Reference Request
Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Record Unit 7104
Schwarz, Eugene Amandus, 1844-1928
Eugene Amandus Schwarz Papers, 1875-1928
Historical Note
Eugene Amandus Schwarz (1844-1928) was an important figure in American entomology, especially in the work of the United States National Museum and the United States Department of Agriculture. He was born in Silesia in 1844, studied entomology in Europe, and first appeared in the United States during 1872 as a student of Hermann Hagen at Harvard University. Later in the 1870s he made a collecting trip to the West with John Lawrence LeConte, and became a colleague of Charles Valentine Riley and other noted entomologists. In 1878 Schwarz accepted a position in the Department of Agriculture, where he remained, with a brief interruption, until his death in 1928. He became the senior scholar of entomology in the Agriculture Department and the National Museum, thus influencing several generations of entomologists. He was a prominent member of the Washington professional scene, including the Washington Entomological Society and the Washington Biologists Field Club; and the Entomological Society of America. Schwarz had enormous impact on the national collection of insects, dating from his appointment as custodian of coleoptera in 1898. He introduced better standards of care and arrangement and personally secured numerous collections for the National Museum, in addition to the one made by Henry Guernsey Hubbard and himself. He initiated the important collection of coleoptera larvae. His field observations extended throughout all sections of the United States, into Cuba, Guatemala, and Panama.
Descriptive Entry
These papers concern the taxonomy and biology of insects, especially the coleoptera, and include correspondence, mostly incoming, with a number of American entomologists, notably the following: letters from Henry Guernsey Hubbard, 1896-1897, regarding Hubbard's trips to Arizona and California and containing substantial biographical information for the period; letters from John Lawrence LeConte, 1875-1880, regarding joint work of LeConte, Schwarz, and Hubbard, especially determinations of Texas, Florida, Virginia, and Michigan species, mostly coleoptera, including some letters from LeConte to Hubbard; and very extensive correspondence from Raymond Corbett Shannon and his wife to Schwarz regarding Shannon's trips to Europe (1924-1925) and field work in Argentina (1926-1927) and Peru (1928); copies of letters from Schwarz to Leland Ossian Howard regarding fig trees and their pests in California, 1900; diaries of Schwarz for trips to Florida (1876, 1919), Cuba (1903-1904), Texas and Arizona (1898 and 1901-1902), Guatemala (1906), Panama (1911); diaries and detailed letters listing itineraries of Shannon; biographical information on Hubbard and Schwarz; and notes and miscellaneous publications.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Schwarz, Eugene Amandus, 1844-1928
- Hubbard, Henry Guernsey
- LeConte, John L. (John Lawrence), 1825-1883
- Shannon, Raymond Corbett, 1894-1945
- Howard, L. O. (Leland Ossian), 1857-1950
- Hagen, Hermann August, 1817-1893
- Riley, Charles V. (Charles Valentine), 1843-1895
- Harvard University
- United States. Department of Agriculture
- United States National Museum. Division of Insects
- Washington Entomological Society
- Washington Biologists' Field Club
- Entomological Society of America
Subject
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7104, Eugene Amandus Schwarz Papers