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THE SECTION OF INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY – CURATOR HISTORY
The Section of Invertebrate Paleontology was organized as a direct
result of Andrew Carnegie's purchase of the Baron de Bayet's fossil
collection for 100,000 francs in 1903. This very large collection
of more than 130,000 invertebrate fossils arrived from Belgium several
months later, presenting a significant curatorial problem. The museum
desparately needed a specialist to oversee the organization of this
collection.

In January 1904 Percy E. Raymond was appointed
Assistant Curator in the section of Paleontology – Division
of Fossil Invertebrates at Carnegie Museum, by then-Director
W. J. Holland. Upon arriving, Raymond began unpacking and organizing
the thousands of fossils of the de Bayet collection, a chore that
is continued by section staff to this very day. Raymond also started
learning about the regional geology of western Pennsylvania and
making additional collections. These efforts were in keeping with
the emphasis of most paleontologists of that day. Raymond collaborated
with Earl Douglass (of Carnegie dinosaur fame) during one of the
museum's early field collecting expeditions to Minnesota and
Montana. Raymond continued to build new collections, curate the
de Bayet collection, conduct research, and develop educational programs
until 1910 when his request for a raise was denied. He left Carnegie
Museum and soon found his way to Harvard’s Museum of Comparative
Anatomy, where he became one of the most well-known and respected
paleontologists of his day. Raymond never forgot his Carnegie Museum
roots and continued to contribute valuable fossil collections from
such important formations as the Burgess Shale and the Mazon Creek
Shale.
The
position Raymond vacated remained open until 1922. During that time,
the section’s collections were enlarged via the acquisition
of 12,500 specimens from the H. H. White collection.
Page 4: Innokenty P. Tolmachoff
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