Archives, Manuscripts, and Personal Papers

The Archives consists mainly of correspondence, memos, reports, press releases, and other records associated with the administration of the Museum (known as the Institutional Archives). The Archives also includes manuscripts and personal papers of scientists and administrators associated with the Museum, as well as materials associated with a few notable individuals without formal Museum affiliation.

Institutional Archives

The Institutional Archives of the American Museum of Natural History provide an unusually complete and detailed record of the history and development of an American scientific institution, including nearly every letter sent or received by the Museum in its first 100 years.

The Early Administrative Records spans from 1864 to 1912 and contains the Museum’s charter, leases, letterpress copybooks, scrapbooks, and the earliest correspondence. Correspondence and other administrative records continue in the Central Archives, spanning from the 1880s to the 1970s. The collections include letters from many political, industrial, and scientific luminaries who were associated with the Museum, such as Theodore Roosevelt and his son U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., J.P. Morgan, Henry Fairfield Osborn, "Boss" Tweed, Edward Drinker Cope, O.C. Marsh, Frederick Law Olmstead, and Roy Chapman Andrews.

The Institutional Archives also contains the Museum’s Departmental Records [see chart above] which consist of reports and correspondence from the Museum’s Science, Education, and Exhibition departments. Coverage spans from the 1880s to the present, but is incomplete; departmental participation in submitting records to this collection is voluntary.

Search Tools for the Institutional Archives Collections

There are no online tools for researching the Early Administrative Archives or the Central Archives. Library staff have access to a local database for the Early Administrative Archives and a card catalog index for the Central Archives. See below for information about inquiries and access policies. The most recent survey of the Department Records can be found under Inventories on our Search for Collections page.

Manuscripts and Personal Papers

The bulk of this collection consists of field notebooks, correspondence, manuscripts, and other personal papers associated with scientific staff and administrators of the Museum. Early Museum history is particularly well represented, and includes the following:

• papers of Museum founder Albert Smith Bickmore (dating from 1854 to 1914)
• papers and manuscripts from Museum president and scientist, Henry Fairfield Osborn (dating from 1877 to 1935) including material associated with his book: The American Museum of Natural History: its origin, its history, the growth of its departments to December 31, 1909
• the correspondence of J. A. Allen (dating from 1870 to 1919), the first curator in charge of birds and mammals
• the papers of Museum director Roy Chapman Andrews (dating from 1912 to 1944) as well as his scientific field notebooks from the Central Asiatic Expeditions
• the diaries of James L. Clark while in British East Africa and in the Cassiar Mountains (dating from 1909 to 1910, and 1925)

More recent additions to the collection include the papers of astronomer Thomas Nicholson (dating from 1969 to 1989) who also served as Director of the Museum, and the papers of Museum curator Norman Newell (1945-2005), a renowned invertebrate paleontologist and geologist.

A smaller collection of materials originate from individuals not associated with the Museum, including:

• unpublished manuscripts of the works of Titian Ramsey Peale (dating from 1838 to 1885) including The butterflies of North America, Lepidoptera americana, and Lepidoptera: larva, food-plant, pupa, etc.
• a manuscript page from On the origin of species in Charles Darwin's hand
• field diaries and letters of paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (dating from 1846 to 1897)
• 35 volumes of Ernest Thompson Seton's diaries (dating from 1879 to 1946) filled with mementos, photographs, and drawings; field diaries and correspondence

Search Tools for the Manuscripts and Personal Papers Collection

The most recent survey of the Manuscripts and Personal Papers Collection can be found under Inventories on our Search for Collections page.  A partial inventory of materials can also be browsed in the List of Personal Papers, Manuscripts, and Photographic Print Collections. (Because many collections of manuscripts and personal papers were deposited along with associated photographic prints, these media are listed together.) In addition, some manuscripts and personal papers have been cataloged and can be searched in the Library's catalog. Select the keyword search link from the blue box, type in a topic, and limit the search by selecting “Manuscripts/Typescripts” from the drop-down menu “Format.”

Inquiries and Access Policies

Please refer to our Researching Special Collections page for detail about Inquiries and Access Policies.

Reproduction and Digitization Services

Please refer to our Reproduction & Digitization Services page for details about services we provide and associated fees.