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Watkinson Library Ornithology Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Watkinson Library Ornithology Collection

Scope and Contents

This composite collection consists of correspondence, diaries, notebooks on ornithology, photographs, and slides, as well as some financial records and house bills from numerous other collections related to ornithology. The correspondence primarily transpire between Frank M. Chapman and Swarthmore College mammologist, Robert K. Enders (1899-1988), between ornithologist Herbert Keightley Job and other ornithologists and naturalists including A.C. Bent, John Burroughs, Frank Chapman, Elliott Coues, and Louis Agassiz Fuertes, as well as correspondence between book dealers and Ostrom Enders, who acquired the bulk of this collection between approximately 1965-1982.

Diaries and notebooks span the 19th and early 20th centuries, ranging from work done by amateur ornithologists such as Alice D. Chamberlain to David Armitage Bannerman’s work. Locations in diaries, notebooks, photographs, and slides documented include the Canary Islands, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Virginia. It contains approximately 326 lantern slides by pioneer wildlife photographer, Herbert Keightley Job, spanning the late 19th century, as well as numerous lantern slides by botanist and ornithologist, Francis Reeve Cope, Jr. of plant and animal life in New Zealand. The collection also includes financial records of Ostrom Enders from his collecting, and a house bill sponsored by ex-president Grover Cleveland presented to the House of Representatives in Massachusetts (March 1908).

Dates

  • Creation: 1831 - 1966

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.

Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.

Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.

Biographical / Historical

This collection contains the personal papers of the following prominent ornithologists and naturalists: Joel Asaph Allen (1838-1921), John James Audubon (1785-1851), John Hopkinson Baker (1894-1973), David Armitage Bannerman (1866-1954), Herbert Brandt (1884-1955), Alice D. Chamberlain, Frank M. Chapman (1864-1945), John N. Clark (1831-1903), Francis Reeve Cope, Jr. (1878-1962), Ostrom Enders (1902-1994), Herbert Keightley Job (1854-1933), Rene Primevere Lesson (1764-1849), William Joseph Schaldach (1896-1982), William Henry Trotter (d. 1833), Gurdon Trumbull (1841-1903), and Frederic Ware. It also includes a series of black-and-white lantern slides by an unknown British photographer from approximately 1900 and a diary of Massachusetts birds from 1863 with the initials F. P. S. inscribed.

Extent

30 Cubic Feet (70 boxes; 36 flat boxes, 16 slide boxes, 1 oversize storage box, 17 photographic storage containers)

Language of Materials

English

French

Arrangement

Collection is arranged alphabetically by last name of creators of composite collections. Herbert Keightley Job correspondence are arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection acquired through the Ostrom Enders Fund.

Title
Guide to the Watkinson Library Ornithology Collection
Status
In Progress
Author
Michelle C. Sigiel
Date
2018-08
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2020-01-13: Title changed by Eric C. Stoykovich from "Ornithology Collection".

Repository Details

Part of the Watkinson Library - Archival Collections Repository

Contact:
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford Connecticut 06106