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Catalog Data

Creator:
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Division of Mollusks  Search this
Subject:
Bartsch, Paul 1871-1960  Search this
Dall, William Healey 1845-1927  Search this
Rehder, Harald Alfred 1907-  Search this
Simpson, Charles Torrey 1846-1932  Search this
Abbott, R. Tucker (Robert Tucker) 1919-1995  Search this
Rosewater, Joseph 1928-1985  Search this
Roper, Clyde F. E. 1937-  Search this
Richards, Horace Gardiner 1906-1984  Search this
Marshall, William Blanchard 1865-  Search this
Morrison, Joseph Paul Eldred  Search this
Houbrick, Richard S  Search this
Clarke, Arthur Haddleton 1926-  Search this
Hershler, Robert  Search this
Harasewych, M. G  Search this
Stearns, Robert E. C (Robert Edwards Carter) 1827-1909  Search this
United States National Museum  Search this
United States National Museum Department of Mollusks  Search this
United States National Museum Division of Mollusks  Search this
United States National Museum Department of Biology  Search this
United States National Museum Division of Marine Invertebrates  Search this
United States National Museum Department of Zoology  Search this
Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Department of Invertebrate Zoology  Search this
Type:
Mixed archival materials
Date:
1880
1880-
Category:
Agency History
Notes:
This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Guide to the Smithsonian Archives
Smithsonian Year
Smithsonian telephone directories
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, "Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian." [http://nmnhwww.si.edu/gopher.menus/InvertebrateZoologyattheSmithsonianInstitution.html]. August 18, 1999.
The origin of the mollusk collections under the care of the Smithsonian Institution predates the formal establishment of the Department of Mollusks. Collections of shells began arriving at the Institution from many of the exploring expeditions conducted during the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s. The Department of Mollusks was created as an administrative unit of the United States National Museum (USNM) in 1880. As a result of an administrative reorganization of the USNM in 1897, it became the Division of Mollusks of the newly created Department of Biology. In 1914, the Division was merged with the Division of Marine Invertebrates under the latter title. In 1921, the Division of Mollusks regained independent status. At that time the coral and helminthological collections were turned over to the Division's care. In 1947, the Division came under the administrative control of the Department of Zoology, and in 1963 it became a division of the newly established Department of Invertebrate Zoology.
William Healey Dall, Alaskan explorer and paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey, served as Honorary Curator of the Division of Mollusks from 1880 until his death in 1927. Paul Bartsch joined the Division as an Aid in 1896. He was promoted to Assistant Curator in 1906 and Curator in 1916, a post he retained until his retirement in 1946. At that time, Bartsch was appointed Associate in Zoology, a position he retained until his death in 1960. Harald Alfred Rehder came to the Division in 1932 as Senior Scientific Aid. He served as Assistant Curator, 1934-1942; Associate Curator, 1942-1946; Curator, 1946-1965; and Senior Zoologist, 1965-1980. He was appointed Zoologist Emeritus upon his retirement in 1980, and retained the title until his death in 1997.
Other professional staff members of the Division of Mollusks have included Robert Edwards Carter Stearns, Assistant Curator and Associate in Zoology, 1884-1909; Charles Torrey Simpson, Aid, 1889-1902; William Blanchard Marshall, Aid and Assistant Curator, 1895-1896, 1903-1934; Horace Gardiner Richards, Assistant Curator, 1932; Joseph Paul Eldred Morrison, Senior Scientific Aid, Assistant Curator, and Associate Curator, 1934-1974; R. Tucker Abbott, Assistant Curator and Associate Curator, 1946-1954; Joseph Rosewater, Associate Curator and Curator, 1961-1985; Clyde F. E. Roper, Associate Curator, Curator, and Research Zoologist, 1966- ; Richard S. Houbrick, Associate Curator and Curator, 1977-1993; Arthur Haddleton Clarke, Associate Curator, 1977-1980; M. G. Harasewych, Associate Curator, Curator, and Research Zoologist, 1985- ; and Robert Hershler, Associate Curator, Curator, and Research Zoologist, 1985- .
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
Topic:
Mollusks  Search this
Marine invertebrates  Search this
Invertebrate zoology  Search this
Local number:
SIA AH00024
Data Source:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_arc_218065