Department of Vertebrate Paleontology correspondence
Scope and Contents
Department of Vertebrate Paleontology correspondence from 1887-1966, alphabetized by subject or author. Hundreds of scientists worldwide are represented by correspondence and include Alexander Agassiz, Glover M. Allen, Florentino Ameghino, Erwin H. Barbour, Franz Boas, Stephen F. Borhegyi, Robert Broom, Barnum Brown, Hermon C. Bumpus, Edwin H. Colbert, Thomas Alva Edison, Walter Granger, William T. Gregory, Claude W. Hibbard, D.A. Hooijer, William T. Hornaday, Remington Kellogg, Charles R. Knight, George Kunz, Bjorn Kurten, Richard Swann Lull, Richard Lydekker, James Reid Macdonald, William D. Matthew, Malcolm C. McKenna, John C. Merriam, Charles C. Mook, J.P. Morgan (Sr. and Jr.), Frederick K. Morris, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Alfred Romer, Bobb Schaeffer, George Gaylord Simpson, Charles H. Sternberg, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jacob Wortman, and Zhongjian Yang (C. C. Young).
Dates
- 1887-1966
Creator
Language of Materials
English, French, German, Italian
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is housed in the Division of Paleontology. Please contact the collection manager for access; materials are sometimes restricted. https://www.amnh.org/research/paleontology/collections/vertebrate-paleontology-archives
Historical note
The Department of Vertebrate Paleontology began as a new department of the American Museum of Natural History with the arrival of Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) as curator in 1891. Under the guidance of H. F. Osborn, the years following are marked with substantial areas of growth in the department’s paleontology collections and scientific staff. In 1895 and 1897, the Museum purchased Edward Drinker Cope’s (1840-1897) North American fossil mammal collection consisting of approximately 10,000 specimens, many of which are important Type specimens that became the core of the fossil mammal collection.
From the mid-1890s, notable vertebrate paleontologists arrived, namely William Diller Mathew (1857-1935), William K. Gregory (1876-1970), Walter Granger (1872-1941), Jacob Wortman (1856-1926), and Barnum Brown (1873-1963). H. F. Osborn’s astute hiring of these outstanding paleontologists marks the beginning of memorably-lead expeditions by Granger in 1901 to Egypt’s Fayum Basin, which added complete assemblages of Cenozoic animals to the collections, and in the 1920s, to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, referred to as the Central Asiatic Expeditions. In 1902, Brown’s collecting at Hell Creek, Montana, lead to the discovery of the most famous dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus rex, and to the Dinosauria discoveries in the Rockies and Alberta.
In 1916, H. F. Osborn, by then Museum President since 1908, and the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology began a long association with Childs Frick (1883-1965) until his death. Through this association, the Museum gained through donation in 1965, Frick’s collection of 200,000 fossil mammals collected by his expedition teams to the American West.
Twentieth century collecting and curatorial influence continued through 1966 with another generation of distinguished Paleontologists. Employed during this period were Edwin H. Colbert (1905-2001), authority on Dinosauria; George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984), expert on mammal diversity and evolutionary theory; Bobb Schaeffer (1913-2004), expert of fossil fish; Malcolm C. McKenna (1930-2008), authority on mammal classification.
Extent
46.04 Linear Feet (111 boxes)
Arrangement
Alphabetized by subject or author.
General
Historic Call Number: 1:1
VPA 1, VPA 13
Creator
- American Museum of Natural History. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology (Organization)
- Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910 (Correspondent, Person)
- Allen, Glover M. (Glover Morrill), 1879-1942 (Correspondent, Person)
- Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 (Correspondent, Person)
- Brown, Barnum (Correspondent, Person)
- Colbert, Edwin H. (Edwin Harris), 1905-2001 (Correspondent, Person)
- Frick, Childs, 1883-1965 (Correspondent, Person)
- Granger, Walter, 1872-1941 (Correspondent, Person)
- Hornaday, William T. (William Temple), 1854-1937 (Correspondent, Person)
- Knight, Charles Robert, 1874-1953 (Correspondent, Person)
- Kunz, George Frederick, 1856-1932 (Correspondent, Person)
- Matthew, William Diller, 1871-1930 (Correspondent, Person)
- McKenna, Malcolm C. (Correspondent, Person)
- Merriam, J. C. (John Clark), 1829- (Correspondent, Person)
- Mook, Charles Craig, 1887-1966 (Correspondent, Person)
- Morris, Frederick K. (Frederick Kuhne), 1886 (Correspondent, Person)
- Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857-1935 (Correspondent, Person)
- Schaeffer, Bobb, 1913-2004 (Correspondent, Person)
- Simpson, George Gaylord, 1902-1984 (Correspondent, Person)
- Wortman, J. L. (Jacob Lawson), 1856-1926 (Correspondent, Person)
Source
- Sternfeld, Ruth, d. 2007 (Compiler, Person)
- Title
- American Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Paleontology general correspondence, 1887-1966
- Author
- Melissa Silvestri, Allyson Mellone, Alana Gishlick, 2021
- Date
- 2021 August
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Minimal level collection record created with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museums for America grant, 2020.
Repository Details
Part of the Vertebrate Paleontology Archives Repository
200 Central Park West
New York NY 10024-5192
