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Allen, J. A. (Joel Asaph), 1838-1921

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1838-07-19 - 1921-08-30

Abstract

Joel Asaph Allen was a museum curator, ornithologist, zoologist, taxonomist and writer. He was curator in the American Museum of Natural History's Dept. of Mammalogy and Ornithology, 1885-1920. Allen began collecting and classifying birds at the age of 13. He studied at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) and became a staff member in 1871, meanwhile participating in the 1865-1866 Thayer Expedition to Brazil, on which he collected bird and mammal skins, geological specimens, fishes, reptiles and other vertebrates. Allen also participated in several U.S. expeditions, collecting, surveying and making scientific observations. At the AMNH, Allen increasingly concentrated his attention on acquisitions, research and writing, and editorial work, cataloging thousands of specimens of birds and mammals in the museum's collections and providing editorial supervision for the Bulletin of the AMNH and the Memoirs of the AMNH. He was the first president of the American Ornithologists' Union for seven years from its formation in 1883, and was editor of The Auk for 27 years.

Topics

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Joseph Asaph Allen correspondence, 1870-1919

 Collection
Identifier: Mss .A451-.A452
Dates: Majority of material found within ( 1899-1902)

George Newbold Lawrence correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: Mss .L39
Scope and Contents The George Newbold Lawrence Correspondence collection consists almost completely of handwritten, signed letters received by Lawrence from other ornithologists and naturalists from the United States and Europe discussing the classification of birds and the exchange of bird skins. Some of the folders contain drafts or copies of Lawrence's replies. While there is a small number of official letters from institutions, almost all of the letters are from individuals. In addition to 228 documents...
Dates: 1847-1894; Majority of material found within 1865-1894

Filtered By

  • Subject: Birds -- Classification X

Additional filters:

Subject
Game protection -- United States 1
Hunting -- United States -- Public opinion 1
Hunting guns 1
Mammals -- Classification 1
Mammals -- Collection and preservation 1