This collection documents the activities of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology occurring mostly between the years 1928 and 1960. Materials consist of staff correspondence regarding research, loan of specimens, publications, exchange of scientific information and administrative departmental affairs such as plans and reports, budgets, and grants. The activities documented also cover collection management, expeditions, the development of the Southwestern Research Station in the 1950s, related scientific conferences and advisory boards, and publicity.

Curators represented in the collection, in the approximate order of their tenure, are: Frank E. Lutz, 1928-1948; C. Howard Curran, Willis J. Gertsch, 1955-1960; Charles D. Michener, 1935-1968; and Mont A. Cazier, 1938-1960. Materials from the following department scientific and administrative staff include those of: Annette Bacon, 1938-1950; Richard E. Blackwelder, 1937-1952; William P. Comstock, 1928-1956; A.J. Mutchler, 1924-1945; Cyril F. dos Passos, 1932-1956; John C. Pallister, 1931-1980; Herbert F. Schwarz, 1928-1956; Marjorie Statham-Favreau, 1946-1956; and Patricia Vaurie, 1947-1959. Frequent correspondents are: Joseph Bequaert, 1928-1957; F. Martin Brown, 1928-1958; Bumpus, Hermon C., 1928-1943; T.D.A. Cockerell, 1930-1954; Albert E. Parr, 1942-1959; William Procter, 1928-1951; David Rockefeller, 1928-1971; and Horace Van Voast, 1951-1954. Featured organizations include: Cornell University, Canada Department of Agriculture, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, University of Kansas, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Entomological Society, and the U.S. National Museum.

The records reflect topics such as the development of the AMNH-operated Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona as founded by Chairman Mont A. Cazier, as well as correspondence and publicity regarding a series of expeditions to the Bimini Island Group, Bahamas which hosted the Lerner Marine Laboratory. Expeditions such as those to the Southwest US and Mexico are also featured. The collection contains entomological field notebooks from the Lang-Chapin Congo expedition, and documents correspondence from Lutz’s relationship with Ansel F. Hall of the National Parks Service for the growth of nature trails and education. There is also significant correspondence from the Museum’s first director Hermon C. Bumpus, who served under President Morris K. Jesup (1881-1908) from 1902-1908, and was also a curator of the Department of Invertebrate Paleontology and later the Chairman of the American Association of Museums.

Materials are largely textual and include letter correspondence, employee records/bios, grant applications, memos, expedition applications, field notes, news/magazine articles, manuscripts, invoices, travel bookings and advertisements for conferences and products. The collection has a small amount of special formats such as hand-drawn illustrations and maps, photographs/portraits, postcards, and field notebooks.