Finding Aid - Contains Digitized Material
Submit Reference RequestPrintDownload PDF

Reference Request

* required
Please succinctly provide us with any information pertinent to your inquiry. If you are writing to us about a research request, provide as much detail as possible about the collections in which you are interested (including collection numbers, box numbers, and folder titles).
(if known)

The Smithsonian Institution Archives is using Constant Contact, a third-party contact management software vendor, to manage contacts and send eNewsletters. Please be advised that Constant Contact's Privacy Statement and Terms and Conditions apply to your use of these services. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has access to your name and email address which is subject to our privacy statement.

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

Record Unit 7178

Raven, Henry Cushier, 1889-1944

Henry Cushier Raven Field Journal, 1912-1914

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Raven, Henry Cushier, 1889-1944
Title:Henry Cushier Raven Field Journal
Dates:1912-1914
Quantity:
Collection:Record Unit 7178
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

The collection consists of a field journal of Raven's kept in the East Indies from 1912 to 1914 and a field map of Borneo.

Historical Note

Henry Cushier Raven (1889-1944) began his zoological career in the Department of Preparation of the American Museum of Natural History in 1907. While there he worked with Jesse D. Figgins and Herbert Lang, noted taxidermists. When Figgins moved to the Colorado Museum of Natural History in 1910, he took Raven with him.

In 1912, the Smithsonian Institution and William Louis Abbott were looking for a young collector and explorer to carry on Abbott's work in the East Indies. Hearing good reports regarding Raven, they hired him; and he spent most of the next six years in the islands. His travels in the Pacific took him to Borneo, the Celebes, and the Moluccas.

Raven entered Cornell as a special student in zoology in 1918 and also served as Curator of the zoology museum. In 1919, the Smithsonian again employed him as a field collector, this time for the Cape-to-Cairo African Expedition. Upon his return in 1920, he entered Columbia and there studied comparative anatomy under William King Gregory. From 1921 to his death, Raven was employed by the American Museum of Natural History as a collector and Curator of Comparative Anatomy. He also held appointments with New York University, 1924-1926; Columbia University, 1926-1944; Johns Hopkins University, 1936-1938; and the New York Zoological Park, 1921-1944. Raven's major research contributions dealt with the distribution of animals in East Asia, the sperm and beaked whales, and the comparative anatomy of primates, especially gorillas.

Top of Page

Descriptive Entry

This collection consists of a field journal of Raven's kept in the East Indies from 1912 to 1914 and a field map of Borneo.

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7178, Henry Cushier Raven Field Journal

Top of Page

Container List

Box 1

Typewritten copy of field journal of Henry Cushier Raven written while in Singapore, Java and Borneo and vicinity, dated February 22, 1912 to November 2, 1914

Typewritten copy of field journal of Henry Cushier Raven written while in Singapore, Java and Borneo and vicinity, dated February 22, 1912 to November 2, 1914 [Image nos. SIA2013-00016 to SIA2013-00195]
Box 1 of 1
Oversize

Field map of Borneo

Field map of Borneo, 1912-1914
Oversize

Top of Page