Smithsonian Institution Archives

Charles Schuchert Papers, 1893-1904

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU7233
Creators:
Schuchert, Charles, 1858-1942
Dates:
1893-1904
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 cu. ft. (1 document box)
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
These papers consist primarily of Schuchert's incoming correspondence, with some outgoing correspondence, while employed by the USGS and the United States National Museum. The correspondence concerns Schuchert's field work with the USGS and the examination and exchange of specimens.

Historical Note

Historical Note
Charles Schuchert (1858-1942) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His formal education consisted only of bookkeeping and drawing courses. He did, however, receive honorary degrees from Yale, A.M., 1904, and Sc.D., 1930; New York University, LL.D., 1914; and Harvard, Sc.D., 1935.
Schuchert's introduction to paleontology resulted from his interest in the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, where he formed a relationship with the Society's curator of paleontology, Edward Oscar Ulrich. Between 1885 and 1888, Schuchert served as Ulrich's assistant in preparing lithographs for the state geological surveys of Illinois and Minnesota. In 1888, Schuchert was appointed as an assistant to James Hall, the New York Geological Survey Director, in Albany. In the summer of 1891, Schuchert joined Newton Horace Winchell in the study of Minnesota brachiopods. A year later, Charles Emerson Beecher, one of Hall's former assistants, hired Schuchert as preparator at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History; this work at Yale was later exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. In 1893, he was hired by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and in 1894, was appointed Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the United States National Museum. He remained there for ten years during which time he participated in Robert Peary's 1897 expedition to Greenland and represented the United States government at the International Geological Congress in Vienna in 1903.
In 1904, Schuchert succeeded Beecher as Curator of geological collections at the Peabody Museum and was appointed Professor of Historical Geology at Yale. From 1909 to 1921, he was Chairman of the Geology Department, Acting Dean of the Graduate School from 1914 to 1916, and administrative head of the Museum from 1912 to 1923. In 1925, he retired from teaching but continued to collect specimens for Peabody's collections.

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7233, Charles Schuchert Papers

More Information

Notes

Personal Papers


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Ulrich, E. O. (Edward Oscar), 1857-1944 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hall, James, 1811-1898 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Winchell, Newton H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beecher, Charles Emerson, 1856-1904 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin), 1856-1920 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schuchert, Charles, 1858-1942 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Geological Survey (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yale University Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York University Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harvard University Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cincinnati Society of Natural History Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York Geological Survey Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peabody Museum of Natural History Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States National Museum. Division of Invertebrate Paleontology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World's Columbian Exposition (1893: Chicago, Ill.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
International Geological Congress (1903) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paleontology Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paleontologists Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuscripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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