Charles Valentine Riley Papers, circa 1861-1885

Summary

Charles Valentine Riley (1843-1895) was one of two or three key figures in the development of economic entomology in the United States. An Englishman by birth, he was a protege of Benjamin Dann Walsh and was the first entomologist of the State of Missouri from 1868 to 1871. Riley secured establishment of the United States Entomological Commission in 1877 and the next year was named Entomologist of the United States. Riley was also Honorary Curator of Insects in the United States National Museum, 1882-1895; and from his own collections and those of the Department of Agriculture grew the national collection of insects. This accession consists of Riley's copies of the publication "American Entomologist," Volumes 1 and 2 as well as scrapbooks containing primarily clippings related to entomology. Throughout the publications and the scrapbooks are loose correspondence, manuscript notes and indexes, marginalia, and clippings. Also included are a small number of drawings.

Subject

• Riley, Charles V (Charles Valentine) 1843-1895
• Walsh, B. D (Benjamin Dann) 1808-1869
• United States Entomological Commission
• United States National Museum
• United States Department of Agriculture

Notes

• Electronic List in accession file.
• Folder List in accession file.

Organization

Unarranged

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

• 1861
• 1861-1885
• circa 1861-1885

Topic

• Entomology
• Entomologists

Place

Missouri

Form/Genre

• Scrapbooks
• Collection descriptions
• Books
• Clippings
• Manuscripts
• Drawings

Local number

SIA Acc. 23-185

Physical description

1.62 cu. ft. (1 document box) (1 12x17 box) (1 16x20 box)

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