Enders, Robert K. (Robert Kendall), 1899-1988, interviewee Search this
Extent:
2 audiotapes (Reference tapes).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Place:
Panama
Date:
1976
Introduction:
The Oral History Project is part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. The purpose of the project is to conduct and collect interviews with current and retired members
of the Smithsonian staff who have made significant contributions, administrative and scholarly, to the Institution. The project's goal is to supplement the published record
and manuscript collections in the Archives, focusing on the history of the Institution and contributions to the increase and diffusion of knowledge made by its scholars.
The Robert Kendall Enders interviews were recorded and donated to Smithsonian Institution Archives because of his experiences in Panama during the early development of
the research station. Additional information about the Canal Zone Biological Area can be found in the Records Relating to the Canal Zone Biological Area, Office of the Secretary,
1912-1965, and the Canal Zone Biological Area Records, 1918-1964, also housed in the Smithsonian Archives. The Oral History Collection also contains several other sets of
interviews on the history of the research station.
Descriptive Entry:
The Robert Kendall Enders Interview was conducted by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute research biologist, Neal Griffith Smith, on April 13, 1976. He discusses
his introduction to Barro Colorado Island; his subsequent research trips there; recollections of fellow scientists and staff on the island; comparisons between the island
then and now; and suggestions on how to improve the island for research purposes. The interviews consist of 2.0 hours of audiotape cassettes and 56 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Robert Kendall Enders (1899-1988) was born on September 22, 1899, in Essex, Iowa. After receiving his A.B. and Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Michigan in 1925
and 1927 respectively, he became an Assistant Professor of Biology at Union College. In 1928, he became an Assistant Professor at Missouri Valley College, and in 1932 was
promoted to full Professor. In 1966, he also became Emeritus Professor of Zoology at Swarthmore College. He retired from Missouri Valley College in 1970.
Enders was encouraged by Harvard biologist Thomas Barbour to visit Barro Colorado Island (BCI). He applied for a National Research Council Fellowship for funding and in
1930 arrived on the island. In 1935 and 1937, he returned, and in 1941, he visited BCI again as a Research Fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. While
conducting his research in mammalogy on BCI, he observed the development of the research station. As a Professor, he continued his visits to Panama, bringing students to the
Canal Zone Biological Area on working field trips.
The Canal Zone Biological Area (CZBA) was established in 1923 on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal as a reserve for scientific study of the Tropics. Originally
designed as a consortium of universities and government agencies by Thomas Barbour, William Morton Wheeler, James Zetek, and others, CZBA was transferred to the Smithsonian
Institution in 1946 and in 1966 was renamed the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
Correspondents: Frank M. Chapman, John H. Cobbs, John Lorenzo Hubbell, Nicolas Leon, Frederick W. Hodge, Ales Hrdlicka, John H. Hinton, Juan B. Ambrosetti, George Gustav Heye, Wilhelm (Guillermo) Bauer, George Grant MacCurdy, William Newell, William L. Brown, Sumner Matteson, George W. Buskirk, Alma P. Kraft, Otis T. Mason, Edgar L. Hewett, Cyrus Thomas, Zelia Nuttall, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt Hyde, Homer Sargent, Harriet Parsons, Frederic Ward Putnam, J. T. Pike, H. Van Altena, Emily de Forest, Caroline M Hills, Hermon C. Bumpus, Arthur Seligman, William Henry Holmes, J. Dynley Prince, Marshall Saville.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Folder 2 Allen, Harrison Jr. - Allen, Joel Asaph. Correspondents include Joel Asaph Allen (1887-1901). Allen served as curator of the Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology of the American Museum of Natural History. Much of the correspondence regards ...
Collection Creator::
Smithsonian Institution. Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum Search this
Container:
Box 3 of 154
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Inquiries related to specimens should be directed to the appropriate museum registrar.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 189, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda
Folders 8-9 Kellogg, A. Remington, 1914-1917, 1926, 1928-1930, 1932-1933, 1937, 1939, 1941-1947, 1955, 1959, 1969-1973, 1975, and undated. A long-time colleague and friend of Wetmore, Kellogg was employed by both the Bureau of Biological Survey and the...
Walker, Ernest P. (Ernest Pillsbury), 1891-1969 Search this
Extent:
8.08 cu. ft. (14 document boxes) (3 5x8 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1923-1956
Descriptive Entry:
These papers include some correspondence and notes prior to Walker's tenure at the National Zoological Park, as well as working papers on mammalogy and some correspondence
dating from his time at the National Zoological Park. In addition there are numerous images of animals.
Historical Note:
Ernest Pillsbury Walker (1891-1969) served in a number of positions concerning game and wildlife management and preservation. He was fur game warden for the Territory
of Alaska and the United States and did work for the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture. From 1930 to 1956, Walker was Assistant Director
of the National Zoological Park.
These records document the history and development of the American Society of Mammalogists from the time of its inception through the year 1994. The collection includes
a number of early documents, some in the handwriting of the originators, and correspondence, minutes, reports, financial records, audiocassettes, photographs, and other memorabilia
from the files of most of the officers and many of the committees serving during 1919-1994. A commemorative wood-cased album contains photographs of all the presidents of
the society, and another contains photos of honorary members (see Box 159).
A history of the Society, 75 Years of Mammalogy, containing chapters contributed by a number of authors and edited by James N. Layne, was published in 1994. (Papers
connected with three of the book's chapters are included in Box 150, Folders 1-3). A less formal and perhaps more personal description of the early days of the Society was
written by Hartley H. T. Jackson in 1968 and sent to Donald Hoffmeister, then Society historian. This remarkable document, in Jackson's own hand, is preserved in the collection
(see Box 143, Folder 6) along with a number of other writings by Jackson and other early members.
Historical Note:
The American Society of Mammalogists was formally established at an organizational meeting held in the new U.S. National Museum (now the National Museum of Natural
History), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 3-4, 1919. The meeting had been announced by a one-page circular mailed in February 1919 to several thousand prospective
members and by an advertisement in Science magazine. (See Box 62, Folder 1, Box 143, Folders 1 and 2, and Box 144, Folder 2 for minutes and reports of the organizational
meeting.) It was an outgrowth of the recommendations of an ad hoc committee established originally by several members of the U.S. Biological Survey, which at the time was
housed in the National Museum in Washington, D.C. The organizational committee consisted of Hartley H. T. Jackson, U.S. Biological Survey, chairman; Walter P. Taylor, U.S.
Biological Survey, secretary; Glover M. Allen, Boston Society of Natural History; Joseph A. Allen, American Museum of Natural History; Joseph Grinnell, University of California;
Ned Hollister, U.S. National Zoological Park; Arthur H. Howell, U. S. Biological Survey; Wilfred H. Osgood, Field Museum of Natural History; Edward A. Preble, U.S. Biological
Survey; and Witmer Stone, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Other staff members of the U.S. Biological Survey who contributed to the discussions of the committee
included Vernon Bailey, A. K. Fisher, William H. Cheesman, and E. W. Nelson. Sixty persons signed the Register of Attendance at the organizational meeting (see Box 143, Folder
2), but the list of charter members of the society includes approximately 400 names (see Box 62, Folder 2).
The by-laws (see Box 143, Folder 4) and rules of the new society were based on the constitutions and by-laws of the American Ornithologists Union, the American Society
of Naturalists, the Wisconsin Natural History Society, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, and the Biological Society of Washington. The Society was incorporated in the District
of Columbia on April 29, 1920, and the purpose of the Society is spelled out as "the promotion of the study of mammalogy by the publication of a serial and other publications,
by aiding research, and by engaging in such other activities as may be deemed expedient." (See Box 143, Folder 3.) Signatories to the Articles of Incorporation were C. Hart
Merriam, E. W. Nelson, Vernon Bailey, Hartley H. T. Jackson, Clarence R. Shoemaker, Charles W. Richmond, and Victor J. Evans. The Society publishes the Journal of Mammalogy
quarterly and a number of miscellaneous publications and several series on a less regular basis.
Folder 3 1991-1992 J. Mary Taylor papers: Source material for chapter, Honorary Members, Jackson and Merriam Awardees, for the book 75 Years of Mammalogy
