This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
The papers of Henry Guernsey Hubbard primarily concern his research on the taxonomy and biology of insects, especially pests of cotton and orange trees. Also included
is material concerning his interest in botany and horticulture. They include field notebooks, documenting work in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan,
Virginia, and Jamaica; drawings, notes and plates relating to Hubbard's publications; and correspondence with Theodore D. A. Cockerell, Hermann August Hagan, Leland Ossian
Howard, John Lawrence LeConte, Friz Muller, and Eugene Amandus Schwarz.
Historical Note:
Henry Guernsey Hubbard (1850-1899), horticulturist, botanist, and entomologist, graduated from Harvard University in 1873. His interest in entomology was influenced
by Hermann Hagen, Baron von Osten-Sacken, and Eugene Amandus Schwarz, who became his closest professional colleague. Hubbard and Schwarz conducted several expeditions to Michigan,
collecting specimens in the Lake Superior region in 1874, 1876, 1877, and 1878. In 1877 he travelled to Jamaica to study and collect termites. He accepted a position as naturalist
with the Geological Survey of Kentucky in 1879, and became interested in the fauna of caves. Between 1880 and 1889, Hubbard lived in Florida where his research was primarily
concentrated on horticulture. His entomological work during these years focused on insect pests of the orange tree and he developed a kerosene emulsion as a remedy for haustellate
insects. This work culminated in publication of the Department of Agriculture Report on Orange Insects in 1885. From 1889 to 1892, Hubbard made collecting trips to
Michigan, Montana, Utah, and Oregon. He returned to Florida in 1893 to conduct investigations of the insect guests of the Florida land tortoise. In 1894 he accompanied Charles
V. Riley on a collecting trip to the British West Indies. Between 1896 and his death in 1899, his health interfered with his work, although he continued to collect whenever
possible.
