Charles L. Camp field notes

Title: Charles L. Camp field notes

Dates: 1908-1922

Collection Number: MVZA.MSS.0051

Creator/Collector: Camp, Charles Lewis, 1893-1975

Extent: 5.0 volumes

Repository: UC Berkeley. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Abstract: The Charles L. Camp field notes collection contains 5 volumes of field notes between the years 1908 and 1922, as well as the transcriptions of an MVZ field trip to Yolla Bolly in 1913. The collection contains Camp's diary of the first field trip of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in 1908. His field notes contain his journals, species observations, catalogs, hand-drawn maps, and specimen drawings from these trips in his early career.

Language of Material: English

The collection is open for research.

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.

[Identification of item]. Charles L. Camp field notes. Collection Number: MVZA.MSS.0051. UC Berkeley. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Charles Lewis Camp, born 1893 in North Dakota, was the third Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and an early researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, where he was a participant on the first ever field trip of the MVZ in 1908. Camp had been noticed by Joseph Grinnell at his school in Pasadena as a young man, and was encouraged by Grinnell to come study Zoology at Berkeley. This he did in 1911, and while at Berkeley he collected specimens for the MVZ from 1913-1915. He then went on to earn a Ph.D from Columbia University in 1923 in Paleontology, during which time he served in World War I and assisted at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Camp began teaching in the Zoology Department at Berkeley in 1922 and later in the Paleontology Department in 1930. He would eventually become the chair of the Paleontology Department in 1939. Camp actively engaged in field work all over the United States, and, thanks to a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935, in Europe, South Africa, and China as well. In 1949 Camp gave up his Directorship and chairmanship, but continued to mentor, teach, and do field work all over the world. He formally retired in 1960, though like so many others in the field, never gave up his work. Camp was a thorough and detailed researcher who published extensively during his career including, to name a couple, his Earth Song, which is a poetic interpretation of the geologic history of Western America, and Stories of Fossils, which was geared toward elementary school children. As his hobby, Camp was also an avid and accomplished historian of Western America and published many books on pioneers, during which time he would often retrace their travels. For this simultaneous work as a paleontologist and historian, Camp was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 and was awarded the Henry R. Wagner Medal from the California Historical Society in 1970. Charles L. Camp died in 1975 at the age of 82. References: University of California Museum of Paleontology. “Charles L. Camp (1893-1975), third director of UCMP.” History of UCMP. University of California Museum of Paleontology, n. d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/about/history/clcamp.php.

The Charles L. Camp field notes collection contains 5 volumes of field notes between the years 1908 and 1922 to locations all over California including the San Jacinto Mountains, Yosemite National Park, Alameda Co., Marin Co., Sonoma Co., Mendocino Co., Tehama Co., Napa Co., San Bernardino Co., Los Angeles Co., Kern Co., as well as trips to Arizona, New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. His field notes also include the transcriptions of a field trip to Yolla Bolly with fellow researchers Taylor, Ferris, Stone, and Shelton in 1913. Notably, the collection contains Camp's diary of the first field trip of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in 1908 to the San Jacinto Mountains. Camp was 15 years old and was accompanied by Walter P. Taylor, Charles H. Richardson, and Joseph Grinnell. This diary also includes a letter from Camp to his mother, describing their trip. The field notes of Charles L. Camp contain his journals, species observations, catalogs, hand-drawn maps, and specimen drawings from these trips in his early career.