Allen, J. A. (Joel Asaph), 1838-1921
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 3 Collections and/or Records:
Joseph Asaph Allen correspondence, 1870-1919
George Newbold Lawrence correspondence
Edgar A. Mearns correspondence, 1883-1915
The collection consists entirely of photocopies of handwritten letters. The first letter, dated May 17, 1883, is from Albert S. Bickmore, founder and superintendent of the AMNH, concerning Mearns's proposed donation of a collection of birds. The second letter is from curator J.A. Allen, discussing details of the specimens. Other correspondents include James P. Chapin, Frank M. Chapman, L.P. Gratacap, C. Hart Merriam, Jenness Richardson and Anthony Woodward.
Filtered By
- Subject: Ornithologists -- United States -- Correspondence X
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Birds -- Classification 2
- Birds -- Collection and preservation 2
- Zoologists -- United States -- Correspondence 2
- Birds -- Catalogs and collections -- New York (State) -- New York. 1
- Game protection -- United States 1
- Hunting -- United States -- Public opinion 1
- Hunting guns 1
- Mammals -- Classification 1
- Mammals -- Collection and preservation 1
- Natural history museum curators -- Correspondence 1
- Naturalists -- United States -- Correspondence 1
- Ornithology -- United States 1
- Scientific expeditions -- Russia (Federation) -- Siberia 1 ∧ less
American Museum of Natural History
Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library
200 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024-5192