Smithsonian Institution Archives

Melbourne Armstrong Carriker Papers, 1901, 1907, 1909-1910, 1918, 1929-1965

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU7297
Creators:
Carriker, Melbourne Armstrong, 1879-1965
Dates:
1901, 1907, 1909-1910, 1918, 1929-1965
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
3.94 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) (1 document box) (4 5x8 boxes)
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Introduction

Introduction
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
This collection provides primary documentation of Melbourne Armstrong Carriker, Jr.'s research on Mallophaga, and to a lesser extent his field trips and collecting activities in South America. The bulk of the collection consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence with museum curators and co-workers mostly concerning taxonomic research on Mallophaga, 1927-1965. The letters are not helpful in illuminating Carriker's personal life, but they do furnish some interesting insights into his personality and professional views. In addition, they describe Carriker's collecting trips fairly explicitly, providing a great deal of information about the South American countryside and the ranges of many species of birds. Important correspondents include Alexander Wetmore, G. H. E. Hopkins, Theresa Clay, John Frederick Gates Clark, and A. Remington Kellogg. Several of the letters are written in Spanish, French, and German.
Other materials concerning his entomological studies include research notes on various species of Mallophaga and collection lists of the lice and their hosts; miscellaneous notes and papers largely pertaining to nomenclature, but also including autobiographical sketches by Carriker; scientific illustrations of Mallophaga by Carriker; and photographs of Mallophaga specimens.
Carriker's South American field work is documented by diaries kept during trips to Costa Rica, 1907; Colombia, 1918, 1941, 1951; Peru, 1932-1933; and Bolivia, 1936-1937. Also included are photographs taken on trips to Costa Rica, 1901; Venezuela, 1909-1910; Peru, 1930-1932; and Colombia, 1943.

Historical Note

Historical Note
Melbourne Armstrong Carriker, Jr. (1879-1965), was born in Sullivan, Illinois. By the time he graduated from high school, he was collecting bird skins and studying the habits of birds extensively. His interest in bird lice (Mallophaga) began during his freshman year at the University of Nebraska under the guidance of Lawrence Bruner, and Carriker became one of the world's authorities on the neotropical genera. During his career Carriker was responsible for the description of two new families, four new subfamilies, fifty-three new genera and subgenera, and eight hundred sixty-six new species and subspecies. Carriker was prolific in his writing as well. Between 1940 and 1959 he produced thirty-three papers. His papers were published in Spanish as well as English, and he corresponded with Mallophaga systematists all over the world.
Carriker collected specimens for some of the most important institutions in the country, including the Carnegie Museum (1902 and 1907-1927); the American Museum of Natural History (1909); the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1929-1938); the United States National Museum (1940-1952); the Peabody Museum; the Field Museum of Natural History; and the Los Angeles County Museum. He traveled to South America extensively on his collecting trips, covering Costa Rica, Trinidad, Venezuela, and Curacao Island, and canvassing Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia almost entirely. From 1907 to 1909, Carriker held the position of assistant curator of birds at the Carnegie Museum. In 1953, he received the honorary post of collaborator in the Department of Entomology, United States National Museum, and he continued his collecting work until the month before his death in 1965.

Chronology

Chronology
February 14 ,1879
Born in Sullivan, Illinois
December 1899
Presented first paper, on nesting habits of local raptors, at first meeting of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union
December 1901
Publication of first paper on Mallophaga
January-February 1902
Six-week collecting trip in Costa Rica with Lawrence Bruner of the University of Nebraska
1902
Collected birds in Costa Rica for the Carnegie Museum and small mammals for the American Museum of Natural History. Collecting trips to the volcanoes Irazu and Turialba and, accompanied by British ornithologist C. F. Underwood, to Pozo Azul. Saved Mallophaga from birds collected, and these became the subject of a second paper
1903
Returned to Costa Rica with H. C. Crawford, Jr., and Max Zimmerer. Contracted "Black-Water Fever," hospitalized. Upon recovery, took a job as an engineer with the General Electric Company installing electric lights in Puerto Limon
1904
Collected in Talamanca, on the Sixiola River in southeastern Costa Rica.
1905-1906
Returned to Puerto Limon, secured work as time-keeper and assistant manager of a United Fruit farm in Gaupiles. Later became manager of an area farm named El Hogar
1907
Began collecting in the Terraba region of southwestern Costa Rica. Returned to the U.S. in December
1907-1909
Served under W. E. Clyde Todd as assistant curator of birds for the Carnegie Museum. Sometime during this interval he made a three-month collecting trip with Todd to northern Canada
1909-1911
Collected in Trinidad and Venezuela, securing birds for the Carnegie Museum and mammals for Dr. J. A. Allen at the American Museum of Natural History
1911
Collected for a month on Curacao Island, then went to Santa Marta, Colombia. He used Santa Marta as a base of operations until 1927
1912
Married Myrtle Carmelite Flye
1914
Collected in the Sierra Nevada. Ascended by way of Rio Macotama to Lake Macotama
1915
Collected in region west of Baranquilla
1916
Traveled up the Rio Magdalena to Gamarra, into the eastern cordillera of the Andes through Sanander Norte, then south through Santander Sur to Bucaramanga. Crossed Santander to Cucui, worked down to the lowlands of the Rio Cassanare. Recrossed the Andes, went south to Bogota, then returned to Santa Marta. Collected all along the way.
1918
Collected between the mouth of the Rio Atrato and Quibdo, then down the Rio Condoto to the Rio San Juan, then went to Buenaventura by steamer, all with his wife, baby daughter, and two servant girls. Collected at Cordoba, Caldas, Bitaco, La Cumbre, Cali, Manizales, and La Dorada
1922
Collected in Venezuela for the Carnegie Museum with his wife and Robert Sargent
1927
Sold residence in Santa Marta, moved to Beachwood, New Jersey
1929
Joined staff of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and began an ornithological survey of Peru for them, starting in the eastern lowlands
May 1930
Returned to States
1931
Returned to Lima, began collecting at La Oroya. Worked up the western cordillera, then south along the coast, then went eastward. Returned to Philadelphia
1932
Returned to Peru. Started collecting on the coast near Huacho, and worked north. Conducted extensive collecting trip in the interior. Joined for the latter part of the trip by Radcliffe Roberts. Returned to Philadelphia
1933
Went back to Peru, collected in the north
June 1934
Sent to Bolivia by the Academy, accompanied by his eldest son Melbourne Romaine Carriker
February 1935
Returned to States
1935-1936
Worked on collected material, producing a large report on the Mallophaga of the Tinamous
April 1936
Returned to collecting in Bolivia
December 1936
Went back to States
May 1937
Returned to Bolivia
May 1938
Returned to States. Resigned position at the Academy
1938-1939
Worked as a carpenter in Beachwood, New Jersey
1940
Collected for four months in Veracruz, Mexico, for the U.S. National Museum
1941
Accompanied Dr. Alexander Wetmore on a collecting trip in Colombia. Was divorced
1941-1952
Covered most of Colombia on collecting trips. Finished work for the U.S. National Museum and retired to Colombia at the end of 1952. Continued to publish extensively
1944
Married a Colombian woman who appears in this collection only as "Felisa"
1952-1965
Collected for the Peabody Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and others. Became a collaborator of the Smithsonian and did some collecting for Dr. Alexander Wetmore. Made periodic trips to the U.S. but continued to live in Colombia. Continued to publish regularly
July 27, 1965
Died in Bucaramanga, Colombia

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7297, Melbourne Armstrong Carriker Papers

More Information

Notes

Personal Papers


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Carriker, Melbourne Armstrong, 1879-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States National Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Entomology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Entomology Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ornithology Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diaries Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Field notes Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuscripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographs Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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