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

Record Unit 7183

Clark, Austin Hobart, 1880-1954

Austin Hobart Clark Papers, 1883-1954 and undated

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Clark, Austin Hobart, 1880-1954
Title:Austin Hobart Clark Papers
Dates:1883-1954 and undated
Quantity:10.61 cu. ft. (19 document boxes) (1 half document box) (2 12x17 boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7183
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These papers include incoming and outgoing correspondence; papers documenting Clark's participation in organizations outside the Smithsonian; records relating to the administration of the Division of Echinoderms; descriptive notes on specimen collections; bibliographic references; Addison Emery Verrill material maintained by Clark; charts and diagrams depicting the comparative bathymetric distribution of crinoids in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans; and a scrapbook containing postcards received by Clark in connection with a nomenclature question concerning Enerinus.

Historical Note

Austin Hobart Clark (1880-1954) was born December 17, 1880, in Wellesley, Massachusetts. His childhood study of butterflies initiated his interest in natural history. At the age of 23 Clark graduated from Harvard University (A.B., 1903). By 1906 his zoological interests had focused on marine biology, and from 1906 to 1907 he served as acting chief of the scientific staff of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross. In 1906 he participated in the Albatross' eight-month Pacific cruise, which resulted in Clark's report of birds he had studied during that period.

Austin H. Clark's association with the United States National Museum began in 1908 with a position as honorary collaborator in the Division of Marine Invertebrates. In 1909 he was appointed assistant curator in the Division of Marine Invertebrates. When the echinoderm collection was removed from the Division of the Marine Invertebrates and made a separate division, Clark was promoted to curator of the Division of Echinoderms, effective April 1, 1920. Clark held the position of curator until his retirement in 1950, at which time he was made an honorary associate in Zoology, a position he retained until his death on October 28, 1954.

Clark did research in the areas of oceanography, marine biology, ornithology, and entomology, but the class Crinoidea constituted his principal research field. Due to a prevailing sense of international cooperation, Clark was able to gain access to specimens collected on various international expeditions, including the Canadian Arctic Expedition and the Siboga Expedition. The collections of the United States National Museum were also sent abroad for study. Notable recipients of these collections were Theodor Mortensen, Rene Koehler, Ludwig Doderlein, and Torsten Gislen.

Clark wrote 630 books and articles in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew. Although most of these were published in the United States, the places of publication included twenty different countries. Among his books were Animals of Land and Sea (1925), Nature Narratives (vol. 1, 1929; vol. 2, 1931), The New Evolution (1930), and Animals Alive (1948). Clark and his second wife, Leila Gay Forbes (m. 1933), co-authored eight papers on the butterflies of Virginia.

Scientific journalism was an important field for Clark. He maintained close contact with various scientific editors and was one of the first to realize the application of radio and televison to the dissemination of scientific news and ideas. Clark was instrumental in the development of the weekly radio talks aired by the Smithsonian from 1923 to 1926 in cooperation with the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Navy Department, the Biological Survey, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, and other government agencies. In 1925 Clark and the Smithsonian were instrumental in establishing a series of radio broadcasts in the Boston area through the cooperation of Thornton W. Burgess, Harlow Shapley, and others. Clark was appointed director of press service for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1928. He also served as press relations officer for the Eighth Pan-American Scientific Congress (1940) and the AAAS Centennial Celebration (1948).

Clark also held offices in other scientific organizations, notably the National Research Council's American Geophysical Union, where he served as secretary of the Section of Oceanography (1926-1928), chairman of the Section of Oceanography (1928-1933), and vice-chairman of the Union (1933). He was also president of the Washington Academy of Sciences, president of the Entomological Society of Washington, a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the National Parks Association, a member of the Executive Committee and Long Range Planning Committee of the Southern Association of Science and Industry, and a member of the Long Range Planning Committee of the Virginia Academy of Sciences.

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Introduction

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

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Descriptive Entry

The main body of the collection consists of incoming and outgoing personal correspondence. However, since Clark was curator and sole employee of the Division of Echinoderms from 1920 to 1950, his personal papers contain some official correspondence generated by the Division of Echinoderms during that period. Also included are papers that document Clark's participation in organizations outside the Smithsonian; records relating to the administration of the Division of Echinoderms; descriptive notes on specimen collections; manuscripts and typescripts; bibliographic references; Addison Emery Verrill material maintained by Clark; and charts and diagrams depicting the comparative Bathymetric distribution of crinoids in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans.

Correspondents include: Charles G. Abbot, Alexander Agassiz, Jerome Alexander, Wilfrid B. Alexander, E. J. Allen, Glover Morrill Allen, Joel Asaph Allen, George Andrew Ammann, Rudolf Martin Anderson, N. Annandale, Gilbert Archey, W. Arndt, Benjamin Walworth Arnold, J. P. Ault, Rene Bache, Clement W. Baker, Frank W. Ballou, H. A. Ballou, Outram Bangs, Nathan Banks, Thomas Barbour, H. G. Barnett, Harold L. Barrett, Albert L. Barrows, Paul Bartsch, F. B. Bassett, Charles Foster Batchelder, F. A. Bather, Ted Bayer, George Huddell Beatty III, F. Jeffrey Bell, Foster Hendrickson Benjamin, Marcus Benjamin, Charles T. Berry, Edward Willard Berry, Henry Bryant Bigelow, Lloyd C. Bird, C. V. Blackburn, A. F. Blakeslee, Howard Walter Blakeslee, Frank H. Blumenthal, Gilbert E. Bodkin, Herbert Bolton, H. Boschma, Harold Bowditch, Richard Le Baron Bowen, Jr., George M. Bowers, E. H. Bowie, William Bowie, Isaiah Bowman, George E. Brandt, Charles Marcus Breder, Jr., Walter E. Broadway, Paul Brockett, Alfred H. Brooks, Herbert Janvrin Browne, Charles Thomas Brues, George Kimball Burgess, Thornton W. Burgess, Alfred Cummings Burrill, Philip Powell Calvert, John H. Camp, James McKeen Cattell, Herbert Clifton Chadwick, J. M. Chamberlain, Asa Crawford Chandler, Eloise Christian, James Chumley, Hubert Lyman Clark, Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, John Mason Clarke, Theodore D. A. Cockerell, Hedley L. Coleman, Laurence Vail Coleman, William P. Comstock, Frederick Vernon Coville, Edward M. Crane, James Creese, Jr., Joseph A. Cushman, Edward Salisbury Dana, Violet Dandridge, Hubert J. Davis, William Thompson Davis, Elisabeth Deichmann, John A. Detlefsen, David Dickey, David Henry Dietz, Ludwig Doderlein, Franz Doflein, Cyril F. Dos Passos, James Drummond, Irving H. Dunlap, Charles Rochester Eastman, Ralph Edmunds, K. Ehrenberg, Harry Eltringham, William Keith Emerson, Richard A. Engler, Richard Etheridge, Barton Warren Evermann, David Grandison Fairchild, R. L. Faris, George T. Farran, H. B. Fell, Merritt Lyndon Fernald, Charles John Fish, Walter Kenrick Fisher, John Adam Fleming, Maynard D. Follin, William T. M. Forbes, Alexander Hume Ford, Charles McLean Fraser, E. E. Free, O. Fuhrmann, Louis Germain, John Hiram Gerould, Carl H. Getz, Charles Henry Gilbert, Walter M. Gilbert, Torsten Gislen, Seitaro Goto, Samuel Arnold Greeley, L. Paul Grey, James A. Grieg, Joseph Grinnell, Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, Maurice C. Hall, Chauncey J. Hamlin, R. Hamlyn-Harris, Sidney Frederic Harmer, Francis Harper, Clemens Hartlaub, Robert Hartmeyer, William Perry Hay, Kenneth Conrad Heald, Nicholas Hunter Heck, Joel Walker Hedgpeth, Edmund Heller, Francis Hemming, Samuel Henshaw, William A. Herdman, P. B. Hill, Edward J. Holmes, R. Horst, William Hovanitz, Leland Ossian Howard, Harrison E. Howe, Mark DeW. Howe, Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman, Louis W. Hutchins, George Evelyn Hutchinson, Albert G. Ingalls, Robert T. Jackson, Frits Johansen, D. Dilwyn John, Charles W. Johnson, T. Harvey Johnston, E. Lester Jones, David Starr Jordan, Harvey Ernest Jordan, Louis Joubin, Ernest Everett Just, Tamiji Kawamura, Vernon L. Kellogg, J. Scott Keltie, Stanley W. Kemp, Theodore G. Kern, Israel Klein, Charles H. Knowles, Rene Koehler, Charles Atwood Kofoid, Alfred L. Kroeber, Nagamichi Kuroda, Alexander Henry Leim, Frank Rattray Lillie, G. W. Littlehales, Burton Edward Livingston, Hubert Ludwig, Victor W. Lyon, Waldo Lee McAtee, George Francis McEwen, Ralph W. Macy, Albert Mann, William M. Mann, George Willard Martin, Bryant Mather, Hiko Matsumoto, John Campbell Merriam, Wilhelm Michaelsen, Roy Waldo Miner, C. C. A. Monro, Henry Frank Moore, Theodor Mortensen, Olaus Johan Murie, Robert Cushman Murphy, National Research Council: American Geophysical Union, Sidney Stevens Negus, Edward W. Nelson, Curtis Lakeman Newcombe, John Treadwell Nichols, Charles Cleve1and Nutting, Hiroshi Ohshima, Henry O'Malley, Wilfred Hudson Osgood, William Patten, Arthur Sperry Pearse, G. Pfeffer, John Charles Phillips, Morten P. Porsild, Carlos E. Porter, Frank A. Potts, Edward E. Prince, Lewis Radcliffe, Mary Jane Rathbun, Richard Rathbun, W. deC Ravenel, George William Rawson, Paul Marshall Rea, Paul S. Redington, August Reichensperger, W. Malcom Reid, Charles L. Remington, Willis Horton Rich, Jules Richard, Charles Wallace Richmond, William Emerson Ritter, Gilbert Thomas Rude, Rudolf Ruedemann, William Edwin Safford, W. N. Sands, Waldo Lasalle Schmitt, M. Jules Schokalsky, Jacob Richard Schramm, Charles Schuchert, Harlow Shapley, Ernest Shoemaker, Allen Shoenfield, Edwin E. Slosson, Edward H. Smith, G. Alex Smith, Hobart Muir Smith, Thomas Elliot Snyder, Arthur deC Sowerby, Frank Springer, J. Foster Stackhouse, Leonhard Stejneger, Charles Wardell Stiles, Matthew Stirling, Witmer Stone, Abbott H. Thayer, R. J. Tillyard, Olga A. Titelbaum, Walter Edmond Clyde Todd, Charles Henry Tyler Townsend, Frank W. Trainer, Parker Davies Trask, Frederick William True, Harold C. Urey, Frederick William Urich, W. A. J. M. Van Waterschoot, Van Der Gracht, C. Vaney, Ernst Vanhoffen, T. Wayland Vaughan, Addison Emery Verrill, Warren Herbert Wagner, Jr., Charles D. Walcott, Henry Baldwin Ward, Henry Stephen Washington, Francis Watts, Max C. W. Weber, Alexander Wetmore, David White, Edward Wigglesworth, C. B. Williams, Carroll E. Wood, Casey W. Wood, H. E. Woodcock, Bernard H. Woodward.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7183, Austin Hobart Clark Papers

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Container List

Series 1

INCOMING AND OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE, 1907-1954. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY CORRESPONDENT.

Consists of correspondence with fellow scientists, committee members, educators, and administrators. Much of the correspondence documents Clark's role in the dissemination of scientific knowledge via radio shows and the publication of his monographs. Clark's administrative and curatorial duties are documented in correspondence with various administrators, such as Abbott, Bartsch, Rathbun, Ravenel, Schmitt, Stejneger, Walcott, and Wetmore. See also add acquisition, Series 10, box 22.

Box 1

A - Barrows

Box 1 of 22

Box 2

Bartsch - Brooks

Box 2 of 22

Box 3

Brown - Clark, H. L.

Box 3 of 22

Box 4

Clark, H. L. - Di

Box 4 of 22

Box 5

Do - Fu

Box 5 of 22

Box 6

G - Hor

Box 6 of 22

Box 7

Hos - Ku

Box 7 of 22

Box 8

L - Mortensen

Box 8 of 22

Box 9

Mortensen - Ran

Box 9 of 22

Box 10

Rathbun - Si

Box 10 of 22

Box 11

Sm - Sw

Box 11 of 22

Box 12

T - Wetmore

Box 12 of 22

Box 13

Folders 1-3 Wey - Z

Box 13 of 22

Series 2

PAPERS DOCUMENTING PARTICIPATION IN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS, 1911-1952. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY ORGANIZATION.

Consists of copies of minutes, programs, and correspondence with other committee members of the various organizations. Additional correspondence may be found in Series 1 under the names of other individuals active in the organizations.

Box 13

Folder 4 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1927-1934

Box 13 of 22

Folder 5 International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature - Special Committee on Nomenclature of Echinoderms, 1911-1912

Box 13 of 22

Folder 6 National Parks Association - Executive Committee, 1950-1952

Box 13 of 22

Folder 7 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Membership and -Meetings, 1925-1934

Box 13 of 22

Folder 8 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Minutes and Programs, 1919-1927

Box 13 of 22

Folder 9 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-b, Membership and Committees, 1921-1925

Box 13 of 22

Folder 10 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-c, Foreign Correspondence, 1921-1926

Box 13 of 22

Folder 11 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-d, Reports (Reporters' Reports), 1924-1926

Box 13 of 22

Box 14

Folder 1 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-d, Reports (Reporters' Reports), 1923-1925

Box 14 of 22

Folder 2 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-e, Invitations - Guests and Reports, 1921-1925

Box 14 of 22

Folder 3 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-f, Agenda - Madrid Meeting, 1924

Box 14 of 22

Folder 4 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Section 502-g and 502-h, Miscellaneous, 1920-1925

Box 14 of 22

Folder 5 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Executive Committee, 1934-1938

Box 14 of 22

Folder 6 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Correspondence, 1922-1926

Box 14 of 22

Folder 7 National Research Council: American Geophysical Union Correspondence, 1927-1936

Box 14 of 22

Folder 8 National Research Council: Committee on Marine Borer Research, 1921-1922

Box 14 of 22

Folder 9 President's Scientific Research Board, 1946-1947

Box 14 of 22

Folder 10 Southern Association of Science and Industry, 1943

Box 14 of 22

Series 3

DIVISION OF ECHINODERMS ADMINISTRATION, N.D. UNARRANGED.

Consists of reports about the division and records of incoming and outgoing specimen lists. The reports concern the history and functions of the division that do not have a specific addressee. Those reports made to a specific individual are in series 1 under the name of the addressee. The specimen lists refer to specimens sent to the Division by expeditions or other museums either for identification and return or to be retained for the collections of the United States National Museum. They are arranged alphabetically by the Museum or expedition.

Box 14

Folder 11 Divisional Reports, n.d.

Box 14 of 22

Folder 12 Specimen Lists: incoming and outgoing, n.d.

Box 14 of 22

Folder 13 Journal of European trip to view Museum Collections, n.d.

Box 14 of 22

Folder 14 Logbook: research requests, 1948-1950.

Box 14 of 22

Series 4

SPECIMEN DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, N.D. UNARRANGED.

Included is identifying information regarding nomenclature, classification, and location of specimens.

Box 15

Folder 1 Crinoids - Color descriptions collected in Philippine Islands, 1912

Box 15 of 22

Folder 2 Myzostoma

Box 15 of 22

Folder 3 Pentacrinidae from the Carribean

Box 15 of 22

Folder 4 Species in the Indo Pacific Atlantic Fauna

Box 15 of 22

Folders 5-7 Miscellaneous - includes some specimens from Albatross expeditions

Box 15 of 22

Box 16

Folders 1-2 Unidentified, n.d.

Box 16 of 22

Series 5

MANUSCRIPTS, N.D. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

Titled manuscripts and typescripts are arranged alphabetically. Also included are untitled writings, radio scripts, and some articles by other authors. The writings are not all of scientific nature and include political statements as well as statements of Clark's personal philosophy.

Box 16

Folder 3 Manuscripts, A-D

Box 16 of 22
"Animal Evolution," 78 pp.
"Biological Research in the Arctic," 10 pp.
"Butterflies of Virginia," 28 pp.
"Cambosco Florida Expedition Echinoderms," 17+ pp.
"Composition of Meadow Hay from one Acre of Ground," 4 pp.
"The Crinoids of the Okhotsk and Japanese Seas," unnumbered

Folder 4 Manuscripts, E

Box 16 of 22
"Echinoderms (Exclusive of Holothurians)," unnumbered
"Echinoderms from Greenland Collected by Capt. Robert A. Bartlett," 2 pp.
"Echinoderms of Tarut Bay and Vicinity, Saudi Arabia," 23 pp.
"Echinoderms (other than Holothurians) of the Gulf of Mexico," unnumbered

Folder 5 Manuscripts, F-O

Box 16 of 22
"Feather Stars and Sea-Lilies (Crinoidea)," 18 pp.
"Hitler's Holy Land," 19 pp.
"Indo-Pacific Feather-Stars and Sea-Lilies," 18 pp.
"An Interpretation of the Unsegmented Worms as a Key to the Classification of Animals," 48 pp.
"Memorandum Regarding Study of Source Rocks of Petroleum Which May Be Found to Be Now in Process of Deposition," 4 pp.
"Museums and the Radio," 10+ pp.
"A New Subspecies of Glaucopsyche Lygdamus (Rhopalocera; Lycaenidae)," 2+ pp.
"On a Collection of Indo-Pacific Comatulids," unnumbered

Folder 6 Manuscripts

Box 16 of 22
"Pentacrinites," 36+ pp.

Folder 7 Manuscripts, Pr-R

Box 16 of 22
"Preservation of Echinoderms," 2 pp.
"Proposed Magnetic, Electric, and Oceanographic Program for the Next Cruise of the Carnegie," 3 pp.
"Radio," 2 pp.
"Records on Indo-Pacific Echinoderms," 55 pp. and draft

Folder 8 Manuscripts, S-Z

Box 16 of 22
"Science, the Public and the Press," 24 pp.
"The Smithsonian Institution and Oceanography," 3 pp.
"Some Echinoderms from Biak, Schouten Islands," (with Frederick M. Bayer), 4 pp.
'"The Stalked Crinoids," 22+ pp.
"Starfishes, Sea-Urchins, and their Relatives," unnumbered
"Strange Facts in Natural History," 41 pp.

Box 17

Folder 1 Radio Scripts, 1931-1944

Box 17 of 22

Folder 2 Untitled Writings, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Folder 3 Untitled Rough Draft (re: worms), n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Folder 4 Papers by other Authors, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Series 6

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES, N.D. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY

Includes references used in classification of specimen as well as those used in preparation of manuscripts. Those references grouped under a specific heading are filed alphabetically. The remaining references are in the order maintained by Clark.

Box 17

Folder 5 Comatulae, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Folder 6 Hathrometra, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Folder 7 Stalked Crinoids, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Folders 8-9 Miscellaneous, n.d.

Box 17 of 22

Box 18

Folders 1-5 Miscellaneous, n.d.

Box 18 of 22

Series 7

ADDISON EMERY VERRILL MATERIAL, CA. 1883-1915. UNARRANGED.

Verrill (1839-1926) was a noted zoologist and geologist who investigated Atlantic and Pacific coast invertebrata and the marine fauna of the Caribbean. Verrill held several positions during the time period to which these papers relate: professor of zoology, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) (1864-1907); curator of Zoological Museum, MCZ (1865-1910); associate editor, American Journal of Science (1869-1920); instructor of geology, Sheffield Scientific School (1870-1894); and assistant in charge of scientific explorations by the United States Fish Commission (1871-1887). How this material came into Clark's possession is undetermined.

Box 19

Folder 1 Correspondence, 1883-1912; Manuscripts; bibliographic references; and captions for plates to be published

Box 19 of 22

Folder 2 Manuscripts; bibliographic references, invoice of Specimens, 1896; and specimen descriptions

Box 19 of 22

Folder 3 Geology exam; Specimen descriptions; and manuscripts (?)

Box 19 of 22

Folder 4 Specimen descriptions; incoming and outgoing lists of specimens

Box 19 of 22

Folder 5-6 Mss.; Specimen descriptions

Box 19 of 22

Series 8

COMPARATIVE BATHYMETRIC DISTRIBUTION OF CRINOIDS, N.D. UNARRANGED.

Includes oversized charts and diagrams used to support Clark's theories on the geographical distribution of recent crinoids in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans. Many of the documents are fragile.

Box 20

Charts, diagrams, and text, n.d.

Box 20 of 22

Series 9

SCRAPBOOK OF POSTCARDS, 1909.

Box 21

Scrapbook containing postcards received by Clark in connection with a nomenclatural question concerning the genus Encrinus. 1909.

Box 21 of 22

Series 10

ADD ACQUISITION, OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE, 1909-1911.

This bound letterpress book was acquired after the original processing of the collection and contains outgoing correspondence carried out by Clark while he served as assistant curator in the Division of Marine Invertebrates, 1909-1911.

Box 22

Outgoing Correspondence, 1909-1911.

Box 22 of 22

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