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Baltimore Naturalists Field Club records

 Record Group
Identifier: RG-15-050

Scope and Contents

The records of the Baltimore Naturalists Field Club consist of two file folders and two bound volumes containing materials from 1880 to 1928. The bound volumes contain minutes from the meetings which include abstracts of papers, field notes, newspaper clippings and photographs. The first file folder contains letters to Field Club officers, field notes, membership lists and an undated, untitled drawing. The second file folder is a set of bird-banding records covering 1922-1925.

Dates

  • Creation: 1880-1928

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Collection is open for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical / Historical

The records of the Baltimore Naturalists Field Club indicate that Dr. Henry Newell Martin first proposed "the desirability of forming a Field Club for the Study of Natural History of the region around Baltimore" in April 1880. The original framework was to include a President, a Secretary and Chairs of Sections who were to organize the weekly excursions and report on these in the fields of Botany, Vertebrates (Land), Invertebrates (Land), Aquatic and Marine Life, and Physical Geography and Geology. Each section was to offer a report on an excursion or related topic at each monthly meeting; the summaries of these reports were longer or shorter depending on the Secretary. This basic set up altered a number of times between 1880 and 1928 in terms of the number and titles of section chairs and whether undergraduates could take part in the proceedings; by 1928 the mass of membership was undergraduate. In 1895 "the question of admitting ladies as members of the club was brought up . . . It was thought best not to decide the question until some lady should actually apply for membership"; it was not until 1925 that any woman's name appears in the records, when Miss Yetta Levy applied.

After the meeting of April 4, 1910, the Club lapsed into inactivity for nearly ten years. When it was reorganized in December 1919, the emphasis had shifted away from the more scholarly approach of the original members' papers to more of a field trip orientation, with particular concentration on the work of the Homewood bird sanctuary, especially feeding, banding, and observing the species in the Baltimore area. The newer incarnation of the Club was also very fond of taking photographs of their expeditions, several of which are preserved in the minutes.

Extent

0.76 Cubic Feet (2 letter size document boxes)

Language of Materials

Undetermined

Abstract

The records of the Baltimore Naturalists Field Club indicate that Dr. Henry Newell Martin first proposed "the desirability of forming a Field Club for the Study of Natural History of the region around Baltimore" in April 1880. The original framework was to include a President, a Secretary and Chairs of Sections who were to organize the weekly excursions and report on these in the fields of Botany, Vertebrates (Land), Invertebrates (Land), Aquatic and Marine Life, and Physical Geography and Geology. The records of the Baltimore Naturalists Field Club consist of two file folders and two bound volumes containing materials from 1880 to 1928.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged in two boxes.

Custodial History

These records were transferred to the Archives by Ann Gwyn, Assistant Director for Special Collections, the Milton S. Eisenhower Library.

Accruals

Accession Number: 81.44

Processing Information

Processed by by Margaret E. Burns.

A group of nitrate negatives were also enclosed in the collection, but were destroyed when prints were found in the bound volumes.

Title
Baltimore Naturalists Field Club records
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
The Sheridan Libraries
Special Collections
3400 N Charles St
Baltimore MD 21218 USA