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

Record Unit 7283

Shepard, Charles Upham, 1804-1886

Charles Upham Shepard Papers, 1830, 1842-1894 and undated

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Shepard, Charles Upham, 1804-1886
Title:Charles Upham Shepard Papers
Dates:1830, 1842-1894 and undated
Quantity:1 cu. ft. (2 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7283
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This collection consists primarily of correspondence with mineralogists, collectors, and museums concerning Shepard's research on meteorites and the acquisition of specimens for his collection. Also included are notebooks, scrapbooks, catalogs, and lectures by Shepard; specimen lists; and newspaper clippings collected by Shepard mostly concerning meteorites. A small amount of correspondence of Shepard's son, Charles Upham Shepard, Jr., is contained in the collection, including correspondence with Frank Wigglesworth Clarke concerning the deposit of the Shepard Meteorite Collection in the USNM in 1886.

Historical Note

Charles Upham Shepard (1804-1886) was a mineralogist and authority on meteorites. Shepard was educated at Amherst College, graduating in 1824. After a short period as a school teacher in Boston, Shepard went to Yale College in 1827 as assistant to Benjamin Silliman. He remained at Yale until 1844 serving as lecturer in botany, 1830-1831; director of the Brewster Scientific Institute, 1832-1833; and lecturer in natural history, 1833-1844. In 1844, he became lecturer in natural history at Amherst College, where he remained until his retirement in 1877. From 1834 to 1869, Shepard served as professor of chemistry at the South Carolina Medical College (a position held concurrently with his lectureships at Yale and Amherst). Shepard made extensive collections of minerals and meteorites throughout his career. After his death in 1886, his meteorite collection (the largest in America at the time) was deposited in the United States National Museum (USNM) by his son, Charles Upham Shepard, Jr. The collection was officially bequeathed to the USNM in 1915.

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Descriptive Entry

This collection consists primarily of correspondence with mineralogists., collectors, and museums concerning Shepard's research on meteorites and the acquisition of specimens for his collection. Also included are notebooks, scrapbooks, catalogues, and lectures of Shepard; specimen lists; and newspaper clippings collected by Shepard mostly concerning meteorites. A small amount of correspondence of Shepard's son, Charles Upham Shepard, Jr., is contained in the collection, including correspondence with Frank Wigglesworth Clarke concerning the deposit of the Shepard Meteorite Collection in the USNM in 1886.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7283, Charles Upham Shepard Papers

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Container List

Series 1

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1830, 1842-1894, AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

This series consists mostly of incoming correspondence documenting Charles Upham Shepard's research on meteorites and the acquisition of specimens for his collection. A small amount of outgoing correspondence is included and is indicated in the folder listing. Also included is correspondence of Shepard's son, Charles Upham Shepard, Jr.

Box 1

Folder 1 A, general, 1848, 1866.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 2 B, general, 1848-1888.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 3 Bailey, S.C.H., 1882-1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 4 Birge, Charles P., 1879-1880.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 5 Buchner, Otto, 1861.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 6 C, general, 1830-1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 7 Clarke, Frank Wigglesworth, 1884-1886. Includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence between Clarke and Charles Upham Shepard.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 8 Clarke, Frank Wigglesworth, 1886-1894. Includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence between Clarke and Charles Upham Shepard, Jr., mostly regarding the deposit of the Shepard Collection of Meteorites in the United States National Museum in 1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 9 D, general, 1858-1880.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 10 Dana, Edward Salisbury, 1881-1883, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 11 Dana, James Dwight, 1859, 1880, 1884-1885, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 12 Davies, Thomas, 1884.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 13 de Landero, Carlos F., 1885-1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 14 Eger, L., 1875-1882.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 15 Elwyn, Alfred Langdon, 1850-1851.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 16 Emerson, Benjamin Kendall, 1883, 1886, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 17 F, general, 1860, 1881-1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 18 Foote, Albert E., 1880-1882, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 19 G, general, 1849-1869, 1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 20 Goebel, Adolph, 1861, 1883-1884.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 21 Greg, Robert Philips, 1855-1865, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 22 Gregory, James R., 1881-1887.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 23 H, general, 1847-1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 24 Hall, Christopher Webster, 1880-1882.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 25 Heddle, M. Forster, 1855, 1881, and undated.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 26 Herrick, Edward Claudius, 1860.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 27 Hudley, James, 1845.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 28 Indian Museum, 1865.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 29 J, general, 1860, 1885-1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 30 Keely, George W., 1845-1846.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 31 Kendall, Theodore A., 1885-1886.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 32 Kepelmeyer, P. A., 1860-1862.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 33 Kunz, George Frederick, 1884-1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 34 L, general, 1849-1888.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 35 Lettsom, W. G., 1846-1849.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 36 M, general, 1842-1882.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 37 N, general, 1869, 1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 38 O, general, 1869, 1879.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 39 Oldham, T., 1863-1867.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 40 P, general, 1848-1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 41 Parker, G., 1854.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 42 R, general, 1850, 1860, 1885.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 43 S, general , 1846-1889.

Box 1 of 2

Folder 44 Scouler, John, 1846-1847.

Box 1 of 2

Box 2

Folder 1 Shepard, Charles Upham, Jr., 1880, 1884 and undated.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 2 Siemachko, Y., 1883-1884.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 3 Spang, Norman, 1881.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 4 Sturtz, B., 1886, 1890, and undated.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 5 T, general, 1863, 1885.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 6 U-V, general, 1846, 1884.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 7 Von Baumhauer, E. H., 1865, 1882 and undated.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 8 W, general, 1859-1884.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 9 Ward's Natural Science Establishment, 1887. Correspondence with Charles Upham Shepard, Jr., regarding the purchase of meteorites from the Shepard Collection.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 10 Willcox, Joseph, 1887. The correspondence is addressed to Charles Upham Shepard, Jr.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 11 Young, Charles Augustus, 1861, 1864

Box 2 of 2

Folder 12 Unidentified correspondence, 1855, 1884, and undated

Box 2 of 2

Series 2

NOTEBOOKS, SCRAPBOOKS, CATALOGUES, SPECIMEN LISTS, AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, 1845, 1859-1860, 1878, 1886, AND UNDATED.

Box 2

Folder 13 "Catalogue of Meteorites collected by the late Prof. Charles U. Shepard of New Haven, Connecticut and Deposited in the National Museum at Washington, D.C, by his son Charles U. Shepard, Jr. of Charleston, South Carolina, 1886."

Box 2 of 2

Folder 14 Miscellaneous newspaper clippings.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 15 Miscellaneous specimen list and notes on meteorites.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 16 Notebook containing an address by Charles Upham Shepard given at Amherst College on his appointment as instructor of natural history and chemistry, August 9, 1845. Also includes notes and drawings on meteorites.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 17 Notebook containing a lecture on aerolites by Charles Upham Shepard, December 23, 1878.

Box 2 of 2

Folder 18 Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, 1859-1860, mostly concerning meteorites and mineralogy. Also included are clippings concerning the slavery question and political issues.

Box 2 of 2

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