Gregory, William K. (William King), 1876-1970
Biographical Note
William King Gregory (1876-1970) held many positions at the American Museum of Natural History before retiring on May 19, 1944 and becoming Curator Emeritus in two departments: the Department of Living and Extinct Fishes and the Department of Comparative and Human Anatomy. He officially began at the American Museum of Natural History in 1911 as an Assistant in Paleontology after studying zoology and vertebrate paleontology under Henry Fairfield Osborn while attending Columbia University. He worked as Osborn’s Research Assistant at Columbia University from 1899-1913. In 1912, Gregory became Assistant Curator at the American Museum of Natural History and held this position until 1921, when he became Curator of both the Department of Living and Extinct Fishes and the Department of Comparative and Human Anatomy. While in the position of Curator, he became a Research Associate in Paleontology from 1927 to 1930. During this time, Gregory was also a Professor of Zoology at Columbia University, where he began teaching in 1916.
With specialties in anatomy, phylogeny, vertebrate evolution, and mammalian dentition, Gregory published extensively. During his academic career, he developed the principle of habitus and heritage. This principle theorized that animals evolved with two types of characteristics. There was heritage, which derived from evolutionary histories, and habitus, which were adaptations to the environment. Later, he expanded his habitus and heritage theory to include his palimpsest theory, which proposed that the habitus features often shrouded the heritage features.
Selected Bibliography
Akeley, Mary L. Jobe, and William K Gregory. Congo Eden: A Comprehensive Portrayal of the Historical Background and Scientific Aspects of the Great Game Sanctuaries of the Belgian Congo with the Story of a Six Months Pilgrimage Throughout That Most Primitive Region in the Heart of the African Continent. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1950.
Gregory, William K. Biographical Memoir of Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1857-1935. Washington: National Academy of Sciences, 1938.
Gregory, William K. Evolution Emerging (Natural Sciences in America). New York: Arno Press, 1974.
Gregory, William K, Henry Cushier Raven, and Henry Cushier Raven. In Quest of Gorillas. New Bedford Mass: Darwin Press, 1937.
Gregory, William K. Man's Place among the Anthropoids: Three Lectures on the Evolution of Man from the Lower Vertebrates. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934.
Gregory, William K. Our Face from Fish to Man: A Portrait Gallery of Our Ancient Ancestors and Kinsfolk Together with a Concise History of Our Best Features. New York: Capricorn Books, 1965.
Sources
William King Gregory, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_King_Gregory
Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:
Bashford Dean papers
Bashford Dean (1867-1928) was a teacher, ichthyologist, and armor scholar. As curator, he headed emergent departments at the American Museum of Natural History (Reptiles and Fishes, 1903-1910) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (curator, Arms and Armor, 1904-1912) in New York City. The Bashford Dean Papers primarily consists of correspondence and sketchbooks.
Department of Comparative Anatomy records
Records from the Department of Comparative Anatomy including budgets and annual reports, personnel files, Arthur James lecture programs, correspondence and documents belonging to assistant curator George Miles Conrad, and curator William K. Gregory, history of the Department, departmental documents and reports of the projects with the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
American Museum of Natural History, Department of Preparation and Installation: Diorama and Hall construction
Field photographs of Gregory-Raven Expedition to Australia
The purpose of this expedition was to collect rapidly disappearing mammals from Australia and Tasmania. These photos document some of the indigenous mammals found there.
William King Gregory papers, 1889-1948 (bulk 1906-1948)
Henry Cushier Raven papers
Series 1: Correspondence , 1892-1947
Series 1 (Boxes 1 to 6) contain Osborn’s correspondence, both general and relating to specific publications including “Age of Mammals” 2nd edition, “Ape Man,” and “Men of the Old Stone Age.” This series also contains accession information for the entire Henry Fairfield Osborn Papers collection. Most materials are in English, but there is also some correspondence in German. It is arranged alphabetically and thematically, then chronologically.
Series 2: Published Papers & Unpublished Manuscripts, 1870 - 1945
Series 4: Writing, 1897 - 1968
This series consist of 2 sub-series. The first contains writing about Barnum Brown and the second contains writing by Barnum Brown.
American Museum of Natural History
Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library
200 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024-5192