Chester A. Reeds Mongolia Studies papers

This collection contains editorial process for the publication of volume 1 of Natural History of Central Asia. This series of very thick books ran for twelve volumes (though only six were published) and detailed the research and findings of the Central Asiatic Expeditions in Mongolia and China conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. It promoted the scientific findings of the expeditions to a wider audience outside of the natural sciences and history community and made them accessible to the general public. These papers date to 1932 and all pertain to volume 1 of Natural History of Central Asia, namely Chester A. Reeds’s work as one of the editors of the volume.

See also Central Asiatic Expeditions (1921-1930).

Chester Albert Reeds (1882-1968) was a geologist and museum curator. Born on July 20, 1882 in La Cygne, Kansas, Reeds spent various parts of his childhood moving around the Midwestern United States. He later went to the University of Oklahoma, majoring in geology and playing on the football team. Reeds received his degree in 1907, then went on to Yale for his Master’s (1907) and Doctorate (1910). After teaching at Bryn Mawr, he proceeded to his post at the American Museum of Natural History; officially employed as of August 1, 1912, he remained at the Museum until his retirement on April 15, 1938.

Reeds’s fields of investigation were geology and invertebrate paleontology. He was hired as the Assistant Curator of the Department of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontology, became Associate Curator as of January 1, 1918 (appointed 12/19/1917), and eventually became Curator on January 3, 1927 Reeds also served as the editor for Division I of the AMNH Publication Committee, and in this capacity he oversaw publications when they involved geology and paleontology. Reeds passed away in Ghent, New York, at the age of 86 on October 4, 1968.