Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_391590,size=250,left]Edward Drinker Cope, a paleontologist and a “very hard worker with a very good head” offered a great deal of findings to the Smithsonian and the world of science. Fellow Megatherium Club member Robert Kennicott notes in his letter “Folks at Home” that Cope is, “…bound to be one of the first naturalists of the age,” stating that
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_5844,size=300,left]Henry Bryant was a member of the Megatherium Club and one of the naturalists who helped build the Smithsonian’s collection during the 1850s and 1860s. Born on May 12, 1820 in Boston, Massachusetts, Bryant gained an early education at Mr. Thayer’s school before proceeding to college at Mr. Welles’ school in Cambridge. His education
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9667,size=250,left]Robert Kennicott, born on November 13, 1835, was an original member and co-creator of the Megatherium Club and made quite a wave during his lifetime. He was considered a great naturalist, collecting specimens from his expeditions as well as local areas. Kennicott began his life in New Orleans on November 13, 1835, but his family
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9654,size=225,left]Spencer Fullerton Baird was a visionary and can be rightfully credited as a co-creator of the Megatherium Club. Through his position as Assistant Secretary at the Smithsonian, and then Secretary in 1878, Baird corresponded with many of the great naturalists and explorers of his time, in hopes that they would help build the
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_391595,size=300,left]Theodore Nicholas Gill, “Ichthyobranchius”, was many things: an ichthyologist, law student, professor of zoology, Senior Assistant Librarian of Congress, member of the Megatherium Club, and as Robert Kennicott described him “about the oddest fish I’ve come across.” His contributions to science were remarkable, producing more than
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_391596,size=250,left]Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, a geologist and original Megatheria, was an eccentric club member, according to Robert Kennicott. Hayden’s early life began in Westfield, Massachusetts on September 7, 1828. Hayden’s parents, Asa Hayden and Melinda Hawley, were a somewhat troubled pair. His father, an alcoholic, passed away when Hayden