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SIA RU007167, Ridgway, Robert 1850-1929, Robert Ridgway Papers, circa 1850s-1919

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Summary

Creator:
Ridgway, Robert 1850-1929
Title:
Robert Ridgway Papers, circa 1850s-1919
Dates:
1850, 1850-1919, 1850s-1919
Notes:
Robert Ridgway (1850-1929) was born in Mount Carmel, Illinois. In 1864 he wrote to Spencer F. Baird, asking Baird to identify a bird that Ridgway had seen. Ridgway and Baird began corresponding, and, in effect, Baird became Ridgway's mentor. In 1867 Baird secured an appointment for Ridgway as zoologist on Clarence King's Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. Upon his return to Washington in 1869, Ridgway was put to work by Baird to furnish the technical descriptions and certain of the drawings for a book on North American birds being prepared by Baird and Thomas Mayo Brewer. In 1874 Ridgway was appointed an ornithologist on the staff of the United States National Museum. In 1880 he was appointed Curator of the Department of Ornithology. Ridgway remained Curator until his death in 1929, although after 1915 he resided in Olney, Illinois
Summary:
These papers consist of Ridgway correspondence with Spencer F. Baird, drawings of birds, and material collected by Ridgway for his important work, Color Standards and Nomenclature (Washington, 1912)
Topic:
Ornithology
Subjects:
Ridgway, Robert 1850-1929, Baird, Spencer Fullerton 1823-1887
Form/Genre:
Scientific illustrations, Collection descriptions, Photographs
Local Number:
SIA RU007167
Physical Description:
2.9 linear meters

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7167

Ridgway, Robert, 1850-1929

Robert Ridgway Papers, circa 1850s-1919

Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator: Ridgway, Robert, 1850-1929
Title: Robert Ridgway Papers
Dates: circa 1850s-1919
Quantity: 2.9 linear meters.
Collection: Record Unit 7167
Language of Materials: English

Historical Note

Robert Ridgway (1850-1929) was born in Mount Carmel, Illinois. In 1864 he wrote to Spencer F. Baird, asking Baird to identify a bird that Ridgway had seen. Ridgway and Baird began corresponding, and, in effect, Baird became Ridgway's mentor. In 1867 Baird secured an appointment for Ridgway as zoologist on Clarence King's Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. Upon his return to Washington in 1869, Ridgway was put to work by Baird to furnish the technical descriptions and certain of the drawings for a book on North American birds being prepared by Baird and Thomas Mayo Brewer. In 1874 Ridgway was appointed an ornithologist on the staff of the United States National Museum. In 1880 he was appointed Curator of the Department of Ornithology. Ridgway remained Curator until his death in 1929, although after 1915 he resided in Olney, Illinois.

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Descriptive Entry

These papers consist of Ridgway correspondence with Spencer F. Baird, drawings of birds, and material collected by Ridgway for his important work, Color Standards and Nomenclature (Washington, 1912).

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7167, Ridgway, Robert, 1850-1929, Robert Ridgway Papers

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Container List

Series 1

CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER F. BAIRD, 1864-1866, ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Box 1

Robert Ridgway to Spencer Baird

July 4, 1864

Box 1 of 62

September 2, 1864

Box 1 of 62

October 17, 1864

Box 1 of 62

November 2, 1864

Box 1 of 62

December 16, 1864

Box 1 of 62

January 20, 1865

Box 1 of 62

March 13, 1865

Box 1 of 62

April 8, 1865

Box 1 of 62

July 23, 1865

Box 1 of 62

August 5, 1865

Box 1 of 62

October 15, 1865

Box 1 of 62

November 13, 1865

Box 1 of 62

December 23, 1865

Box 1 of 62

January 27, 1865

Box 1 of 62

February 13, 1866

Box 1 of 62

July 13, 1866

Box 1 of 62

August 10, 1866

Box 1 of 62

October 31, 1866

Box 1 of 62

November 6, 1866

Box 1 of 62

Series 2

MISCELLANEOUS DRAWINGS AND SKETCHES OF BIRDS.

Boxes 2-3

Drawings on tracing paper, mounted on 4 1/2" x 7" card

Boxes 2-3 of 62

Boxes 4-7

Tracing paper drawings, mounted and unmounted, various dimensions

Boxes 4-7 of 62

Boxes 8-10

Miscellaneous drawings and sketches

Boxes 8-10 of 62

Box 11

Drawings dated 1855-1866

Box 11 of 62

Box 12

Drawings dated 1868, 1874, 1875-1880, and 1880-1885

Box 12 of 62

Boxes 13-18

Undated drawings

Boxes 13-18 of 62

Series 3

DRAWINGS AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS OF BIRD HEADS.

This series consists of drawings and engravings of bird heads used in Spencer F. Baird, Thomas Mayo Brewer, and Robert Ridgway's, A History of North American Birds: Land Birds, 3 volumes (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1874) and The Water Birds of North America: Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, vols. XII-XIII (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1884). Heads drawn by Ridgway and Henry W. Elliott.

Box 19

Drawings numbered 56, 60, 120, 121, 147-155

Box 19 of 62

Box 20

Drawings numbered 155-170

Box 20 of 62

Box 21

Drawings numbered 172-190

Box 21 of 62

Box 22

Drawings numbered 191-208

Box 22 of 62

Box 23

Drawings numbered 209-226

Box 23 of 62

Box 24

Drawings numbered 227-241

Box 24 of 62

Box 25

Drawings numbered 243-257

Box 25 of 62

Box 26

Drawings numbered 258-271

Box 26 of 62

Box 27

Drawings numbered 273-291

Box 27 of 62

Box 28

Drawings numbered 293-306

Box 28 of 62

Box 29

Drawings numbered 307-320

Box 29 of 62

Box 30

Drawings numbered 320-331

Box 30 of 62

Box 31

Drawings numbered 331-347

Box 31 of 62

Box 32

Drawings numbered 348-366

Box 32 of 62

Box 33

Drawings numbered 366-381

Box 33 of 62

Box 34

Drawings numbered 381-398

Box 34 of 62

Box 35

Drawings numbered 399-415

Box 35 of 62

Box 36

Drawings numbered 416-435

Box 36 of 62

Box 37

Drawings numbered 435-453

Box 37 of 62

Box 38

Drawings numbered 454-471

Box 38 of 62

Box 39

Drawings numbered 471-493

Box 39 of 62

Box 40

Drawings numbered 499-512

Box 40 of 62

Box 41

Drawings numbered 513-535

Box 41 of 62

Box 42

Drawings numbered 535-556

Box 42 of 62

Box 43

Drawings numbered 556-623

Box 43 of 62

Box 44

Drawings numbered 620-672

Box 44 of 62

Box 45

Drawings numbered [673]-718

Box 45 of 62

Box 46

Drawings numbered 719-738

Box 46 of 62

Box 47

Unnumbered drawings

Box 47 of 62

Series 4

COLOR PLATES AND PIGMENT SAMPLES USED IN COLOR STANDARDS AND NOMENCLATURE (Washington, 1912).

Box 48

Folder 1 Original Plates Used Color Plates I-VI

Box 48 of 62

Folder 2 Original Plates Used Color Plates VII-X

Box 48 of 62

Box 49

Folder 1 Original Plates Used Plates VII-X

Box 49 of 62

Folder 2 Original Plates Used XIII-XXVI

Box 49 of 62

Folder 3 Original Plates Used XVII-XXXVIII

Box 49 of 62

Box 50

Folder 1 Original Plates Used Unnumbered

Box 50 of 62

Folder 2 Original Plates Used XVII-XXXVIII

Box 50 of 62

Box 51

Folders 1-2 Original Plates Used XLV-L

Box 51 of 62

Folder 3 Colors of original scheme, not published

Box 51 of 62

Box 52

Folder 1 Colors of original scheme, not published

Box 52 of 62

Folder 2 Miscellaneous

Box 52 of 62

Box 53

Maxwell discs used by Ridgway; spectrum standards; spectrum hires

Box 53 of 62

Boxes 54-61

Index cards containing samples of the pigments used by Ridgway

Boxes 54-61 of 62

Series 5

LARGE FORMAT MATERIALS.

Box 62

Miscellaneous drawings, watercolors, and lithographic prints of birds

Box 62 of 62
Oversize

Photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Ridgway, Larchmound, 1919

Oversize

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