This is the final post of a joint blog series by the Field Book Project (FBP) and the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), showcasing examples of digital connections between collectors, field book catalog records, and the resulting publications of collecting events.

In 1878 the United States Congress was investigating rivalries between four surveys (Powell, Hayden, King, and Wheeler Surveys) that had been sent west to study the nation’s resources and search for a potential route for a railroad to the west coast. The investigation made it clear to Congress that the current system was not working. So Congress turned to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for guidance. NAS approached experts across the country for input, including survey leaders John Wesley Powell and Clarence King. Their subsequent recommendations, sent to Congress, provided the main structure for the legislation that created the United States Geology Survey (USGS).

In 1879, the USGS was established with the mission to provide: “reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.”

William H. Dall, c. 1910.  Smithsonian Institution Archives. RU 000095, Box 6, Folder 42.  SIA2009-4237.

The USGS had a mission, but now they needed the people with the vision to make it happen. King was named director, but left in 1881. Powell became the second director (1881-1894) and was an important force in shaping the new agency.

The USGS began sending staff into the field shortly after its creation. Staff surveyed and collected in national parks as well as local neighborhoods, like the DC-Maryland-Virginia environs. Their field books show a dizzying variety of collecting. The agency’s earliest field staff included individuals who would make important contributions to the fields of geology and paleontology. People like Charles Walcott, known for his discovery of the Burgess Shale, worked for the USGS 1879 – 1907 (eventually becoming its director in 1894), and conducted field work in the Grand Canyon among many other locations in the country. William Healey Dall worked for USGS 1884-1925, conducting research and spending significant time in Alaska for the Agency as well as the US Coast and Geodetic Survey; the work helped establish him as a well-respected expert in the geology of the state.

Charles Walcott’s field notes from October 15 – November 3, 1879, Page 19.  Smithsonian Institution Archives. RU 007004, Charles D. Walcott Collection, 1851-1940 and undated; Box 32, Folder 1.  SIA2012-9643.

Other staff may not be so well known, like Lester Ward (1841-1913), but their field books document important routine field work with a specificity of detail that is fascinating. Specimen location information and interviews with individuals who found them sometimes list neighborhoods or street intersections. We encourage you to take a look at and compare the field books and the publications, the field work and the conclusions drawn from them.

Field Books:

• US Geological Survey 
• Charles Walcott
• William Healey Dall
• Lester F. Ward

Publications:

• US Geological Survey
• Charles Walcott 
• William Healey Dall
• Lester Frank Ward

In November of 2011, the USGS Library joined the BHL consortium. Describing themselves as “one of the world’s largest libraries dedicated to the earth and natural sciences,” they have contributed over 15,000 pages of digital content to the BHL collection.

This is the second of a joint blog series by the Field Book Project (FBP) and the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), showcasing examples of digital connections between collectors, field book catalog records, and the resulting publications of collecting events.

The first post in this series about organizations discussed the nascence of the US Biological Survey. It seems appropriate to follow with the story of the US Bureau of Fisheries. “Why?” you might ask. Simple! These two organizations later merged and formed the US Fish and Wildlife Service! The Bureau was primarily shaped while it was still known as the US Commission of Fisheries. It would become the Bureau in 1903. To understand its development, one must look at the years prior to 1903.

Portrait of Spencer Fullerton Baird, by Bell, William, January 10, 1867, Smithsonian Archives. SIA2004-60740.

In the 1870’s the US saw a noticeable decline in the Southern New England fisheries. The US knew little about the fishing grounds off its own coasts. Spencer F. Baird, a respected naturalist and a Smithsonian secretary, had a background in ichthyology and was approached by Congress about these issues. He recognized an important opportunity to promote the scientific study of the US’s marine natural resources in an effort to help the US economically. In 1871, he convinced Congress to establish the Commission on Fish and Fisheries. He served as the first commissioner. In the Commission’s early years, completing field work was a challenge, since it had no vessels and little funding of its own. Staffing and research (collecting and surveying) was completed in conjunction with the Smithsonian. This is one of the reasons Smithsonian Institution Archives has so many of the organization’s early records. The Commission often had to utilize ships supplied by the Revenue Service and US Navy. It was not until the 1880’s that they were able to procure their own research vessels.

When the Commission finally obtained the funds to acquire their own, they didn’t just go with any ship. They hired builders to design and construct some of the first ships dedicated solely for marine research. Each of these vessels enabled the Bureau to substantially increase their efficiency and research output. Additionally these vessels were used in the field for decades and were pivotal in assuring the quality and quantity of research data the Commission/Bureau could provide. Unlike research completed aboard another agency’s vessel, these were designed for research, and research staff didn’t have to worry about competing missions while at sea. Even the ship’s logbooks demonstrate this vividly. When scientists were aboard another agency’s vessels, their specimen collecting data was usually recorded in a journal separate from the logbook. US Fisheries vessels’ purpose was to enable the research, so the collected information was part of the ship’s logbook contents.

These ships were important tools for the numerous collectors the Commission sent into the field. Unlike Vernon Bailey who both collected and published widely over the years, several of the Commission’s collectors like William W. Welsh, focused on the field work and left the publishing to others. Ship’s logbooks, in their brevity often left little room for recording who did the research/work. Luckily, Commission and Bureau field documentation also included personal field books which document another important part of the Commission’s field work–interviewing local inhabitants for their knowledge of local fishing conditions and good fishing grounds. The field books (such as SIA RU007187) include surprisingly detailed interviews with locals about their lives, work, and personal knowledge of the habitat. Frequently the Commission’s publications are the synopsis of field work. These publications are often most easily located through the name of the vessel on which the staff worked, like the Fish Hawk (1880), Albatross (1883), and Grampus (1885).

We encourage you to take a look at the logbooks from these ships, now available in digital format through the Smithsonian, and compare to their resulting publications available through BHL. Learn more about the interviews completed by Commission staff that augmented knowledge gained by collecting.

R/V Fish Hawk logbook excerpt, August 7, 1880. Smithsonian Institution Archives, RU7184, box 9, folder 3.

Field book (logbooks) through FBP:

• US Bureau of Fisheries
• Fish Hawk 
• Albatross
• Grampus
• William W. Welsh

Publications available through BHL:

• US Bureau of Fisheries
• Fish Hawk
• Albatross 
• Grampus

This is the first of a joint blog series by the Field Book Project (FBP) and the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), showcasing examples of digital connections between collectors, field book catalog records, and the resulting publications of collecting events.

Over the summer the Field Book Project and Biodiversity Heritage Library examined some of the fascinating stories and natural history documentation that resulted from major expeditions. In the past, expeditions were the best way to expediently collect in many regions of the world.  Expeditions still occur today, but they were far more common before the advent of major changes in transportation. Expeditions tend to generate great stories; the mix of personalities, challenges, and exotic locations seem to make it inevitable.  For much of the nineteenth century, expeditions were often organized as needed; they could be heavily influenced by the temperaments of the people leading them.  Strong personalities among the leaders sometimes led to serious conflicts (curious to learn more?  Check out the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) biography on John Wesley Powell, the Survey’s second director, and its discussion of the Powell, Hayden, King, and Wheeler Surveys).  These conflicts and the US government’s growing need for more consistent information about its natural resources eventually led to fundamental changes in the way collecting was completed.  Eventually the US federal government established organizations like the US Bureau of Fisheries, US Geological Survey, US Biological Survey whose primary purpose was to routinely collect, document, and eventually oversee some of the nation’s natural resources.

These organizations and their first collectors often involve great stories, but also provide wonderful examples of the types of field work documented.  Additionally, their efforts were for the United States’s benefit, and the resulting reports and publications are now available through resources like the Biodiversity Heritage Library.  This new blog series is a chance to highlight the different types of collectors that formed these organizations.

United States Biological Survey (USBS)
The first story highlights the beginnings of the US Biological Survey (USBS), originally formed by C. Hart Merriam under the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The story forms around two individuals of note—C. Hart Merriam (first chief of USBS) and Vernon Bailey (USBS’s first major specimen collector and naturalist).  These individuals each had unique ways of coming to their field of study, method of work, and differing output, but each was an important contributor to their discipline.  Their catalog records and publications are also available through FBP and BHL (see content links below).

US Biological Survey staff, including Vernon O. Bailey and C. Hart Merriam, 1919.

C. Hart Merriam was a biologist, whose work at the end of the 19th century was instrumental in the emerging field of ecology. His field work and affiliation with the USDA led to his “life zones” concept. In 1885 he was chosen to head the Section of Economic Ornithology in the USDA.  His vision for the section eventually shifted its focus from only birds to include mammals.  By 1896 it became the USBS, later merging with other federal entities to form the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

In 1883, C. Hart Merriam began corresponding with a young man in Minnesota with an interest in collecting, named Vernon Bailey.  This relationship developed over the decades, and proved an important influence on the shaping and growth of the USBS.   Merriam had a strong educational background in science and was well established in the USDA.  But for the USBS to develop, he needed people in the field.  Bailey did not have a formal education in the sciences, but showed a natural aptitude for collecting that Merriam mentored through their correspondence.   In 1885, Bailey began sending collections to Merriam, and in 1887, Merriam hired Bailey as the first field agent for Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy (what would become USBS).  Bailey went on to collect for over 50 years, and became the first and only chief field naturalist of the USBS in 1890, a position he held until his death in 1933.

Florence Merriam Bailey, taken shortly after her wedding, March 1900.  Smithsonian Institution Archives.  SIA 007267, Box 2, Folder 14.

Their relationship proved important on a personal level as well.  During one of Bailey’s visits to Washington, DC, he stayed at Merriam’s home. This provided a chance to meet Merriam’s sister, Florence Merriam Bailey, who was a distinguished naturalist in her own right. Vernon and Florence would marry in 1899.  Throughout their marriage they completed field work together and co-wrote natural sciences publications.

Perhaps the best way to see how these individuals’ styles of work and interests differed, is to examine their field books and publications.

Field Books from the Field Book Project:

• US Biological Survey (its subsequent iteration as US Fish and Wildlife)
• C. Hart Merriam
• Vernon O. Bailey
• Florence Merriam Bailey

Publications at Biodiversity Heritage Library:

• US Biological Survey
• C. Hart Merriam (includes correspondence housed at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
• Vernon O. Bailey
• Florence Merriam Bailey

We invite you to check out our next post, and find out more the background of these fascinating individuals, organizations, and how you can learn more about their research online.