Granger, Walter, 1872-1941
Biographical Note
Walter Granger (1872-1941) was born in Vermont and was interested in natural history in high school. Outside of his academic studies, Granger worked as a professional taxidermist. At 17, he left school to start at the American Museum of Natural History in the Mammalogy and Bird Department after securing a job through his father’s taxidermist friend, Jenness B. Richardson. After doing field work with the Department of Paleontology in 1895, Granger transferred to that department in 1896 to do field work, preparation, and museum assistant work full time. From 1908-1909, he served as an Assistant in Paleontology, then becoming Assistant Curator in 1910, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals from 1911-1926, and finally Curator of Fossil Mammals from 1927 onwards.
Granger led and participated in notable expeditions to the Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming; the Paleocene of New Mexico; the Bridger, Wind River, Wasatch, and Uinta Badlands in and around Wyoming; Fayum, Egypt; and the Central Asiatic Expeditions to Mongolia and China. His publications include works on Eocene horses; Wasatch and Wind River Fauna; and the fossil mammals found on the Central Asiatic Expeditions. His contributions to the paleontological field include the discoveries of the velociraptor, the oviraptor, the protoceratops, dinosaur egg nests, and the full skull of the Baluchitherium.
Granger was married to his cousin Anna Deane Granger, who went with him on the Central Asiatic Expeditions. Although he never attended any institutions of higher education, he received an honorary doctorate in science from Middlebury College in 1932. In 1935, Granger became President of Explorers Club. After his death, the Asiatic Hall of Fossils was named the Walter Granger Memorial Hall.
Selected Bibliography
Granger, Walter, and George Gaylord Simpson. A Revision of the Tertiary Multituberculata. Bulletin / American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 56. New York: Published by order of the Trustees, the American Museum of Natural History, 1929.
Granger, Walter, and Newton H Brown. Tertiary Faunal Horizons in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming, with Descriptions of New Eocene Mammals. Bulletin / American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 28. New York: Published by order of the Trustees, American Museum of Natural History, 1910.
Granger, Walter. A Revision of the American Eocene Horses. Bulletin / American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 24. New York: Published by order of the Trustees, American Museum of Natural History, 1908.
Granger, Walter, and William John Sinclair. On the Names of Lower Eocene Faunal Horizons of Wyoming and New Mexico. Bulletin / American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 33. New York: Published by order of the Trustees, American Museum of Natural History, 1914.
Granger, Walter, William K Gregory, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Central Asiatic Expeditions. Further Notes on the Gigantic Extinct Rhinoceros, Baluchitherium, from the Oligocene of Mongolia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, V. 72, Article 1. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1936.
Granger, Walter, William K Gregory, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Central Asiatic Expeditions. A Revision of the Mongolian Titanotheres. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 80, Art. 10. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1943.
Sources
"Science: In the Museums", Time Magazine. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,748771,00.html
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Series 1: Correspondence , 1892-1947
Series 1 (Boxes 1 to 6) contain Osborn’s correspondence, both general and relating to specific publications including “Age of Mammals” 2nd edition, “Ape Man,” and “Men of the Old Stone Age.” This series also contains accession information for the entire Henry Fairfield Osborn Papers collection. Most materials are in English, but there is also some correspondence in German. It is arranged alphabetically and thematically, then chronologically.
Series 1: Field diaries, 1891-1998
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.
Series 2: Professional Correspondence, 1896 - 1942
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.
American Museum of Natural History
Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library
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