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Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists primarily of reports, notebooks, notes, photographs, maps, and related materials documenting field research conducted by staff naturalists
of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and its predecessor, the Bureau of Biological Survey. The reports, which primarily concern biological surveys conducted in the
United States, are usually submitted to the Chief of the Bureau or to the division or section responsible for field research. Also included are a substantial number of reports
concerning field work carried out in Canada and Mexico. A small amount of reports document work in South and Central America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica.
Most of the field reports are of a general nature documenting biological surveys of a particular state or geographical region. They fall into three categories: special
reports, physiography reports, and plant reports. Notes on birds and mammals are joined to comprise the special reports and concern the observation, identification, distribution,
and collecting of specimens. The physiography reports consist of notes and observations on the natural phenomena of the area surveyed, such as climate, topography, bodies
of water, etc. Notes on plant life, trees, and vegetation are recorded in the plant reports.
Reports on specific projects or topics are found throughout the collection. Included are reports on predatory animal control; faunal distribution and migratory studies;
national parks and wildlife refuges (including reports on proposed parks and refuges); species introduction projects; wildlife management studies; conservation and wildlife
problems; environmental impact studies; animal behavior projects; wildlife diseases and epidemics; bird-banding projects; and fur-bearing animal studies.
The collection also includes correspondence from staff naturalists and the general public usually pertaining to birds or mammals observed; newspaper clippings; and publications.
Historical Note:
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has its origin in the work of C. Hart Merriam and the old Bureau of Biological Survey in the United States Department of
Agriculture. By 1885, the ornithological work being conducted by the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and other private organizations and individuals had grown to the
point where private interests were no longer able to finance it sufficiently. Congress was then persuaded to establish a section of ornithology in the Division of Entomology
of the Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the section was "the promotion of economic ornithology, or the study of the interrelation of birds and agriculture, an investigation
of the food, habits, and migration of birds in relation to both insects and plants, and publishing reports thereon." Through the influence of the AOU and Spencer F. Baird
of the Smithsonian Institution, Merriam was appointed Ornithologist. The following year the section attained independent rank as the Division of Ornithology. In 1888 its responsibilities
were expanded to include mammals, resulting in a new title - the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy.
Merriam's concept of life zones which are fitted by nature for the life of certain associations of plants and animals, and his estimation of the value which the delimitation
of such areas would have for agriculture, led him to propose the establishment of a Biological Survey into which his own division would be merged. The 1896 name change of
the Division to the Division of Biological Survey was the result. In 1905, it became a Bureau within the Department of Agriculture.
The Bureau of Biological Survey remained within the Department of Agriculture until 1939 when it was transferred to the Department of Interior. The following year it was
combined with the Bureau of Fisheries, which had been transferred to Interior from the Department of Commerce, to form the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
From the beginning of the Survey's work, field research was of primary importance in gathering information concerning the interrelation of birds, mammals, and agriculture.
Field surveys continued to play an important role as the Bureau's work evolved to include game protection, research on fur-bearing animals, the management of game refuges,
predatory animal control, and the protection of migratory birds. Surveys conducted by the Bureau usually entailed sending individual naturalists or groups of workers to collect
mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a particular state or geographic region. The collections would be augmented by detailed notes, specimens of representative plant
life, and photographs of the environment being studied. The compiled materials would serve as the basis for a detailed report on the region. Biological surveys were also conducted
at several regional field stations administered by the Bureau.
This accession consists of film footage taken by A. Stanley Rand, a biologist specializing in the ecology and behavior of tropical reptiles and amphibians. After receiving
his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University in 1961, Rand served as a zoologist at the Departamento de Zoologia, Sao Paulo, Brazil. In 1964, he was hired as a biologist at
the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). From 1974 to 1979, he served as Assistant Director at STRI and, in 1979, was named Senior Biologist. The majority of the
footage in this accession documents the behavior of anoles throughout the Caribbean region and on several Eastern Pacific islands. Materials also include a small number of
videotapes and a reel-to-reel audiotape.
9.5 cu. ft. (9 record storage boxes) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Clippings
Picture postcards
Black-and-white photographs
Color photographs
Color negatives
Color transparencies
Place:
Latin America
Date:
1955-2012
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of the professional correspondence of research zoologist Roy W. McDiarmid and his work at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, United States
Geological Survey (USGS). McDiarmid's research focuses on the systematics, behavior, ecology, and biogeography of amphibians and reptiles in the Neotropics. Some materials
predate his time with the USGS. Materials include correspondence, manuscripts, postcards, newspaper clippings, photographs, negatives, and transparencies.
This accession consists of the records of research zoologist Roy W. McDiarmid and his work at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, United States Geological Survey
(USGS). McDiarmid's research focuses on the systematics, behavior, ecology, and biogeography of amphibians and reptiles in the Neotropics. Records include graduate work; research
projects and publications; special projects, such as workshops, committees, and reviews; and activities with professional societies, including the American Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists (ASIH) and the Herpetologists' League (HL). Some materials predate his time with the USGS.
Materials include correspondence, notes, research information, manuscripts, proposals, reports, reviews, maps, illustrations, postcards, newspaper clippings, microfiche,
photographs, negatives, and transparencies. Some materials are in electronic format.
