Description
The Clinton Hart Merriam papers include correspondence, manuscripts, illustrations, photographs, and reprints of articles.
Materials span the years 1822-1939.
Background
Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942) was born in New York City. He studied at Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School and graduated
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, in 1879. After graduating, he practiced medicine and surgery
in upstate New York. However, eventually he became mainly interested in natural history and helped put into motion numerous
important field expeditions. In 1891, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Merriam as Fur Seal Commissioner. Following this,
he served as Chief of the U.S. Biological Survey for 25 years, doing field work in every U.S. state as well as abroad. Over
the course of his lifetime, Merriam acted as president of the American Society of Naturalists, Anthropological Society, Biological
Society of Washington, Linnaean Society of New York, and the American Society of Mammalogists. He was also one of original
founders of the National Geographic Society, and served on its Board of Directors for 54 years. A perfectionist by nature
when pursuing writing, he still managed to publish more than 400 times overall. Towards end of his life, his bird collection
was acquired by the British Museum, while his mammal collection was donated to the U.S. National Museum.
Sources Consulted:
Palmer, T.S. "In Memoriam: Clinton Hart Merriam." The Auk, 71, 2 (1954): 130-136. Accessed November 3, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4081567
Talbot, Z.M. and Talbot, M.W. "C. Hart Merriam." Science, 95, 2474 (1942): 545-546. Accessed November 3, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1668698
Restrictions
Copyright restrictions may apply. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted to the Museum of Vertebrate
Zoology Archives in writing for approval. Please contact the Museum Archivist for further information.