Murphy, Robert Cushman, 1887-1973

Exist Dates

April 19, 1887 - March 19, 1973

Biographical or Historical Note

Chairman

Robert Cushman Murphy, an ornithologist, conservationist, author and museum curator, spent 35 years with the American Museum of Natural History, retiring as chairman of the Dept. of Ornithology and Lamont Curator of Birds in 1955. Murphy's interests in oceanic birds and conservation were established during his first expedition for the AMNH, the 1912-1913 South Georgia Island Expedition. After working for several years at the Brooklyn Museum, Murphy was appointed associate curator of birds at the AMNH in 1921. He eventually went on 13 expeditions, to Peru, the Mediterranean Sea, New Zealand and other Pacific Islands, Bermuda, Venezuela, and islands in the Caribbean, often accompanied by his wife, Grace, a naturalist, conservationist and author. During the 1920-1941 Whitney South Sea Expedition, Murphy's expertise kept him out of the field so that specimens could be processed, studied and classified as soon as they arrived. In 1932, Murphy faced the daunting task of cataloging the 280,000 birds acquired by the AMNH when it purchased Lord Rothschild's Tring collection. With the help of Grace Murphy and Ernst Mayr, the work was completed in 4 months, producing a manuscript of 740 pages. Murphy published five books, including Birds of Peru (1925) and Oceanic birds of South America (2 v., 1936, 1948). In addition, he was co-author or contributor to five others, and wrote between 500 and 600 articles, both scientific and popular. Murphy died in 1973. (source: Robert Cushman Murphy collection, 1913-1973 (bulk 1930-1973). Mss .M87)

Worked at the American Museum of Natural History in American Museum of Natural History. Department of Ornithology.

Sources

Library of Congress Name Authority File

(1) American Museum of Natural History, Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1912

(2) American Museum of Natural History, Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1918

(3) Haffer, Jurgen, Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy: The Life and Science of Ernst Mayr 1904-2005. Berlin: Springer, 2008.

(4) American Museum of Natural History, Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1926

(5) American Museum of Natural History, Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1932

(6) American Museum of Natural History, Robert Cushman Murphy Collection, 1913-1973. Mss .M87

(7) Murphy, Robert Cushman. "The Askoy Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History in the Eastern Tropical Pacific." Science 94, no. 2429 (1941): 57-58.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

"Askoy" Expedition
associated dates: 1941-1945
Leader of the expedition from February to May of 1941 (7). Traveled to Panama, Columbia, and Ecuador. Was used to acquire new information rather than amass specimens.

American Museum of Natural History
associated dates: 1912-1955

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Ornithology
associated dates: 1912-1955

Bahamas
associated dates: 1952

Bahamas
associated dates: 1958

Bahamas
associated dates: 1956

Bermuda
associated dates: 1951
Reported the survival of the Cahow, a petrel from Bermuda once thought to be extinct (6).

Brewster-Sanford Expedition
associated dates: 1912-1917
Murphy did not go on the expedition. He acted as a scientific researcher back in New York. Published a paper based on the collection entitled “A Study of the Atlantic Oceanites” Published in the Bulletin. (2) amnhc_2000108

Columbia Coastal Expedition
associated dates: 1937
Leader of the expedition. Researched ornithology and oceanography. (6)

Ecuador and Northern Peru
associated dates: 1924-1925
Leader. Made ornithological and oceanic investigations. Gone 4 months.

England
associated dates: 1932
In charge of bringing over the collection of bird skins from the Rothschild's collection at the Zoological Museum at Tring, that was sold to the AMNH. (5, pg. 13)

Fieldwork in Ecuador
associated dates: 1926
January-March 1926

Fieldwork of the Coast of Ecuador
associated dates: 1935

Lower California
associated dates: 1915
Leader of the expedition (6).

Metcalf Mediterranean Expedition
associated dates: 1926
Collected birds and fishes from around the Mediterranean as a guest on Mr. Jesse Metcalf's yacht "Wawaloam". (4, pg. 69) amnhc_2000212

Murphy, Grace E. Barstow
associated dates: 1912-1973
wife amnhp_1001491

New Zealand and Sub Antarctic Snare Islands
associated dates: 1947
Leader of the expedition. Used to study of collections there and of sea birds in the field. Excavation of the moa and other extinct birds (6).

New Zealand and Sub Antarctic Snare Islands
associated dates: 1948
Leader of the expedition (6).

New Zealand and Sub Antarctic Snare Islands
associated dates: 1949
Leader of the expedition. Focused on the excavation of the moa skeletons in Pyramid Valley Swamp. (6)

Pacific Coast Columbia and Ecuador
associated dates: 1941
Leader of the expedition. (6)

Pacific Ocean between Isthmus and Panama and Northwestern Ecuador
associated dates: 1941
Conducted oceanic investigations and scientific collecting. January-May 1941

Pearl Islands
associated dates: 1945

Peru and Chile
associated dates: 1953-1954
December-January.

Peruvian Littoral Expedition of the Brooklyn Museum
associated dates: 1919-1920
Murphy was the leader of the expedition (while working for the Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences).

South Georgia
associated dates: 1970
Invited by Lars-Eric Linblad on his motor ship "Linblad Explorer". Accompanied by his wife Grace to observe whales feeding habits (6).

South Georgia Island Expedition
associated dates: 1912-1913
Arctic. To collect Sea Elephants and Sea Leopards and a series of young kind penguins. (1) Murphy was the leader of the expedition (while working for the Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences). amnhc_2000107

US Antarctic Research Programs Expedition to the Bellinghausen Sea in Antarctica
associated dates: 1960

Whitney South Sea Expedition
associated dates: 1920-1941
Murphy acted as AMNH coordinator in New York for the WSSE. Was in charge of choosing all five men who led the expedition. (3, p144) amnhc_2000164

Related Resources

Robert Cushman Murphy collection, (bulk 1930-1973)
Repository: AMNH Special Collections, Mss .M87

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