Reference Request
Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Record Unit 7348
Emlong, Douglas R., 1942-1980
Douglas Ralph Emlong Papers, 1943-1980
Historical Note
Douglas Ralph Emlong (1942-1980) was an amateur collector of marine mammal fossils. He amassed a large collection of fossils from the vicinity of his home on the Oregon coast and later sold them to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in 1971. The collection included fifteen new species of marine mammals and two previously unknown families. He continued to collect for NMNH until his death, and for many years his work was supported by the Smithsonian Research Foundation. Emlong was also an amateur artist and lyricist.
Descriptive Entry
These papers document Emlong's work as a collector of marine mammal fossils, his association with NMNH, and his personal life. Included is correspondence between Emlong and NMNH paleontologists A. Remington Kellogg and Clayton E. Ray documenting his early interest in fossil collecting and the development and sale of his collection; field notes and collecting records; photographs and slides of Emlong, his family, and his art work; manuscripts, mostly fictional, written by Emlong; tapes and sheet music of songs written and performed by Emlong; biographical information, newspaper clippings, and obituaries; high school papers; oversize oil paintings by Emlong; and a copy of the NMNH accession record for the Emlong collection.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Emlong, Douglas R., 1942-1980
- Kellogg, Remington, 1892-1969
- Ray, Clayton Edward
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- Smithsonian Research Foundation
Subject
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7348, Douglas Ralph Emlong Papers