope, Van Nostrand, New York
Allen, Roy M. (1941) Photomicrography, Van Nostrand, New York
Allen, Roy M. (1954) Practical Refractometry by Means of the Microscope, R.P. Cargille Laboratories, New York
Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies (1918 and 1919) Notes on meetings of the New York Microscopical Society, Vols. 12 and 13
The Guide to Nature (1919) Exchange offer from Roy M. Allen, Vol. 12, page 111
The Guide to Nature (1922) Exchange offer from Roy M. Allen, Vol. 15, page xviii
The Guide to Nature (1925) Contributions to the Agassiz Association, Vol. 18, page 105
Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (1961) "Roy M. Allen was recently guest of honor at a banquet celebrating the 84th anniversary of the New York Microscopical Society. Dr. Allen received the Ashby Award in appreciation of his many years of service to the NYMS and for his achievements in microscopy and related fields. He is one of the past presidents, having served from 1917-20", Vol. 3
Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (1971) Emeritus fellow dies, Vol. 13
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Testing Materials (1923) Results of exposure tests on varnishes, Vol. 23, pages 273-281
Scientific American (1940) Advertisement for The Microscope, Vol. 162, page 192
Siegel, L. R.M. Allen, G. McGuire, and K.G. Falk (1939) A study of normal and rachitic bone structure by microphotographic methods, American Journal of Pathology, Vol. 15, pages 273-277
Transactions of the American Microscopical Society (1930) List of members, Vol. 49
U.S. census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com