Article ID: CBB328483331

The importance of the museum in antebellum U.S. Western Territorial exploration: Part 2. The roles of Hayden and Meek in a paradigm shift in geologic and paleontologic studies (2021)

unapi

Established under the antebellum leadership of Joseph Henry and Spencer Baird, the respect given the Smithsonian Institution had far-reaching effects on budding geological careers and the conservation and curation of fossils at national and state levels. Specifically, F.V. Hayden received sufficient perceived encouragement in his geological and natural history endeavors to prevail under no less than hardship conditions. Consequently, Hayden triumphed on his return from the field in 1856, with specimens that would quickly alter his immediate destiny and that of F.B. Meek. The five documents accepted for publication in 1856 by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia produced not only a large number of new species, but Hayden’s northern Great Plains stratigraphy and a biostratigraphic/biochronologic catalog of species original to western studies. Others were now also repeatedly citing Hayden with Meek for non-molluscan specimens based on his collections, with new species named in his honor. The nature of western geological exploration changed because of Hayden’s successful employment as geologist and naturalist to the G.K. Warren and W.F. Raynolds Missouri and Yellowstone expeditions. Onsite, ‘fact-based’ mapping with fossils in stratigraphic sections were arguably now required. No more qualified or experienced individual left the western territories as the Civil War commenced. Meek’s deathbed monograph provided a redescription and the first figures of Meek and Hayden 1856 taxa. Although there are reasons suggested herein, a conundrum exists as to why Meek replaced many 1856 ‘types’ with different specimens, sometimes from different localities. The specimens used in the 1856 Meek and Hayden papers were first unpacked for study by Meek and Hayden in Albany. Shipment of fossils from field to museum, however, was not without peril. The presumption is that the specimens accompanied Meek when he moved to Washington in 1858. A National Museum sponsored and implemented program fostered an everexpanding ‘duplicate’ distribution of specimens to national and international institutions. Henry and Baird were dedicated to this program. Starting in 1861, surplus fossil invertebrates were removed from National Museum holdings. Many thousands of specimens were transferred, with nearly one thousand specimens documented in a single shipment to one institution. How much of the Hayden collection was affected and how many types were redistributed is as of yet unknown. The remaining Hayden collection in the National Museum is pared-down to type and figured specimens. Hayden’s ‘buckets’ of specimens are being, in some cases, slowly virtually repatriated.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB328483331/

Similar Citations

Book Dingus, Lowell; Norell, Mark A.; (2010)
Barnum Brown: The Man Who Discovered Tyrannosaurus Rex (/isis/citation/CBB001023269/)

Thesis Marlena Briane Cameron; (2017)
Fossil Excavation, Museums, and Wyoming: American Paleontology, 1870-1915 (/isis/citation/CBB144188127/)

Thesis Rieppel, Lukas Benjamin; (2012)
Dinosaurs: Assembling an Icon of Science (/isis/citation/CBB001567402/)

Chapter Stefano Dominici; Elisabetta Cioppi; (2018)
All is not lost: History from fossils and catalogues at the Museum of Natural History, University of Florence (/isis/citation/CBB784047995/)

Chapter Warren D. Allmon; Gregory P. Dietl; Jonathan R. Hendricks; Robert M. Ross; (2018)
Bridging the two fossil records: Paleontology’s “big data” future resides in museum collections (/isis/citation/CBB301778497/)

Article Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör; (2021)
Eduard Suess and palaeontology: His illustrations (/isis/citation/CBB299641816/)

Article Thomas Sharpe; (2022)
Henri De la Beche's 1829-1830 litograph, duria antiquior (/isis/citation/CBB971607561/)

Article C.G.M. Paxton; D. Naish; (2019)
Did Nineteenth Century marine vertebrate fossil discoveries influence sea serpent reports? (/isis/citation/CBB528039835/)

Article Edward P.F. Rose; (2021)
British military contributions to the geology of Malta, Part 1: Nineteenth century (/isis/citation/CBB294782668/)

Article McMillan, R. Bruce; (2010)
The Discovery of Fossil Vertebrates on Missouri's Western Frontier (/isis/citation/CBB001031246/)

Article Laura Colli; Antonella Salvini; Elena Pecchioni; Sandra Cencetti; (2017)
Conservation of Paleontological Finds: the Restoration Materials of the “Problematica Verrucana” (/isis/citation/CBB575061092/)

Chapter Patricia Coorough Burke; Peter M. Sheehan; (2018)
Museums at the intersection of science and citizen: An example from a Silurian reef (/isis/citation/CBB571400487/)

Chapter Christian Koeberl; Franz Brandstätter; Mathias Harzhauser; Christa Riedl-Dorn; (2018)
History and importance of the geoscience collections at the Natural History Museum Vienna (/isis/citation/CBB624678361/)

Chapter John A. Diemer; (2018)
Fossil collections and mapping the Silurian: An example from Scandinavia (/isis/citation/CBB847383821/)

Chapter Gary D. Rosenberg; (2018)
Carl Akeley’s revolution in exhibit design at the Milwaukee Public Museum (/isis/citation/CBB960142008/)

Book Gary D. Rosenberg; Renee M. Clary; (2018)
Museums at the Forefront of the History and Philosophy of Geology: History Made, History in the Making (/isis/citation/CBB681993207/)

Authors & Contributors
Rosenberg, Gary D.
Gregory P. Dietl
Joseph H. Hartman
Edward P.F. Rose
Mathias Harzhauser
Charles G.M. Paxton
Concepts
Paleontology
Earth sciences
Fossils
Museums
Geology
Natural history
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
21st century
18th century
Early modern
Places
United States
Wyoming (U.S.)
Missouri (U.S.)
Malta
England
Florence (Italy)
Institutions
University of Wyoming
Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.)
Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment