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

Record Unit 7245

Kirk, Edwin, 1884-

Edwin Kirk Papers, 1783-1893, 1905-1941 and undated

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Kirk, Edwin, 1884-
Title:Edwin Kirk Papers
Dates:1783-1893, 1905-1941 and undated
Quantity:0.5 cu. ft. (1 document box)
Collection:Record Unit 7245
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These papers consist of memoranda and correspondence concerning USGS publications, identification of specimens, and collection and field reports submitted to the USGS; miscellaneous writings; field and locality notes; a specimen list; and a small group of autograph letters of 18th and 19th century European scientists collected by Kirk.

Historical Note

Edwin Kirk (1884-1955) was educated at Columbia University where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1911. While at Columbia, Kirk was an Assistant to Amadeus W. Grabau, one of America's foremost teachers of geology and paleontology. In 1907, Kirk left Columbia to become an Assistant Paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). In 1909, he was promoted to Junior Geologist, and subsequently held positions as Assistant Geologist, 1911-1913; Associate Geologist, 1913-1914; Paleontologist, 1914-1920; Associate Geologist, 1921-1952; and Geologist, 1952-1954. In 1920, Kirk interrupted his service with the USGS to become a paleontologist with the Bolivia-Argentina Exploration Corporation.

When Kirk joined the USGS he was an Assistant to Edward Oscar Ulrich, studying Ordovician and Silurian sediments of the Appalachians. Later, Kirk made field trips to the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and southeastern Alaska. Kirk also had an avocational interest in the history of science.

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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

These papers consist of memoranda and correspondence concerning USGS publications, identification of specimens, and collection and field reports submitted to the USGS; miscellaneous writings; field and locality notes; a specimen list; and a small group of autograph letters of 18th and 19th century European scientists collected by Kirk.

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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 7245, Edwin Kirk Papers

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Container List

Series 1

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1905, 1915, 1920-1933, 1941 and undated.

Box 1

Folder 1 Correspondence, 1905, 1915, 1920-1933, 1941 and undated

Box 1 of 1

Folder 2 Memoranda, 1928-1932

Box 1 of 1

Series 2

Miscellaneous Writings, 1926 and undated.

Box 1

Folder 3 Book Review of An Upper Ordovician Fauna from the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, 1926

Box 1 of 1

Folder 4 Miscellaneous writings, undated. Includes "Notes on the Jefferson Limestone of the Rocky Mountains," an unpublished manuscript.

Box 1 of 1

Series 3

Notes and Specimen List, 1905-1922 and undated.

Box 1

Folder 5 Locality notes, 1905-1907, 1922 and undated. Includes notes from Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and British Columbia.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 6 Field notes, 1911. Includes notes from Tennesee.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 7 Field notes, 1912

Box 1 of 1

Folder 8 Field notes, 1914-1915. Includes notes from the Grand Teton Quadrangle and Wyoming.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 9 Field notes, 1914, 1920. Includes notes from British Columbia.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 10 Field notes, circa 1922. Includes notes from British Columbia.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 11 Specimen list, undated. Data includes locality, collector, and date of collection.

Box 1 of 1

Series 4

Autograph Letters, 1783-1893 and undated.

This series consists of autograph letters of 18th and 19th century European scientists collected by Edwin Kirk. The letters, written chiefly in French and German, are mostly of French and German scholars, although at the least one appears to be Dutch. In some cases, engraved portraits of the authors accompany the letters. The letters are arranged by the nationality of the author and alphabetically thereunder. Some of the signatures are difficult to read, thus the folder titles may be incorrect.

Box 1

Dutch

Folder 12 Reinwardt, Casper George Carl

Box 1 of 1

French

Folder 13 Arago, Dominique Francois Jean, 1844

Box 1 of 1

Folder 14 Beayes (?), 1826

Box 1 of 1

Folder 15 Berrier Fontaine (?), undated

Box 1 of 1

Folder 16 Bocoust (?), undated

Box 1 of 1

Folder 17 Bosc, Louis Augustin Guillaum, 1826

Box 1 of 1

Folder 18 Breschet, Gilbert, undated

Box 1 of 1

Folder 19 Brisseau Mirbel, Charles Francis, 1839

Box 1 of 1

Folder 20 Brisson, Mathurin-Jacques, undated

Box 1 of 1

Folder 21 Brule, A. M., 1862

Box 1 of 1

Folder 22 Chen (?), 1832. Name incomplete.

Box 1 of 1

Folder 23 Daubenton, Louis Jean-Marie, 1783

Box 1 of 1

Folder 24 DeBrebisson (?), 1836

Box 1 of 1

Folder 25 Hamy, Jules Theodore Ernest, 1889

Box 1 of 1

Folder 26 Haug, Rene F., 1811

Box 1 of 1

Folder 27 Lommed, M. C., 1833

Box 1 of 1

Folder 28 Vauquelin, Louis Nicolas, 1820

Box 1 of 1

Folder 29 Zeiller, Rene Charles, 1893

Box 1 of 1

German

Folder 30 Germar, Ernst Friedrich, 1830

Box 1 of 1

Folder 31 Hoepfner (?), 1833

Box 1 of 1

Folder 32 Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob, 1838

Box 1 of 1

Folder 33 Lippold, F. F. (?), 1829

Box 1 of 1

Folder 34 Schroter, Johann Samuel, 1808

Box 1 of 1

Folder 35 Waltershausen, W. S. (?), 1846

Box 1 of 1

Folder 36 Unidentified

Box 1 of 1

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