The John and Charles Wise Ballooning Collection contains material related to American ballooning pioneer John Wise (1808-1870) and his son Charles.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following material relating to American ballooning pioneers John and Charles Wise: correspondence between John Wise and Major Albert J. Meyer during the Civil War, several unfinished manuscripts, including "Electricity of Instinct", envelopes, letterhead, and newspaper articles relating to the 150th anniversaries of John Wise's famous flights. Most importantly, this collection includes a scrapbook full of newspaper accounts, circa 1850-1870, of both John and Charles Wise's ballooning careers.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in two series:
I. Documents
II. Scrapbooks
Biographical / Historical:
John Wise (1808-1879), known to his contemporaries as the "Father of American ballooning", made his first balloon ascension in 1835, flying from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Haddenfield, New Jersey. During his long career, he was to make 446 free balloon ascensions in such craft as the Meteor, the United States, the Experiment, the Vesperus, and the Comet. In 1855, Wise flew 1,200 miles in 19 hours and 50 minutes in the Atlantic, setting a duration record that would stand until 1910. In the 1850s, Charles Wise, the aeronaut's son, joined him in his activities. In 1879, at the age of 71, John Wise made an ascension with passenger George Burr from St. Louis in the balloon Pathfinder; the balloon, Wise, and Burr were lost in Lake Michigan.
Provenance:
Jeanne Grist, Gift, 2000, NASM.2001.0002
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Walcott, Charles D. (Charles Doolittle), 1850-1927 Search this
Extent:
108.59 cu. ft. (16 record storage boxes) (84 document boxes) (1 half document box) (1 12x17 box) (2 16x20 boxes) (8 5x8 boxes) (oversized materials and framed panoramas)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scientific illustrations
Diaries
Field notes
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white photographs
Glass negatives
Nitrate materials
Date:
1851-1940 and undated
Introduction:
The Charles D. Walcott Collection Papers (Record Unit 7004) were given to the Smithsonian Institution by his wife, Mary Vaux Walcott, with certain more recent additions.
The Archives would like to thank Dr. Ellis L. Yochelson, United States Geological Survey, and Frederick J. Collier, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural
History, for their assistance in transferring items from the Walcott family and the Department for inclusion in this collection.
Descriptive Entry:
The Charles D. Walcott Collection documents his personal, professional, and official life as well as activities of his family. Included are papers from his scientific
and educational activities at the local and national levels, his career as a paleontologist, his administrative career with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and
to a lesser extent with the Smithsonian, and material on one of his sons' participation in World War I. Some of the collection postdates Walcott's life, including condolences
to his family, an unpublished biography, correspondence between the biographer and Mrs. Walcott, and paleontological field notes by some of his colleagues.
For records relating to Walcott's family there are diaries; photographs; and correspondence with his children, his last two wives, and other family members. There is a
considerable amount of material consisting of correspondence, photographs, memorabilia, publications, and official documents from the French and German governments concerning
Benjamin Stuart Walcott's involvement with the Lafayette Flying Corps in France during World War I and efforts to establish a memorial in France for the Corps. Other personal
records include legal documents; personal financial records; and family correspondence concerning financial investments in power companies, the prolonged illness and death
of his son Charles, the death of his wife, Helena, and his daughter's travels through Europe.
Walcott's professional life is divided between his service with the USGS and the Smithsonian. Documenting his USGS years are photographs; speeches; scrapbooks; reports
and correspondence from his work on forest reserves, the investigation of scientific work conducted by the federal government, and land reclamation; and annual reports. Walcott's
Smithsonian career is documented primarily by correspondence written while serving as honorary curator of paleontology and Acting Assistant Secretary in charge of the United
States National Museum. One scrapbook includes extensive correspondence from scientists, government officials, and friends upon the occasion of Walcott's appointment as Secretary
of the Smithsonian. For a more complete record of Walcott's association with the Smithsonian, the records of the Office of the Secretary (Record Units 45 and 46), records
of the Assistant Secretary, Acting (Record Unit 56), and two special series relating to the budget (Record Unit 49) and to the Research Corporation (Record Unit 51) should
be consulted.
For Walcott's career as a paleontologist, there is documentation in his field notes; publications of his as well as those of others in related areas; manuscripts; diaries;
and photographs, including panoramic views of the Rockies in Alberta, British Columbia, and Montana. In addition, there are paleontological field notes by Ray T. Bassler,
Charles Elmer Resser, and Edward Oscar Ulrich.
Walcott's role in promoting and developing national science policy is partially covered in the records relating to his involvement in the National Academy of Sciences,
National Research Council, Washington Academy of Sciences, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Included are legal documents, correspondence, committee minutes, reports,
proceedings, financial statements, membership lists, and related materials. Additional material on the Washington Academy of Sciences can be found in Record Unit 7099. Records
documenting Walcott's involvement in the administration and development of the other organizations exist at those institutions. His affiliation with the George Washington
Memorial Association is documented with correspondence, trustees' minutes, histories of the Association, and drawings and plans for a building. For other national developments
there is correspondence covering Walcott's participation on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
Other types of materials in this collection include certificates, diplomas, awards, and occasionally correspondence concerning his election to honorary and professional
societies and the receipt of honorary degrees, and scrapbooks and diaries which touch on events throughout his life.
See also the online exhibition "Beauty in Service to Science: The Panoramas of Charles D. Walcott."
Historical Note:
Charles D. Walcott (1850-1927) was born in New York Mills, New York, and attended the Utica public schools and Utica Academy, but never graduated. He demonstrated an
early interest in natural history by collecting birds' eggs and minerals; and, while employed as a farm hand, he began collecting trilobites. These he later sold to Louis
Agassiz at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Walcott began his professional scientific career in November 1876 when he was appointed as an assistant to James Hall,
New York's state geologist. On July 21, 1879, Walcott joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as an assistant geologist. Shortly after arriving in Washington, D.
C., he was sent to southwestern Utah to make stratigraphic sections. His later field work with the Survey included expeditions to the Appalachians, New England, New York,
eastern Canada, and several Middle Atlantic states, as well as other parts of southwestern and western United States. From 1882 to 1893 he worked with the Survey's invertebrate
Paleozoic paleontological collections, and in 1893 he was appointed Geologist in charge of Geology and Paleontology. He also served as an honorary curator of invertebrate
Paleozoic fossils at the United States National Museum (USNM) from 1892 to 1907, and as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in charge of the USNM from
1897 to 1898. His fieldwork from this period resulted in several major publications, including The Paleontology of the Eureka District (1884), a study of fossils in
Nevada; The Fauna of the Olenellus Zone (1888) concerning early North American Cambrian fossils; Correlation Papers on the Cambrian (1890); and Fossil Medusae
(1898). In 1894 Walcott was appointed Director of the USGS. Serving until 1907, he greatly expanded the functions of the agency and was successful in increasing federal appropriations.
In 1891 Congress had given the President the authority to establish public forests, but it was not until 1897 that the administration of the forest reserves was placed under
the USGS. Walcott was instrumental in having legislation passed to enforce the preservation of forest reserves and to add additional land to the reserve program. His predecessor
at the USGS initiated an arid land reclamation program in 1888 which Walcott continued as part of his forest reserve program. In 1902 he established the Hydrographic Branch
to administer the program; but four years later the Branch, since renamed the Reclamation Service, became a separate federal agency. He also created the Division of Mineral
Resources to experiment with coal combustion. In 1907 it was renamed the Bureau of Mines. At the request of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, Walcott served as chairman
of a committee to study the scientific work being conducted by the federal government.
Walcott was appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution on January 31, 1907, and resigned from the USGS in April 1907. His administration at the Smithsonian was
marked by numerous accomplishments, including the completion of the National Museum Building (now the National Museum of Natural History) in 1911. He was also successful in
convincing Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer to donate his extensive Oriental art collection and money for a building during his lifetime rather than after Freer's
death, as was originally intended. Walcott also set up the National Gallery of Art (predecessor to the National Museum of American Art) as a separate administrative entity
in 1920. To administer Frederick G. Cottrell's gift of patent rights to his electrical precipitator, the Research Corporation was formed in 1912, with revenue from this patent,
as well as future ones, to be used to advance scientific research at the Smithsonian and other educational institutions. Walcott served on the Corporation's Board of Directors
for several years. To further increase the Smithsonian's endowment, Walcott was planning a major fundraising effort; but this was not pursued following his death an February
9, 1927. In 1922, he and his wife established a fund in their names at the Smithsonian to support paleontological research.
Despite his many administrative responsibilities as Secretary, Walcott was able to find time to continue his research and collecting of fossils from the Cambrian and Ordovician
periods, with primary focus on the Canadian Rockies. In 1909 he located Cambrian fossils near Burgess Pass above Field, British Columbia. The following season he discovered
the Burgess shale fauna, which proved to be his greatest paleontological discovery. Most of this research was published in various volumes of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections from 1908-1931. His one major publication during this period was Cambrian Brachiopoda, published in 1912. Walcott continued to return to the Canadian
Rockies for most seasons through 1925, when he made his last field expedition. As one of the foremost scientific figures in Washington, Walcott helped to establish several
organizations with international renown and restructure existing national organizations. In 1902, Walcott, along with several other prominent individuals, met with Andrew
Carnegie to establish the Carnegie Institution of Washington as a center for advanced research and training in the sciences. Walcott served the Institution in several administrative
capacities. He was also instrumental in convincing Carnegie that the Institution should have laboratories built for scientists rather than use his gift solely for research
grants.
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1896, Walcott played a role in having the Academy become more actively involved in national science policy by serving in
many official capacities. In addition to serving on innumerable committees, he held the offices of treasurer, vice president, president, and council member. He was also appointed
to two presidential committees--Timber Utilization and Outdoor Recreation--in 1924 and was reappointed to both in 1926. He was the Academy's first recipient of the Mary Clark
Thompson Medal. Following his death, his wife established the Charles Doolittle Walcott Fund for achievements in Cambrian research.
In 1916 the Academy, at the request of President Woodrow Wilson, created the National Research Council within the Academy to assist the federal government in the interest
of national preparedness. Walcott, as one who met with Wilson, became actively involved in the organization of the Council by sitting on many of its committees, including
one which planned for the present headquarters of the Council and the Academy. Walcott contributed significantly to the development of American aviation. He pressed for the
establishment of the National Advisory Committee for Aviation, which was a predecessor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He was instrumental in establishing
air mail service, organizing the Committee on Aerial Photographic Surveying and Mapping, and writing the Air Commerce Act of 1926. Besides his scientific activities, Walcott
lent his influence to other groups, such as the George Washington Memorial Association. That group attempted to create a memorial to Washington by forming an institution to
promote science, literature, and the arts, just as Washington had proposed should be done.
Walcott was married three times - to Lura Ann Rust (d. 1876), to Helena Breese Stevens (d. 1911), and to Mary Morris Vaux (d. 1940). By his second wife he had four children:
Charles Doolittle, Sidney Stevens, Helen Breese, and Benjamin Stuart. Charles died while a student at Yale, and Benjamin was killed in action in France while flying for the
Lafayette Flying Corps. In 1914 Walcott married Mary Morris Vaux, who, while accompanying him on his field trips, studied and painted North American wildflowers. Her work
was published in five volumes by the Smithsonian in 1925.
Although Walcott never received an academic degree, he was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities in the United States and Europe. His
colleagues recognized his contribution to paleontology by awarding him the Bigsby and Wollaston Medals from the Geological Society of London; the Gaudry Medal of the Geological
Society of France; and the Hayden Medal from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He also served as a founder and president, 1899-1910, of the Washington Academy
of Sciences; president of the Cosmos Club, 1898; president, 1915-1917, of the Washington Branch of the Archeological Institute of America; and president, 1925-1927, of the
American Philosophical Society.
Chronology:
March 31, 1850 -- Born in New York Mills, New York
1858-1868 -- Attended public schools in Utica, New York, and Utica Academy
1863 -- Began collecting natural history specimens
1871 -- Moved to Trenton Falls, New York, to work on William P. Rust's farm and began collecting trilobites
January 9, 1872 -- Married Lura Am Rust
1873 -- Sold collection of fossils to Louis Agassiz at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology
January 23,1876 -- Lura Ann Walcott died
November 1876 -- Appointed assistant to Janes Hall, state geologist of New York
1876 -- Joined American Association for the Advancement of Science
July 21, 1879 -- Appointed Assistant Geologist, United States Geological Survey (USGS)
1879 -- Assisted Clarence Edward Dutton in Grand Canyon region in south-central Utah and the Eureka district in Nevada
July 1, 1882 -- Placed in charge of Division of Invertebrate Paleozoic Paleontology at USGS
1882 -- Elected Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
-- Field work in Nevada and Grand Canyon
1883 -- Promoted to Paleontologist, USGS
-- Field work in Grand Canyon and Cambrian studies in Adirondacks and northwestern Vermont
1884 -- Field work in Cambrian fossils in western Vermont; coal deposits in central Arizona; and Lower Paleozoic of Texas' central mineral region; Published first major paper The Paleontology of the Eureka District (USGS Monograph 8)
1885 -- Field work on Cambrians in Highland Range of central Nevada; Permian fossils of southwestern Utah; and Cambrian fossils in Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City
1886 -- Published "Classification of the Cambrian System in North America"
-- Cambrian field work in northern New York and western Vermont
1887 -- Cambrian field work in New York, western Massachusetts, and southwestern Vermont
1888 -- Married Helena Breese Stevens; Attended International Geological Congress in London; Placed in charge of all invertebrate paleontology at USGS; Published The Fauna of the Olenellus Zone which discusses Cambrian fossils in North America; Field work in Wales and on Canadian-Vermont border
May 17, 1889 -- Son Charles Doolittle born
1889 -- Cambrian field work in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mohawk Valley of New York, Vermont, and Quebec
1890 -- Published Correlation Papers on the Cambrian; Cambrian strata field work in New York and Vermont and Ordovician strata field work in Colorado Springs, Colorado
1891 -- Field work in New York, Colorado, and Appalachians from Virginia to Alabama
October 2, 1892 -- Son Sidney Stevens born
1892 -- Placed in charge of all paleontological work at USGS; Field work in southern Pennsylvania and western Maryland
1892-1907 -- Honorary curator of invertebrate Paleozoic fossils at United States National Museum (USNM)
January 1, 1893 -- Appointed Geologist in charge of Geology and Paleontology, USGS
1893 -- Vice President, Section E (Geology and Geography), American Association for the Advancement of Science; Examined Lower Paleozoic rocks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee; Prepared paleontological exhibition for Chicago's Columbian Exposition
August 20, 1894 -- Daughter Helen Breese born
1894 -- Placed in charge of all paleontological collections at USNM; Appointed Director, USGS; Field work in central Colorado and White Mountain Range in California and Nevada
1895 -- Cambrian field work in Montana, Idaho, and Massachusetts
July 8, 1896 -- Son Benjamin Stuart born
1896 -- Joined National Academy of Sciences (NAS); Field work in eastern California and western Nevada and Franklin Mountains near El Paso, Texas
January 27, 1897 -- Appointed Acting Secretary in Charge of the USNM
1897 -- Conducted examination of forest reserves and national parks in Black Hills, Big Horn Mountains, and Inyo Mountains
June 30, 1898 -- Resigned as Acting Assistant Secretary in Charge of the USNM
1898 -- Field work in Lexington, Virginia; Teton Forest Reserve, Wyoming; Belt Mountains near Helena, Montana; and Idaho; President of the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.; Published Fossil Medusae (USGS Monograph 30)
1899 -- Field work in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Quebec; One of the founders of the Washington Academy of Sciences
1899-1911 -- President of the Washington Academy of Sciences
1900 -- Field work in Montana and Rhode Island
1901 -- Field work in Pennsylvania
January 4, 1902 -- One of the founders of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) and Secretary of the Board of Incorporators
1902 -- Member of the Advisory Committee on Geology and Advisory Committee on Geophysics of CIW
1902-1905 -- Secretary of Board of Trustees and of Executive Committee of CIW
1902-1922 -- Member, Executive Committee of Board of Trustees of CTW
1902-1923 -- Member of Council of NAS
1902-1927 -- Member, Board of Trustees, CIW
1903 -- Head of Board of Scientific Surveys, CIW; Field work in Uinta Mountains, Utah; House Range of western Utah; Snake River Range of eastern Nevada; Chairman of committee to study scientific work conducted by federal government
1904-1913 -- Honorary Curator, Department of Mineral Technology, USNM
1905 -- Field work in Montana's Rocky Mountains and Cambrian fossils of Utah's House Range
January 31, 1907 -- Appointed Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
April 1907 -- Resigned as Director of the USGS
1907 -- Field work at Mount Stephen, Castle Mountains, Lake Louise, and Mount Bosworth in British Columbia
1907-1917 -- Vice President of NAS
1908 -- Field work in Montana, British Columbia, and Alberta
1909 -- Found Cambrian fossils near Burgess Pass above Field, British Columbia
1910 -- Found Burgess shale fauna
June 20, 1911 -- National Museum Building (now the National Museum of Natural History) completed
July 11, 1911 -- Wife Helena died in train accident in Bridgeport, Connecticut
1911 -- Field work in British Columbia
1912 -- Field work in Alberta and British Columbia; Published Cambrian Brachiopoda (USGS Monograph 51)
April 7, 1913 -- Son Charles Doolittle died
1913 -- Burgess shale work in Robson Park district, British Columbia, and in Jasper Park, Alberta
June 30, 1914 -- Married Mary Morris Vaux
1914 -- Field work in Glacier, British Columbia, and White Sulphur Springs and Deep Creek Canyon, Montana
1914-1927 -- Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, CIW
1915 -- Living algae field work in Yellowstone National Park and West Gallatin River; fossil field work in Arizona 1915-1917; President, Washington Branch of the Archeological Institute of America
1915-1919 -- Chairman, Executive Committee of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
June 30, 1916 -- Elected member of National Research Council (NRC)
October 1916 -- Freer Gallery of Art building construction begun
1916 -- Field work in British Columbia and Alberta
1916-1923 -- First Vice Chairman, NRC
December 12, 1917 -- Son Benjamin Stuart died in military action in France
1917 -- Appointed member of NRC's Executive Committee, Aeronautics Committee, and Geology and Paleontology Committee; Chairman, NRC's Military Committee; Burgess shale field work around Lake MacArthur and in Vermilion River Valley
1917-1922 -- Chairman, Executive Committee, CIW
1917-1923 -- President, NAS
June 1918 -- Helped organize National Parks Educational Committee (became National Parks Association in 1919)
1918 -- Field work in Alberta; Member, NRC's Interim Committee; Chairman, NRC's Military Division and Section on Aeronautics
1918-1919 -- Chairman, National Parks Educational Committee
1919 -- Field work in Alberta; Chairman, NRC's Committee on Scientific Men as Reserve officers in Reorganized Army; Chairman, NRC's Committee on Removal of Offices of National Research Council; Chairman, NRC's Committee on Representation of United States at International Meetings to be held at Brussels
1919-1920 -- Member, NRC's Committee on General Policy and Solicitation of Funds; Chairman, NRC's Government Division
1919-1922 -- Member, NRC's Committee on Federal Grants for Research; Chairman, NRC's Committee on Publication of "The Inquiry" Results
1919-1924 -- Member, NRC's Research Information Service
1919-1925 -- Member, NRC's Executive Board
1919-1926 -- Member, National Parks Association's Executive Committee
1919-1927 -- Chairman, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
-- Chairman, NRC's Division of Federal Relations; Member, NRC's Executive Committee of Division of Federal Relations
1920 -- Field work in Alberta
1920-1921 -- Member, NAS's Federal Relations Committee
1920-1922 -- Chairman, Committee on Budget (jointly with NAS and NRC); Member, NRC's Committee on Building Stone and Committee on Building Plans
1921 -- Field work in Alberta
1921 -- Freer Gallery of Art building completed; Received first Mary Clark Thompson Medal from NAS
1921-1924 -- President, National Parks Association
1921-1927 -- Chairman, NRC's Executive Committee of Division of Federal Regulations
1922 -- Field work in Alberta and British Columbia; Established Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott Fund at Smithsonian
1922-1923 -- Member, NRC's Committee on Stabilization of Permanent Foundations; Chairman, Committee on Finance (jointly with NAS and NRC)
1922-1925 -- Member, NRC's Committee on Building; Member, NRC's Committee on Policies
1923 -- Field work in Alberta and British Columbia; President, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Freer Gallery of Art opened
1923-1924 -- Chairman, Committee on Dedication of the New Building (jointly with NAS and NRC)
1923-1925 -- Member, NRC's Interim Committee; Member, Executive Committee, Committee on Exhibits in the New Building (jointly with NAS and NRC)
1923-1927 -- Second Vice Chairman, NRC
1924 -- Field work in Alberta and British Columbia
1924-1925 -- Member, Committee on Exhibits (jointly with NAS and NRC)
1925 -- Field work in Alberta; Life Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
1925-1927 -- President, American Philosophical Society
1926 -- Helped draft Air Commerce Act of 1926
1926-1927 -- Board of Trustees, National Parks Association
This consists of one item, a 4.5 by 7 inch pencil drawing by Stringfellow illustrating the changed propellor drive used with his 1868 engine. This item is framed.
Biographical / Historical:
John Stringfellow (1799-1883) was a designer and builder of steam power plants. A short time after William Henson patented his design for the Henson Aerial Steam Carriage in 1842, Stringfellow became his associate and was responsible for the engine. Between 1944 and 1847, a number of models were made, but they were not successful; Henson lost interest and moved to the United States. Stringfellow and his son Frederick J. Stringfellow later collaborated with steam engine experiments and built a number of flying machines together and individually. Perhaps the most famous of John Stringfellow's machines was his Stringfellow 1868 Steam-Powered Triplane, which was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in London, England. For this one-horsepower engine, Stringfellow was awarded a prize of 100 pounds, as it was judged the lightest engine in proportion to its power. At the time of the Exhibition, the engine featured a double piston but after the competition, Stringfellow modified the engine to have a single piston rod drive with a pulley arrangement. In 1889, the Stringfellow engine became the first object accessioned into the National Air Museum's collection and is currently on display in the Early Flight Gallery of the National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC.
Provenance:
Frederick J. Stringfellow, Gift, 1889
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Topic:
Stringfellow 1868 Steam-Powered Triplane Search this
Samuel P. Langley (1834-1906) was the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Apparently, many of Langley's papers were accidentally burned after his death.
Langley papers in the Smithsonian are housed in the Smithsonian Archives and the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). The Allegheny Observatory holds papers from Langley's
years there, from which copies of Langley's correspondence, 1867-1887, have been made for this collection.
These papers document important aspects of Langley's scientific and administrative career. Most of the material documents the progress of his aeronautical research from
his first flying model of 1891 through the failure of his Aerodrome A of 1903. Also, information files housed in the National Air and Space Museum Library include secondary
accounts and photographs relating to Langley's aeronautical studies. Related materials in the NASM Library include the Stephen M. Balzer papers, 1898-1902, which consist of
correspondence with Langley and his associate, Charles M. Manly, regarding Balzer's aerodrome engines.
Materials in this collection consist of publications, including a bound collection of writings, and original manuscripts of many of Langley's publications, 1869-1905; diaries
and shorthand notebooks, mostly kept by Langley's secretary, 1889-1905; bolograph curve and line spectrum readings; microfilm and photocopies of Langley's outgoing correspondence
from the Allegheny Observatory, 1867-1887; astrophysical research correspondence; scrapbooks, 1890-1903; aeronautical research, including correspondence, wastebooks, and notes
of Langley and Manly and their assistants, E. C. Huffaker, L. C. Maltby, B. L. Rhinehart, and R. L. Reed; and oversize aerodrome drawings and bolometer readings.
National Air and Space Museum (U.S.). Division of Space History Search this
Names:
National Air and Space Museum (U.S.). Division of Space History Search this
Extent:
15.26 Cubic feet ((14 records center boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Charts
Photographs
Reports
Manuscripts
Publications
Correspondence
Date:
[ca. 1000-1960]
bulk [ca. 1940-1960]
Scope and Contents:
This collection is a compilation of various reports, journals, letters, and books on three main subjects: early artillery, rockets, and space technology. The early artillery history is covered by manuscripts and reports from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The collection then covers rocket development in Russia, Germany, England, the United States, and Austria from the mid-19th century to the 1960s.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Space History, NASM, transfer, 1986, XXXX-0007, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of Willey Ley's personal files, including his business correspondence, book contracts, and galley proofs, as well as publicity concerning Dr. Ley and his activities, and inquiries and comments from Ley's readership during his tenure as columnist for Galaxy Magazine (1952-1969). The material also includes articles gathered by Ley on topics ranging from astronomy and space travel to biology and natural parks to mythology, psychic phenomena, and UFOs.
Scope and Contents note:
The Willy Ley Collection reflects Ley's broad, restless curiosity about the world around him. However, the main thrust of this material emphasizes his intense interest in the aerospace field. Ley's significant contributions as a great proponent, theorist and historian of rocketry and space travel are quite evident in this collection.
For the most part, the collection encompasses the years Ley spent in the U.S., roughly, from the mid 1930s to his death in 1969. Accordingly, very little pertaining to Ley's time in the VfR is found here. This wide array of materials was sold to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) by Ley's widow, Olga, in 1970.(1) Later that year, NASM personnel traveled to Ley's home in New York to transfer this collection to the museum. They were careful to maintain the overall order of the collection which reflects its original organizational structure, as well as the research techniques and thinking processes of Ley himself.
The collection of materials listed in the finding aid is arranged into four series. The first series is composed of personal materials that include correspondence, book and article contract materials, galley proofs, manuscript and article drafts, notes, articles, lecture invitations and brochures, photographs, drawings, travel and war-time memorabilia, newspaper and press clippings, book reviews, personal bills and receipts, business cards, children's' report cards and Christmas cards. The materials of this series range in date from the early 1930s to 1969. Except for moving this series to the beginning of the collection, original order was maintained. Additionally, original folder titles were retained (as they were for the rest of the collection). Correspondence, book/article contracts materials, research notes, articles, newspaper and press clippings and miscellaneous personal materials are arranged chronologically while the manuscript drafts, galley proofs and book reviews are organized alphabetically by title.
The second series comprises the bulk --about two-thirds, of the Willy Ley Collection. This series, the aerospace subject files, ranges in date from the late 1800s to 1969, and covers the following topics: biography (Ley and others), aviation, inventions, astronomy, space travel, rockets, artificial satellites, manned space flight, ground support and rocket test centers. The folders include correspondence, photographs, notes, reports, brochures, pamphlets, magazines, articles and newspaper clippings. Original order was maintained for this series. The materials are organized by subject.
The third series consists of printed materials. This series ranges in date from the early 1950s to 1970 and includes various publications (newsletters, pamphlets, journals, reports, directories, magazines and books). Also included are article and newspaper clippings. Ley organized the newsletters by title and then chronologically.
The fourth and final series of this collection contains non-aerospace subject files. Ley's certificates, citations and a scrapbook are found in this series. The certificates and citations are for Ley's civic and professional achievements. The scrapbook contains miscellaneous newspaper clippings regarding rocketry and space travel (in English and German) from the 1930s and 1940s. However, this series, ranging in date from the early 1900s to 1969, mainly encompasses materials not directly related to aviation, rocketry or space travel. Original order was maintained for this series. The materials are organized by subject.
The researcher should note that all the folders (except for those of Series 4) are numbered. This numbering system reflects an effort by NASM's Department of Space History in 1970 to create a rough catalog of the Willy Ley Collection as it was being moved to the museum. Though now obsolete as an index, these penciled numbers were retained and are written in the upper right corner of the folders.
Endnotes: 1. That same year, Mrs. Ley also sold her husband's collection of books and journals to the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Currently, it is known as the Willy Ley Memorial Collection and resides at the University's library. Wernher von Braun and NASA Saturn launch vehicle program manager Arthur Rudolph participated in the dedication ceremony in 1971.
Arrangement note:
Series 1: Personal Materials
Series 2: Aerospace Subject Files
Series 3: Printed Materials
Series 4: Non-Aerospace Subject Files
Biographical/Historical note:
Willy Ley was a world-renown expert in and proponent of rocketry and space travel. Born in Berlin, Germany on October 2, 1906, Ley attended the Universities of Berlin and Konigsberg and studied astronomy, paleontology, zoology and physics. Beyond these studies however, he developed a passionate interest in rocketry and its potential applications for space travel. Accordingly, he wrote and published his first book, Die Fahrt in den Weltraum (Travel in Outer Space) in 1926 and helped found Germany's early rocketry and spaceflight club, Verein fur Raumschiffahrt or VfR (Society for Space Travel) the following year. In 1929, Ley, along with well-known rocketry theorist Hermann Oberth, acted as a technical consultant on Fritz Lang's film, Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon). Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, he continued to write books, as well as numerous articles in German and foreign publications, on the subject of rockets and spaceflight. Once Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, the Nazis pressured Ley to cease publishing his articles in foreign journals and magazines due to rocketry's potential as a weapon in Germany's arsenal. Also, the VfR disbanded during the Nazis' first year in power amid concerns among the membership regarding the interest the German military was taking in their activities. These factors compelled Ley to leave Germany for Britain briefly and then to the U.S. in 1935. He became an American citizen in 1944.
Until World War II, Ley focused his writing career on topics unrelated to rocketry and space travel. He discovered little interest in these fields among the U.S. public. He was successful though, with a number of non-space publications such as Salamanders and Other Wonders and The Lungfish, the Dodo and the Unicorn. From 1940-44, Ley was science editor of the New York newspaper, PM and later lectured as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. He was also a regular contributor to a myriad of magazines, encyclopedias and digests such as Popular Mechanics, Cowles Encyclopedia and Galaxy. However, once World War II began and especially after Germany launched V-2 missile attacks on Britain in 1944, Ley found himself in great demand as an expert in rocketry. Following the end of the war, his writings, lectures and newspaper, radio and television interviews helped to spur even greater public interest in rockets and their potential for space flight. Additionally, his books on this subject were widely read in the U.S. and around the world. First published in 1944, Ley's Rockets, Missiles, & Space Travel enjoyed a great deal of popularity and justified numerous printings of revised editions. Other highly successful titles that Ley produced during the 1950s and 1960s included The Conquest of Space, The Conquest of the Moon (written with Wernher von Braun and astronomer Fred Whipple) and Beyond the Solar System. Ley, along with von Braun, artist Chesley Bonestell and others, collaborated on a series of space-themed issues of Collier's (1952-54) that helped to foster popular support for future U.S. missions to earth orbit, the moon and the planets.
Aside from his busy career as a prolific author and populizer of rockets and space travel, Ley was also a husband and father of two children. His wife, Olga, was an accomplished ballet dancer, model and author in her own right. The couple had to two daughters, Sandra and Xenia. Ley had hoped to attend the Apollo 11 launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but died of a heart attack at his home in Jackson Heights, New York, on June 24, 1969. His death came only four weeks before the launch of mankind's first landing on the moon's surface.
1906 October 2 -- Ley born in Berlin, Germany
1920 January 11 -- Smithsonian Institution publishes A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes, a pamphlet written by U.S. rocket scientist Dr. Robert H. Goddard
1923 -- Romanian rocket scientist Hermann Oberth publishes short book, Die Rakate zu den Planetenraumen (The Rocket into Planetary Space)
1926 -- Ley writes and publishes first book, Die Fahrt in den Weltraum(Travel in Outer Space)
1926 March 16 -- Goddard successfully launches first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts
1927 July 5 -- Ley helps found Germany's early rocketry and space travel club, Verein fur Raumschiffahrt or VfR (Society for Space Travel)
1929 -- Ley (along with Oberth) acts as a technical consultant for Fritz Lang film, Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon)
1933 January 30 -- Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
1935 -- Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky dies
1935 -- Ley leaves Germany for Britain and then to the U.S.
1939 September 1 -- Germany invades Poland – World War II begins
1940 -- Ley begins stint as science editor of New York newspaper, PM
1942 October 3 -- First successful launch of Nazi V-2 (A-4) rocket, Peenemunde, Germany
1944 -- Ley becomes a U.S. citizen
1944 -- Ley publishes first edition of book, Rockets (book would eventually see many revised editions and renamed Rockets, Missiles, & Space Travel)
1944 September 7-8 -- First V-2 rocket attacks on London and Paris
1945 May 8 -- Germany surrenders to Allies
1945 August 10 -- Goddard dies
1945 September 2 -- Japan surrenders to Allies
1945 September 29 -- Wernher von Braun and other captured German rocket scientists are taken to the U.S.
1945 October -- Arthur C. Clarke first proposes concept of communication satellites in Wireless World magazine
1946 April 16 -- First successful launch by the U.S. of a captured V-2
1950 -- Ley publishes book, The Conquest of Space
1952 -- Ley collaborates with von Braun, artist Chesley Bonestell and others on a series of space-themed issues of Collier's
1953 -- Ley collaborates with von Braun and Fred Whipple and publishes book, The Conquest of the Moon
1957 October 4 -- Russia's successful launch of first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1
1958 January 31 -- Successful launch of first U.S. artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1961 April 12 -- Russia's successful launch of first human into space, Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1
1961 May 5 -- Successful launch of first U.S. astronaut into space, Alan Shepard aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
1964 -- Ley collaborates with Bonestell and publishes book, Beyond the Solar System
1969 June 24 -- Ley dies at his home in Jackson Heights, New York
1969 July 16-24 -- Flight of Apollo 11 succeeds in landing U.S. astronauts on the moon
List of Acronyms:
AFB -- Air Force Base
ARCAS -- All-Purpose Rocket for the Collection of Atmospheric Soundings
AS -- Apollo-Saturn [spacecraft-launch vehicle stack]
ELDO -- European Launcher Development Organization
GALCIT -- Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology
Collection presented by Bella C. Landauer to the Aeronautical Archives of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences.
Some of the patents appear to be photographically-reproduced copies.
v. 1. Oct. 16, 1844-Dec. 21, 1880 -- v. 2. Jan. 11, 1881-Nov. 22, 1887 -- v. 3. jan. 24, 1888-Dec. 31, 1895 -- v. 4. March 17, 1896-May 22, 1906.
Local Notes:
NASMRB copy has bookplate: Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, presented by Bella C. Landauer to the Aeronautical Archives. Accession nos.: 5471-5474.
NASMRB copy has later blue embossed half-cloth bindings with marbled paper boards and gilt-lettered spines, with the printed label of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences mounted on the fronts.
The papers of Alexander Wetmore were received in the Smithsonian Archives in several different accessions between 1978 and 1987.
The Archives would like to thank Mrs. Beatrice T. Wetmore for her help in transferring her husband's papers to the Archives. We also appreciate the assistance of the staff
of the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History. The authors thank Susan Glenn and Pamela Henson for their thorough review of the manuscript.
Descriptive Entry:
The papers of Alexander Wetmore provide comprehensive documentation of his professional career and personal life. The collection is especially valuable in illustrating
his research career in systematic ornithology and avian paleontology; his many collecting trips and field expeditions; his involvement in professional organizations, scientific
societies, and social groups; his education and the development of his interest in ornithology; his administrative career at the United States National Museum (USNM) and the
Smithsonian Institution; his family history; and personal matters. Less well represented in the collection is material concerning his brief tenure as Superintendent of the
National Zoological Park, 1924-1925. Interested researchers should consult Smithsonian Archives Record Unit 74, National Zoological Park, Records, 1887-1965, and undated.
Wetmore was a prolific correspondent and nearly a third of this collection is made up of letters written and received between 1901 and 1977. The correspondence documents
most aspects of his career and is particularly valuable in illustrating his research on recent and fossil birds. Wetmore exchanged letters with many of the prominent ornithologists
and avian paleontologists of his day, and the correspondence is an important source of information on the history of both disciplines during the twentieth century. It is also
helpful in documenting USNM and Smithsonian history from the mid-1920s to the early 1950s. Especially valuable are letters exchanged with USNM curators which concern field
work, research programs, and exhibits. Wetmore corresponded with many foreign specialists, and several letters from British and European ornithologists contain descriptions
of World War II and its effects on society and science. Also included are countless letters written by Wetmore giving information and advice to amateur ornithologists, bird
watchers, and youngsters interested in birds.
A large file of correspondence, reports, fiscal records, publications, and related materials documents Wetmore's constant involvement in professional activities and national
and international scientific affairs. His seventy-year membership in the American Ornithologists' Union is thoroughly illustrated. Included are files concerning Wetmore's
work with the AOU Committee on Classification and Nomenclature, and his role in the preparation of the fifth edition of the Check-list of North American Birds. Also included
are files concerning Wetmore's work as a delegate and President of meetings of the International Ornithological Congress. Records concerning his work as Secretary-General
of the Eighth American Scientific Congress, and as United States Representative to the Inter-American Committee of Experts on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation provide
documentation of initial inter-American cooperation on conservation issues. Also found are substantial records documenting his associations with the National Geographic Society;
the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Tropical and Preventive Medicine; the Washington Biologists' Field Club; the Cosmos Club; and the Explorers Club. Contained in a separate
series are records dealing with his work as Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Daniel Giraud Elliot Award Committee.
Wetmore's work as a field ornithologist and scientific expedition member is documented from his first recorded observation of a Florida pelican in 1894 through his last
collecting trip to Panama in 1966. The majority of records concerning his field work are found in three series. The first documents Wetmore's work prior to his appointment
to the U.S. Biological Survey in 1910 and includes field notes, migration records, and lists made during his boyhood in Wisconsin; similar materials compiled during his college
days in Lawrence, Kansas, and on trips to the western United States; and catalogues of his ornithological and natural history collections. The second series consists of correspondence,
field notes, diaries, reports, expense records, and related materials documenting field work carried out for the U.S. Biological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution (with
the exception of trips to Panama). Also included are records created during trips to professional meetings, trips to study museum specimens, and other official travel. The
third series contains records concerning his field trips to Panama, 1944, 1946-1966. Also included is a file of permits used during his field investigations, as well as expense
accounts from his official travel.
Photographic documentation of Wetmore's life and career is a major strength of the collection. Included are voluminous photographs, albums, lantern slides, 35mm color slides,
motion pictures, and negatives documenting his field work and other official travel. Also included are portraits of Wetmore; photographs of Wetmore with family, friends, and
colleagues; photographs from his boyhood; photographs of Smithsonian events, scientific meetings, and social gatherings; and photographs of professional colleagues.
The papers contain a file of collected materials documenting Wetmore's personal life and family history. The file includes correspondence with his immediate family and
other relatives; various biographical information; genealogical data on his family; school and college records; papers and drawings from his early work on birds; congratulatory
correspondence and letters of introduction and recommendation; transcripts of an oral history interview; and personnel records from his service in the federal government.
Of special interest is Wetmore's "private zoo" - a card catalogue of species and subspecies named in his honor. A series of daily diaries and appointment books helps to illustrate
his day-to-day activities.
Wetmore's twenty-eight-year administrative career at the USNM and Smithsonian is partially documented in the collection. Most of the records consist of routine correspondence
inquiring about employment at the USNM. Also included are various files concerning Smithsonian activities, offices, and administrative matters.
The remainder of the collection primarily consists of materials relating to his research in ornithology and avian paleontology. Included is a large group of unpublished
manuscripts, speeches, and radio talks prepared by Wetmore. Also included are numerous letters; specimen lists; notes; published manuscripts; field records; and publications
relating to his research. Of special interest are original journals, lists, and correspondence from field work in Haiti by William Louis Abbott, 1916-1928, and Watson M. Perrygo,
1928-1929. The collection also contains a sample of original illustrations used in his publications on fossil birds; and manuscripts, proofs, drawings, and other materials
from his magnum opus, The Birds of the Republic of Panama.
Also included in the collection are diplomas, certificates, and awards received by Wetmore, and typescript copies of correspondence between John Xantus and Spencer F. Baird.
Additional records documenting Wetmore's professional career can be found in the Smithsonian Archives. Researchers interested in Wetmore's career as Assistant Secretary
in charge of the USNM and Secretary of the Smithsonian should consult Smithsonian Archives Record Units 192 and 46. Field reports written during several investigations he
conducted for the U.S. Biological Survey can be found in Record Unit 7176, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Field Reports, 1860-1961. Records dealing with Wetmore's
work on the fifth edition of the AOU Check-list of North American Birds are a part of record unit 7050, American Ornithologists' Union Collection, 1883-1977. An oral history
interview (record unit 9504) conducted by the Archives in 1974 provides insight to all aspects of Wetmore's career. Record unit 9516, the Watson M. Perrygo oral history interviews,
include many reflections on Wetmore by his long-time field companion.
A voluminous collection of Wetmore's field catalogues, field notes, lists, and other specimen-related records are housed in the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural
History.
Historical Note:
(Frank) Alexander Wetmore (1886-1978), ornithologist, avian paleontologist, and science administrator, was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, serving
from 1945 to 1952. He was born in North Freedom, Wisconsin, the son of Nelson Franklin and Emma Amelia (Woodworth) Wetmore. He developed an early interest in birds and at
the age of eight made his first field journal entry - an observation on the pelican recorded on a family vacation to Florida in 1894. His first published paper, "My Experience
with a Red-headed Woodpecker," appeared in Bird-Lore in 1900. By the time he entered the University of Kansas in 1905, Wetmore had made extensive natural history collections
around his Wisconsin home and in Independence, Kansas.
Shortly after his arrival in Lawrence, Kansas, Wetmore received his first museum job as Assistant at the University Museum under Charles D. Bunker. His undergraduate career
was interrupted on several occasions as he took jobs in Arizona, California, and Colorado to finance his education. He also used these opportunities to study and collect the
native avifauna. Wetmore received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1912. Wetmore continued his education in Washington, D.C., receiving the Master
of Science degree in 1916 and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1920 - both from George Washington University. He would later receive honorary doctorates from the University
of Wisconsin, George Washington University, Centre College, and Ripon College.
Wetmore's career in the federal government began in 1910 when he was appointed an Agent for the Biological Survey, a bureau of the United States Department of Agriculture.
During the summers of 1910-1911 he assisted on field investigations in Wyoming and Alaska. He traveled to Puerto Rico in late 1911 and spent nearly a year surveying the bird
life of that and adjacent islands. In 1913, Wetmore was promoted to Assistant Biologist with the Biological Survey, and he moved to Washington to begin work in the program
on the food habits of North American birds. His career with the Biological Survey was highlighted by constant field investigations which took him to most of the United States,
as well as Canada, Mexico, and South America. Among his more important investigations were a study of the causes of waterfowl mortality around the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1914-1916;
a survey of North American birds that migrated to the southern part of South America, 1920-1921; and the leadership of the Tanager Exploring Expedition to the islands of the
mid-Pacific, 1923. Wetmore was promoted to the rank of Biologist with the Survey in 1924.
As his professional status grew, Wetmore received offers of curatorial and research positions from several of the leading museums in America. Perhaps the most interesting
came in 1920 when the American Museum of Natural History asked him to join the Roy Chapman Andrews Asiatic Expedition and take charge of the zoological collections. Wetmore
declined this and several other offers. Finally, in November 1924, he accepted appointment as Superintendent of the National Zoological Park (NZP). He remained at the NZP
until March 1925 when he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian in charge of the United States National Museum (USNM). Wetmore held this position for nearly
twenty years, when, in 1945, he was elected the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian. He retired in 1952 and became a Research Associate of the Institution where he continued
his research on recent and fossil birds.
Wetmore's administration of the USNM and Smithsonian during the era of the Great Depression and World War II faced many constraints. However, he managed to continue the
Institution's basic research aims, while instituting improvements in its administrative operations and exhibits program. Among his most important accomplishments was a move
toward professional management of the Institution by hiring specialists such as John E. Graf and John L. Keddy to assist with federal budgetary procedures and other administrative
matters. He also steered the Smithsonian toward a period of exhibit modernization which was realized after his retirement. Two new bureaus were added to the Smithsonian during
Wetmore's tenure as Secretary - the National Air Museum (now the National Air and Space Museum) and the Canal Zone Biological Area (now the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute).
Despite his administrative responsibilities at the Smithsonian, Wetmore continued an active research program in the field and the laboratory. He conducted several collecting
expeditions to the American tropics between 1927 and 1940. When the outbreak of World War II restricted travel outside the country, he undertook a study of the birds of Shenandoah
National Park in nearby Virginia. In the mid-1940s, Wetmore began a research program that would occupy his energies for the remainder of his life. Between 1946 and 1966 he
took annual trips to Panama - making an exhaustive survey of the birds of the isthmus. This work culminated in the publication of his magnum opus, The Birds of the Republic
of Panama. Three volumes of the work appeared during his life. The final volume was completed by his Smithsonian colleagues and published posthumously.
Wetmore was widely recognized as the dean of American ornithologists, and he worked extensively in the field of avian paleontology and as a systematic specialist. His bibliography
contained over seven hundred entries; including 150 papers and monographs on fossil birds. He described 189 species and subspecies of birds new to science. Wetmore made enormous
natural history collections, which were eventually donated to the Smithsonian. Included were 26,058 bird and mammal skins from North America, South America, Central America,
and the Caribbean area; 4,363 skeletal and anatomical specimens; and 201 clutches of birds eggs. Fifty-six new genera, species, and subspecies of birds (both recent and fossil),
mammals, amphibians, insects, mollusks, and plants were named in his honor - an assemblage which Wetmore called his "private zoo." Also named in his honor was the "Wetmore
Glacier" in the Antarctic and the "Alexander Wetmore Bridge," a canopy bridge in the Bayano River Basin in Panama.
Wetmore was a member of countless professional organizations, scientific committees, conservation groups, and social clubs. He served many of the groups in elected or appointed
capacities. He was a member of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) for seventy years and served as President from 1926 to 1929. For many years he was Chairman of the
AOU Committee on Classification and Nomenclature and was instrumental in the publication of the fifth edition of the Check-list of North American Birds. Wetmore also had a
long-term association with the National Geographic Society, serving as a Trustee, 1933-1976, and as Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Research and Exploration. He also authored
several popular publications on birds for the Society.
Wetmore served as President of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 1927; the Washington Biologists' Field Club, 1928-1931; the Biological Society of Washington, 1929-1931;
the Cosmos Club, 1938; the Explorers Club, 1944-1946; and the X International Ornithological Congress held at Uppsala, Sweden, 1950. He was Home Secretary of the National
Academy of Sciences, 1951-1955, and a Trustee (or Director) of the Textile Museum of Washington, 1928-1952; the George Washington University, 1945-1962; and the Gorgas Memorial
Institute for Tropical and Preventive Medicine, 1949-1976.
During his career at the Smithsonian, Wetmore was named to several national and international scientific committees. He was Secretary-General of the Eighth American Scientific
Congress, 1940; United States Representative to the Inter-American Commission of Experts on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation, 1940; Vice-Chairman of the National
Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, 1945-1952; and Chairman of the Interdepartmental Committee on Research and Development, 1946.
His contributions to science resulted in many honors and awards. He was the recipient of the Otto Herman Medal of the Hungarian Ornithological Society, 1931; the Hubbard
Medal of the National Geographic Society, 1957; the Brewster Medal, 1959, and the Elliott Coues Award, 1972, of the American Ornithologists' Union; the Explorers Club Medal,
1962; the Bartsch Award of the Audubon Naturalist Society, 1964; and the Arthur Allen Award of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1970. Wetmore married Fay Holloway in
1912, and a daughter, Margaret Fenwick, was born in 1916. After a long illness, his wife died in 1953. That same year he married Annie Beatrice Thielen. Wetmore died at his
home in Glen Echo, Maryland, on December 7, 1978.
For more detailed biographical information on Wetmore, see Paul H. Oehser, "In Memoriam: Alexander Wetmore," The Auk, July 1980, vol. 97, no. 3, pp. 608-615; S.
Dillon Ripley and James A. Steed, "Alexander Wetmore, June 18, 1886-December 7, 1978," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 56, pp. 597-626,
1987; and John Sherwood, "His Field Notebook Was Started in 1894; It Is Not Yet Complete," The Washington Star, Thursday, 13 January 1977. A discussion of his contributions
to paleornithology is found in Storrs L. Olson's "Alexander Wetmore and the Study of Fossil Birds" in "Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of
Alexander Wetmore," Storrs L. Olson, editor, Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, 1976, no. 27, pp. xi-xvi.
Chronology:
June 18, 1886 -- Born in North Freedom, Wisconsin
1900 -- Wrote first published paper, "My experience with a Red-headed Woodpecker" (Bird-Lore, vol. II, pp. 155-156)
1905-1908, 1910 -- Assistant, University of Kansas Museum
1909 -- Assistant, Colorado Museum of Natural History
1910-1912 -- Agent, United States Bureau of Biological Survey
1910 -- Field work, Wyoming
1911 -- Field work, Alaska
1911-1912 -- Field work, Porto Rico
1912 -- Bachelor of Science, University of Kansas
October 13, 1912 -- Married Fay Holloway
1913-1923 -- Assistant Biologist, United States Bureau of Biological Survey
1914 -- Field work, Utah and California
1914-1915 -- Field work, Utah and Montana
1916 -- Master of Science, George Washington University
1916 -- Birth of daughter, Margaret Fenwick
1916 -- Field work, Utah
1916 -- Birds of Porto Rico (U.S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 326, pp. 1-140)
1917 -- Field work, North Carolina
1917-1918 -- Field work, Arkansas and Texas
1918 -- Field work, Western United States
1919 -- Field work, Florida; Arizona
1920 -- Doctor of Philosophy, George Washington University
1920-1921 -- Field work, South America
1921 -- Field work, Georgia
1922 -- Field work, South Carolina; Minnesota; North Dakota; Pennsylvania; Maryland
1923 -- In charge of the Tanager Exploring Expedition to the mid-Pacific islands
1924 -- Biologist, U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey
1924-1925 -- Superintendent, National Zoological Park
1925-1944 -- Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution (in charge of the U.S. National Museum)
1926 -- Observations on the Birds of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile (U.S. National Museum, Bull. 133, pp.1-448)
1926 -- The Migration of Birds (Harvard University Press)
1926-1929 -- President, American Ornithologists' Union
1927 -- Field work, Haiti and Dominican Republic
1927 -- President, Washington Academy of Sciences
1927 -- Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire Medal, Societe Nationale d'Acclimitation de France
1928 -- Trip to study bird collections of museums in the western United States
1928-1931 -- President, Washington Biologists' Field Club
1928-1952 -- Trustee, Textile Museum of Washington
1929-1931 -- President, Biological Society of Washington
1930 -- A Systematic Classification for the Birds of the World (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 76, art. 24, pp. 1-8). Revised and reprinted in 1934, 1940, 1948, 1951, and 1960.
1930 -- U.S. Delegate, VII International Ornithological Congress, Amsterdam; field work, Spain
1931 -- The Birds of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, by Wetmore and B. H. Swales (U.S. National Museum Bull. 155, pp. 1-483)
1931 -- Field work, Haiti
1931 -- Otto Herman Medal, Hungarian Ornithological Society
1931-1957 -- Chairman, American Ornithologists' Union Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of North American Birds
1932 -- Honorary D.Sc., George Washington University
1932 -- Field work, western United States
1933-1976 -- Trustee, National Geographic Society
1934 -- U.S. Delegate, VIII International Ornithological Congress, Oxford
1936 -- Field work, Guatemala
1937 -- Field work, Venezuela
1937-1978 -- Vice Chairman, Acting Chairman, and Chairman Emeritus, Committee on Research and Exploration, National Geographic Society
1938 -- President, Cosmos Club
1938 -- Chairman of U.S. delegation, IX International Ornithological Congress, Rouen, France
1939 -- Field work, Mexico
1940 -- A Check-list of the fossil birds of North America (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 99, no. 4, pp. 1-81)
1940 -- Secretary-General, Eighth American Scientific Congress
1940 -- U.S. Representative, Inter-American Commission of Experts on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation
1940 -- Field work, Costa Rica
1941 -- Field work, Colombia
1941 -- Distinguished Service Award, University of Kansas
1944-1946 -- President, Explorers Club
1944, 1946-1966 -- Field work, Panama
1945 -- Alumni Award for Achievement in Science, George Washington University
1945-1952 -- Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
1945-1952 -- Vice-Chairman, National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
1945-1962 -- Trustee, George Washington University
1946 -- Honorary D.Sc., University of Wisconsin
1947 -- Honorary D.Sc., Centre College of Kentucky
1947-1963 -- Chairman, Daniel Giraud Elliot Fund Award Committee, National Academy of Sciences
1948 -- Chairman, Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific Research and Development
1948 -- Orden de Merito, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Cuba
1949-1976 -- Member, Board of Directors, Gorgas Memorial Institute for Tropical and Preventive Medicine
1950 -- President, Academy of Medicine of Washington, D.C.
1950 -- President, X International Ornithological Congress, Uppsala, Sweden
1951-1955 -- Home Secretary, National Academy of Sciences
February 14, 1953 -- Death of Fay Holloway Wetmore
December 16, 1953 -- Married Annie Beatrice Thielen
1953-1978 -- Research Associate, Smithsonian Institution
1954 -- Field work, Venezuela
1957 -- Hubbard Medal, National Geographic Society
1959 -- Honorary D.Sc., Ripon College
1959 -- Brewster Medal, American Ornithologists' Union
1962 -- Explorers Club Medal
1963 -- Treasurer, XVI International Congress of Zoology
1964 -- Bartsch Award, Audubon Naturalist Society
1965 -- The Birds of the Republic of Panama, vol. 1 (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 150, pp. 1-483)
1968 -- The Birds of the Republic of Panama, vol. 2 (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 150, pt. 2, pp. 1-605)
1969 -- Field work, Netherlands Antilles
1970 -- Arthur Allen Medal, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
1972 -- The Birds of the Republic of Panama, vol. 3 (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 150, pt. 3, pp. 1-631)
1972 -- Elliott Coues Award, American Ornithologists' Union
1973 -- "Alexander Wetmore Bridge" dedicated in Panama
1975-1978 -- Honorary President, American Ornithologists' Union
1976 -- Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore, Storrs L. Olson, editor (Smiths. Contrib. to Paleobio., no. 27)
December 7, 1978 -- Death, Glen Echo, Maryland
1984 -- The Birds of the Republic of Panama, vol. 4 (Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 150, pt. 4, pp. 1-670)
