Skip to main content

Horace W. Stunkard papers [1944?-1988?]

 Collection
Identifier: Mss .S78

Dates

  • Creation: [1944?-1988?]

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Conducting research in the Museum Archives is by appointment only. Archival records in the Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library may be restricted. Visit our website to request an appointment to view archival material and to learn more about our approach to restricted records.

Biographical sketch

Horace W. Stunkard, a researcher in the American Museum of Natural History's Dept. of Invertebrates, was a biologist specializing in parasitology. Stunkard obtained his doctorate in 1916 from the school of parasitology developed by Henry Baldwin Ward at the University of Illinois and accepted a biology instructorship at NYU. After service in World War I, he resumed his teaching, becoming chairman of NYU's Biology Dept. by 1925. Stunkard was an energetic and prolific teacher, researcher, writer and editor. In 1921, he was appointed an AMNH research assistant without salary, but with laboratory and library privileges. After retiring from NYU in 1954, he worked full time at the AMNH, publishing 275 research papers; his last one appeared in 1988. Stunkard also served as biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and as parasitologist for the Bronx Zoo. He was a section editor for Biological abstracts and a consulting editor in invertebrate zoology for the McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology. Stunkard's research was invaluable in the fields of medical and economic parasitology; among his many achievements, he identified the parasite that causes schistosomiasis and "swimmer's itch" in humans, and discovered the oribatid mite that acts as an intermediate host to the sheep tapeworm, Moniezia expansa. Until 1986, Stunkard continued to spend 18 hours a week at his AMNH laboratory; the museum awarded him its Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Science in 1971. Stunkard died in 1989 at the age of 100.

Full Extent

4 Linear Feet (8 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transfer from AMNH Dept. of Invertebrates, 1989.

Scope and content

The collection consists of eight boxes of unprocessed research notes, typescripts, reports, correspondence and some miscellaneous photographs. Most of the material is handwritten notes on single sheets, many with accompanying pencil drawings. There are also annotated typescripts (some carbon copies), and three notebooks in poor condition. Boxes 4 and 6 contain notes on the Pentastomida arranged geographically, along with a few files of correspondence, including letters to and from Robert Elroy Kuntz and J. Teague Self.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation provided support to make this finding aid available in ArchivesSpace (2016-2017). Minimal level collection record created with support from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Hidden Collections grant, 2010.

Repository Details

Part of the Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library Repository

Contact:
American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park West
New York NY 10024 USA
(212) 769-5420