Descriptive Entry

The papers of Frank Smith document his research on earthworms. They consist of correspondence with biologists and USNM administrators and staff, including Paul Bartsch, Nathan A. Cobb, Gordon Enoch Gates, Chancey Juday, James Arthur MacNab, John Percy Moore, Brayton Howard Ransom, Mary Jane Rathbun, Richard Rathbun, William deC. Ravenel, Waldo LaSalle Schmitt, and Paul Smith Welch; field notes; class notes kept by Smith at Harvard University, 1893; reprints; a bibliography; and research notes.

Historical Note

Frank Smith (1857-1942) was a biology professor and authority on earthworms. He was educated at Hillsdale College (Michigan), Ph.B., 1885, and Harvard University, A.M., 1893. His first teaching job was at Hillsdale College where he served as Professor of Chemistry and Biology from 1886 to 1892. In 1893, Smith was appointed Instructor in Zoology at the University of Illinois. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1896, Associate Professor in 1900, and Professor in 1913. He retired in 1926 and was named Professor Emeritus. Smith also served as Curator of the University Museum of Natural History from 1900 to 1917. Smith's field experience included investigations at the University of Michigan Biological Station during the summers of 1911-1914 and 1919-1922, and a collecting trip to Colorado in 1916. For many years, Smith identified specimens and worked up collections of earthworms for the United States National Museum (USNM). In 1934, he donated his collection of earthworms to the USNM.