Reference Request
Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Record Unit 148
National Museum of Natural History. Department of Entomology
Correspondence, 1963-1967
Historical Note
The Department of Entomology was organized in the United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, in July 1963. In 1963 John Frederick Gates Clarke was chairman, and he was succeeded by Karl Krombein in 1966.
Descriptive Entry
A great majority of the records concern donation of other receipt of specimens in the National Museum; distribution or loan of specimens from the Museum; requests for determination of specimens by other entomologists and the general public (a considerable proportion of the determinations were made for state departments of entomology); and general research questions from the public. The Department corresponded with institutions all over the world, including most major United States and Canadian natural history institutions, state entomology departments, and institutions in Latin America, Great Britain, Continental Europe, Australia, and India.
Less prevalent is correspondence between entomologists concerning their research; correspondence concerning manuscripts submitted for publication in the National Museum series or submitted by Department staff to other journals; applications for research grants, mostly by Departmental staff to outside agencies, occasional copies of itineraries for research trips; and a few manuscripts of articles. The most useful correspondence is between the chairmen Clarke and Krombein, and other entomologists regarding their research and collecting expeditions. In the folder list below the more substantial correspondence is indicated by an asterisk.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Clarke, J. F. Gates (John Frederick Gates), 1905-1990
- Krombein, Karl V.
- United States National Museum. Department of Entomology
- United States National Museum. Division of Insects
Subject
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 148, National Museum of Natural History. Department of Entomology, Correspondence