Dates
-
Existence: 1857-08-08
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1935-11-06
Abstract
Henry Fairfield Osborn was a paleontologist, museum curator and administrator at the American Museum of Natural History. His 45-year career at the museum established it as a leading institution of research and scholarship in the fields of paleontology and evolution. Osborn's interest in paleontology, atypically for his time, derived as much from biology as from geology; in his undergraduate and graduate studies, he concentrated on biology, anatomy, embryology and neurology. In 1891, Osborn began his tenure at the AMNH by organizing and heading the new department of mammalian paleontology, while simultaneously accepting a similar position in biology at Columbia University. The AMNH department, which was eventually renamed vertebrate paleontology, was definitive in the museum's research and mission: the study and teaching of evolution. Osborn began his administrative work in 1899, becoming president in 1908, a position he held for twenty-five years. His strength was in leadership and education rather than empirical science; under his guidance, the museum expanded greatly in physical space and endowment, scientific staff, research and public education. Like his predecessor Albert S. Bickmore, Osborn recognized the need to combine information with entertainment. He popularized paleontology by ensuring that the museum's exhibits did not merely display the researchers' work, but also explained it in an attractive and accessible manner. Osborn, like so many of his contemporaries, was a prolific writer. His attempt to research and publish a definitive record of all the fossil mammals of North America was wildly overambitious, but by the time of his death he had completed substantial works on Equidae, titanotheres, rhinoceroses and Proboscidea, as well as on sauropod dinosaurs; his total publications number 940 (books, monographs, articles and papers), about half devoted to vertebrate paleontology.
Citation:
From biographical note for Osborn's archive collection at the AMNH Library, Mss .O835, written by Ann Herendeen.
Topics
Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:
Collection
Identifier: Mss .A461
Collection
Identifier: Mss .A54
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the collection consists of Andrews' correspondence, manuscripts, and transcripts of Andrews' broadcasts and talks from 1934 to1944. It also contains one folder of family and biographical documents and newspaper clippings received from Charles Gallenkamp, Andrews' biographer, in 1990. The majority of the administrative papers' correspondence concerns requests for speaking engagements about Andrews' explorations, requests for articles, and letters from the public and from companies...
Dates:
1920-1947; Majority of material found within 1934-1944
Collection
Identifier: Mss .C446
Scope and Contents
This collection is a record of the Museum’s explorations undertaken during the 1920s in the Gobi Desert under the leadership of Roy Chapman Andrews. A list of the men who participated in the CAE can be culled from the expeditions’ letterheads used by museum personnel in New York. All but three of the men cited on these letterheads are represented here. Those not found are Mont Reid, a physician, James Wang, an interpreter and G. Horwath of motor transport. The variety of other correspondents...
Dates:
1916-1940; Majority of material found within 1921-1933
Collection
Identifier: Mss .C67
Scope and Contents
Contains chiefly letters written by Cope to his family and correspondence between him and Henry Fairfield Osborn, some illustrated or with newspaper clippings attached. Also included are childhood report cards, a few mss. of his poems and essays (1854), a pamphlet by him entitled "The marriage problem" (1888), shipping notices from expedition sites (1881-1884), and a copy of his will.Box 1. Letters, 1846-1875 -- Box 2. Letters, 1876-1888 -- Box 3. Letters, 1889-1897. Cope-Osborn...
Dates:
1846 - 1897
Collection
Identifier: Mss .G7441
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of administrative, scientific, academic and personal papers, and correspondence. Papers include Gregory's general correspondence with universities, colleges and scientists about his research topics and publications; correspondence with museums about purchasing replicas of fossils; and with students seeking employement. Other papers include lecture notes prepared for zoology classes emphasizing evolution, 1925-1926 and 1939; and manuscripts and notes for his...
Dates:
1889-1948; Majority of material found within 1906-1948
Collection
Identifier: Mss .A451-.A452
Dates:
Majority of material found within ( 1899-1902)
Collection
Identifier: Mss .M671-.M674
Scope and Contents
This collection is concerned with Morden’s expeditions to Alaska, Central Asia, and Southwest Africa and contains detailed field notes written by both William and Irene. The field notes include details of their travels, supply lists, budgets, and descriptions of artifacts and specimens gathered. There are also a number of drafts of articles and books written by both Morden and Irene about their experiences abroad.
The William J. Morden papers also include correspondences which are...
Dates:
1922-1957
Item
Identifier: Mss .S46
Scope and Contents
Letters, visiting cards, and clippings from the expedition mounted on scrapbook pages. Many letters are addressed to Henry Fairfield Osborn and Bashford Dean.
Dates:
1898-1899
Collection
Identifier: Mss .R6673-.R6675
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of three boxes of correspondence (typed carbon copies, photocopies and originals) between Roosevelt and various individuals. The majority of the letters are between Roosevelt and Frank M. Chapman (AMNH ornithologist) or Henry Fairfield Osborn (geologist, paleontologist, and AMNH President) whom Roosevelt was particularly friendly. The correspondence generally covers topics related to the men’s shared interests in the different fields of natural history, as well as...
Dates:
1871-1937
Collection
Identifier: Mss .R6671
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains a wide range of materials mostly concerned with various memorials and exhibitions celebrating the life of Theodore Roosevelt, and in particular, his close relationship with the American Museum of Natural History. Materials include; typed, handwritten and carbon copies of correspondence, photographs, negatives, pamphlets, invitations, programs, books, items and texts from the various exhibitions, blueprints, an LP record, artwork (drawings, etchings), postcards,...
Dates:
1899-1984; Majority of material found within 1899-1970
