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

Record Unit 7101

Dyar, Harrison G. (Harrison Gray), 1866-1929

Harrison Gray Dyar Papers, 1882-1927

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Dyar, Harrison G. (Harrison Gray), 1866-1929
Title:Harrison Gray Dyar Papers
Dates:1882-1927
Quantity:1 cu. ft. (2 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7101
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This record unit includes papers relating to entomology, especially the taxonomy of the larvae of lepidoptera; correspondence, 1887-1927, between Dyar and others regarding identification and exchange of specimens, comments on published papers, and other professional concerns; Dyar's "Manuscript Notes on Lepidoptera," "Notes On Bombycidae of the United States," and materials relating to his "List of North American Lepidoptera," rearing records, and one diary of field trips, 1905-1908; and Dyar's Catalog of Lepidoptera, a list of specimens which he placed in the national collection. The correspondence is located in the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Other materials are housed in the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Entomology; and the National Agriculture Library in Beltsville, Maryland. Consult the Smithsonian Institution Archives for further information.

Historical Note

Harrison Gray Dyar (1866-1929) was honorary Custodian of the National Museum's collection of lepidoptera for more than thirty years; he served largely as an unpaid curator, although he was briefly on the payroll of the Department of Agriculture. A graduate of Columbia University (Ph.D. 1895), he worked on lepidoptera, especially their larvae; larvae of saw flies, larvae of mosquitoes, and bacteria. Around the turn of the century, interest in mosquito-borne diseases attracted his attention; he and Frederick Knab were responsible for the taxonomic portions of the work on mosquitoes of North and Central America and the West Indies for the volumes published by the Carnegie Institution between 1912 and 1917. He collected and reared insects in New York, Colorado, Florida, British Columbia, Panama, and elsewhere. He was proprietor and editor of Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus, 1913-1927, as well as editor of other publications.

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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

This record unit includes papers relating to entomology, especially the taxonomy of the larvae of lepidoptera; correspondence, 1887-1927, between Dyar and others regarding identification and exchange of specimens, comments on published papers, and other professional concerns; Dyar's "Manuscript Notes on Lepidoptera," "Notes On Bombycidae of the United States," and materials relating to his List of North American Lepidoptera, rearing records, and one diary of field trips, 1905-1908; and Dyar's Catalog of Lepidoptera, a list of specimens which he placed in the national collection. The correspondence is located in the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Other materials are housed in the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Entomology; and the National Agriculture Library in Beltsville, Maryland. Consult the Smithsonian Institution Archives for further information.

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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 7101, Harrison Gray Dyar Papers

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Container List

Series 1

CORRESPONDENCE, 1887-1927.

This series includes correspondence, mostly incoming but including copies of War's letters to entomologists regarding professional matters mostly relating to lepidopterous larvae; especially important is correspondence with Foster Hendrickson Benjamin regarding William Barnes' collection and other matters, and correspondence with Henry Bird, Harold F. Box, August Radcliffe Grote, and John Bernhard Smith.

Box 1

A - Bed, includes William Harris Ashmeade, William Barnes, Otis W. Barrett

Box 1 of 2

Foster Hendrickson Benjamin, curator - William Barnes

Box 1 of 2

Beth - Brow, includes Charles J. S. Bethune, William Beutenmuller, Henry Bird, C. V. Blackburn, Harold E. Box

Box 1 of 2

Brya - Cook, includes August Busck, Samuel L. Cassino, Andrew Nelson Caudell, J. A. Chapman, Frank H. Chittenden

Box 1 of 2

Cool - Curt, includes Karl B. Coolidge

Box 1 of 2

Dens - Felt, includes Alan P. Dodd, Max Draudt, Henry Edwards, Ephraim Porter Felt

Box 1 of 2

Ferr - Gowd, includes Charles Henry Fernald, Henry Torsey Fernald, William T. M. Forbes, George Franck, Eugene Giacomelli

Box 1 of 2

August Radcliffe Grote (2 folders)

Box 1 of 2

Grubb - Holl, includes Jeane D. Gunder, George Francis Hampson, Martin Herring, Leith F. Hitchcock, Carlos C. Hoffman, William Jacob Holland

Box 1 of 2

Box 2

Hopp - Loun, includes Walter Hopp, George Duryea Hulst, Frank Morton Jones, W. D. Kearfott, Joseph Albert Lintner

Box 2 of 2

Love - Murt, includes Henry Herbert Lyman, Ralph W. Macy, James Halliday McDunnough, Harold W. B. Moore, Roberto Muller

Box 2 of 2

Naka - Seif, includes Alpheus Spring Packard, E. Piazza, E. D. Sanderson, William Schaus, Samuel H. Scudder

Box 2 of 2

Neumoegen and Company

Box 2 of 2

Raymond C. Shannon

Box 2 of 2

Sher - Spal, includes Henry Skinner, Annie Trumbull Slosson, John Bernhard Smith

Box 2 of 2

Stephens - Town, includes Herman Strecker, R. H. Stretch, Louis N. Swett, Ernest Swinhoe, C. H. T. Townsend

Box 2 of 2

Ulke - Zwal, includes George Norton Wolcott, Robert H. Wolcott

Box 2 of 2

Unidentified correspondents, fragments

Box 2 of 2

Dyar Family Genealogy (Accession 86-119)

Box 2 of 2