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Matthew, William Diller, 1871-1930

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: February 17, 1871 - September 24, 1930

Biographical Note

William Diller Matthew (1871-1930) was a vertebrate paleontologist and geologist. He was born in 1871 in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, and graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1889. He received his MA and Ph.D in Geology from Columbia University in 1895 where he studied under Henry Fairfield Osborn, and went on expeditions to Egypt between 1891-1895. Matthew joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1895 as an assistant in the Dept. of Vertebrate Paleontology. He rose to assistant curator in 1901, associate curator in 1902, and eventually becoming curator in February 1911. His work at the American Museum of Natural History was primarily about fossil restoration. Upon the death of E.O. Hovey in 1924, Matthew was appointed acting curator of the Dept. of Geology. He was at the museum for 32 years. His more than 250 publications deal with the morphology and classification of Eocene mammals and later Cenozoic mammals. He was especially interested in horses and made them a focus in evolution. Evolution was the theme on which he frequently wrote, whether dealing with description or comparison. Matthew was recognized for his ability to write about the habits of prehistoric animals in a humorous way. In 1927 Matthew went to the University of California as professor of paleontology and curator of the Paleontological Museum. He died in 1930 in Berkeley, California. A year after his death, his daughter, Margaret Matthew Colbert, began working at the American Museum of Natural History as an artist drawing fossil bones.

Selected Bibliography

Matthew, William Diller. Climate And Evolution. 1915. Matthew, William Diller. Dinosaurs With Special Reference to the American Museum Collections. 1915. Matthew, William Diller and Edward Drinker Cope. Hitherto Unpublished Plates of Tertiary Mammalia and Permian Vertebrata. 1915. Andrews, Roy Chapman and William Diller Matthew. Central Asiatic Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History, Under the Leadership of Roy Chapman Andrews: Preliminary Contributions in Geology, Palaeontology, and Zoology 1918-1925, Volume I. 1925. Andrews, Roy Chapman and William Diller Matthew. Central Asiatic Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History, Under the Leadership of Roy Chapman Andrews: Preliminary Contributions in Geology, Paleontology, and Zoology 1926-1929, Volume II. 1929.

Topics

Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:

Editorship of Division I papers, 1924

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 34
Identifier: Mss .H682
Scope and Contents

Correspondence regarding Hovey's appointment as Editor of the Publications of Division I and other editorial matters. Minutes of the Committee on Publication.

Dates: 1924

Proposed gallery for Hall of Geology, 1922-1924

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 6
Identifier: Mss .H682
Scope and Contents

Primarily correspondence to and from George H. Sherwood regarding a proposed gallery for the Hall of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontology. Also contains memoranda of committee meeting.

Dates: 1922-1924

Series 1: Field diaries, 1891-1998

 Series
Identifier: VPA 101
Scope and Contents

Consist of diaries, lists of specimens found, locations of finds, records of day to day activities, and step by step findings. Individual lists can be found with both the Charles H. Falkenbach and Ted Galusha Papers. The diaries are arranged by date and filed as nearly as possible in chronological order. Notable names in the field diaries include H. F. Osborn, Walter Granger, Barnum Brown, and G. G. Simpson.

Dates: 1891-1998

Series 2: Professional Correspondence, 1896 - 1942

 Series
Scope and Contents

The professional correspondence includes letters between Brown and other paleontologists both within AMNH and elsewhere. It also contains correspondence regarding Brown's lecture tours and his application for copyright. There are also some letters from the public with paleontological enquiries.

Dates: 1896 - 1942

Series 2: Published Papers & Unpublished Manuscripts, 1870 - 1945

 Series
Scope and Contents Series 2 (Boxes 6 to 21) contains materials related to Osborn’s published papers, articles, and unpublished manuscripts, including substantial works like “Age of Mammals” and his Titanotheres monograph, as well as other writings on horses, Proboscidea, evolution, fauna, flora, vertebrate paleontology, and other subjects. Materials include notes, addresses given or written by Osborn, revisions, correspondence, illustrations, photographs, notebooks, and more. It is arranged alphabetically,...
Dates: 1870 - 1945

Series 4: Writing, 1897 - 1968

 Series
Scope and Contents

This series consist of 2 sub-series. The first contains writing about Barnum Brown and the second contains writing by Barnum Brown.

Dates: 1897 - 1968