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H.H.
Smith Carnegie
Museum's molluscan collection had its beginning with the 3000 species
collected by Smith, in addition to other specimens purchased from F.R.
Holland and donated by From 1870 to 1886, Smith made several trips to Brazil and collected mollusks and other natural history specimens. Smith also took trips to the West Indies, Mexico, and Columbia, further pursuing his interests in natural history. When Smith retired to Alabama, he undertook extensive field trips throughout the state collecting freshwater and terrestrial mollusks. Despite collecting all manner of specimens, Smith's particular interests were the Unionidae and Pleuroceridae of the southeastern United States. Arnold Ortmann succeeded Smith as curator. back to History of the Section
Upon coming to Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Ortmann undertook extensive studies of the Decapoda: Crustacea. Following these studies, he began an intensive study of the unionids found in the drainage patterns on either side of the Appalachian Mountain Range. His work on the unionids resulted in several major monographs and numerous shorter papers. As early as 1909, Ortmann had commented on the effects of pollution in our waterways and its effect on the unionid populations. Ortmann's publication on the Naiads of South America was based primarily on material from the Haseman Collection. Haseman made this collection during an expedition to South America. At the time, it represented material from regions of the Amazon basin not yet explored by other scientists. In addition to his duties at the Museum, Ortmann was on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. He rose to the level of Professor and the University conferred the degree of Sc.D. upon him in 1911. Ortmann died suddenly in 1927 at the age of 64. Upon his death, Stanley T. Brooks was appointed to care for the collection. back to History of the Section
Stanley Brooks, with his wife Betty Watt Brooks, was the first person to publish a catalog of the type holdings of the mollusk collection. In 1931, he published a catalog of the Pelecypoda followed by one on the Amphineura and Gastropoda. Brooks left the Museum in 1945. Brooks also worked as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1944-1945 and during his tenure at Carnegie Museum performed analyses of parasitic specimens for the Western Pennsylvania Hospital. Upon leaving Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Brooks worked as a scientific specialist for the US Military. He left this position in 1947. Brooks worked for the United States Department of Commerce from 1946-1950 (stationed in Germany). Other positions that he held were with the US Public Health Service (1950-53), the American Tobacco Company (1953-55), and the National Institute of Health (1956-1958). Brooks passed away in 1958 at the age of 56. back to History of the Section
He held the position of assistant curator until 1951 when he left the Museum. In 1938, due to anti-German sentiments, Kutchka changed his last name to MacMillan. From 1944 to 1945, MacMillan served with the armed forces. After leaving the Museum, he worked for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (Pennsylvania) until 1971. While at the Authority he held the position of chemist. While at the Carnegie, MacMillan worked primarily on terrestrial gastropods. He published one paper on the land snails of West Virginia with Brooks and later published a comprehensive monograph on the terrestrial gastropods of West Virginia. He also studied the terrestrial gastropods of Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, and Nebraska. In all, MacMillan published over 50 papers. He died in 1981 at the age of 75. After MacMillan left CMNH, Juan Jose Parodiz was appointed to replace him as curator. back to History of the Section Parodiz worked at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales for almost 20 years before moving to the United States. In 1951 Parodiz accepted a position at Carnegie Museum and shortly thereafter was appointed Curator of Invertebrate Biology, a position he held for some 30 years. Since 1982 he has been Curator Emeritus and has continued to work on the South American naiads and Neogene fossils of the southeastern United States. Parodiz has published over 100 papers. He has collected throughout South America in addition to the eastern United States. Parodiz's activities have greatly enlarged the museum's collections in the Unionoida and freshwater and terrestrial gastropods of North and South America, both fossil and recent. He has been a member of the American Malacological Society since 1949 and served as president in 1965. J.J. Parodiz passed away on 24 Sep. 2007 in Allentown, PA at the age of 95. back to History of the Section
Betty Watt Brooks Betty married Stanley Truman Brooks in
1927. She worked alongside her husband in the Mollusk Section from 1930
to 1945, at which time S.T. Brooks took a leave of absence from the Museum.
While at the museum, Betty collaborated with Stanley on writing the type
catalogs for the mollusk collection. In addition, Betty accompanied Stanley
on several of his collecting expeditions in Newfoundland, Kansas, and
other states in the southeastern U.S.
After leaving Carnegie Museum, Betty Brooks worked for the United States
Department of Commerce from 1946-1950 (stationed in Germany), as a regional
director for the Girl Scouts (1953-1955), and for the United States Public
Health Service (1957-1970). She retired from the Public Health Service
in 1970 and died in 1978.
back to History of the Section
In 1933, for the fifth time in almost as many years, the extensive collections
of the Carnegie Museum Mollusk Section were augmented significantly, this
time by a collection of more than 4,700 lots of marine, freshwater, and
land mollusks from the estate of William Elliot Burnett of Bradford, Pennsylvania.
This collection was bequeathed to this institution in 1931 and his untimely
death, a result of an accident, occurred in August of 1933. Mr. Burnett
had been a carpenter and cabinet-maker for 48 of his 64 years and throughout
his life had made a hobby of shells, minerals, and American Indian artifacts.
Although living inland, he was able to build up the collection of marine
shells through exchange as well as by his own efforts. The many carefully
prepared and authentically labeled specimens reflect his interest and
patience as well as the high esteem that was held for him by his colleagues
in shells.
Both Mr. Burnett’s father and grandfather were collectors and students
of Nature so it is only natural that he also had a similar avocation.
His academic training was sparse, since he entered his trade at the age
of sixteen, but his collection shows a labor not dictated by the classroom
but by the urge within him.
The Burnett Collection has become part of the systematic research collection
in the Section of Mollusks and supplements other collections received
during the 1920s and 1930s: the George Clapp
Collection of North American Land Snails (15,472 lots), the Victor
Sterki Collection of Sphaeriidae (12,924 lots), the Herman
Wright Collection (over 1000 lots), and the S. H. Stupakoff Collection
(3,400 lots).
Adapted from: Anonymous. 1933. "The Burnett Collection of Shells."
Carnegie Magazine 7(7): 213. Additional information from Abbott,
R.T. 1973. "American Malacologists: A national register of professional
and amateur malacologists and private shell collectors and biographies
of early American mollusk workers born between 1618 and 1900." American
Malacologists. Falls Church, VA: 494 pp. For further information,
see the obituary by Brooks, S.T. 1934. "William Elliott Burnett,
1872-1933." Nautilus, 47: 143-144.
back to History of the Section
The first accession in the Section of Invertebrates was a collection
of 546 specimens representing 60 species of shells from Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania. This donation was one of some 190 donations made by Clapp
to the Museum. Clapp was appointed honorary curator of malacology in 1900.
Overall, he donated more than 15,000 lots to the Section. Though his collection
did contain marine, freshwater, and terrestrial mollusks from around the
world, most of the material he donated represented terrestrial shells
of North America north of Mexico. Clapp's service to the people of Pittsburgh
ended with his death in 1949 at the age of 90.
back to History of the Section
Haseman left for South America on October 5, 1907 and reached Bahia,
Brazil on the 19th of October. Unfortunately, Dr. Branner's expedition
was just about to leave. Haseman was not able to leave with Branner; however,
Haseman received a great deal of useful information from him. Haseman
received permission from Holland to proceed with an expedition of his
own. Haseman undertook this expedition ten individual trips
with only the assistance of native laborers. These individual trips lasted
from one to eight months. Haseman originally expected to be in South America
for only a year, but eventually ended up staying for two and a half years.
Haseman's collecting took him to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay,
and Bolivia.
While Haseman was mainly interested in collecting fish, he also collected
other freshwater animals including freshwater mussels. A. E. Ortmann used
this collection in the preparation of the study South American Naiads.
This paper was published in 1921. In it, thirteen new taxa are described
from the Haseman Collection.
Haseman never finished his academic degree under Eigenmann's tutelage.
He did continue to pursue field studies in the scientific discipline of
ichthyology. Of his travels through the wilds of South America, Haseman
said, "After the noises of the day the hush which comes at night-fall
causes even the hardened traveler at times to shudder. No man over fifty
years of age should attempt to enter this region. A hard heart and cold
blood are useful to him who invades it."
back to History of the Section
Sterki settled in Ohio and set up his medical practice there. He eventually
retired from the practice of medicine in 1900 and pursued the study of
natural history full-time. His main malacological interests included the
gastropod family Pupillidae and the bivalve family Sphaeriidae. Carnegie
Museum of Natural History acquired his Pupillidae collection of almost
4000 lots. Later the museum acquired the Sphaeriidae collection, which
numbered over 12,000 lots at the time of Sterki's death. In addition,
the Mollusk Section's library benefited by the addition of Sterki's library.
This library contained 275 bound and unbound monographs as well as 1500
reprints.
Sterki was an assistant in the Section of Invertebrates from 1909 to
1933. He passed away in 1933 at the age of 87. At the time of his death,
Sterki was working on his monograph The Sphaeriidae of the World,
a work that was never finished. The journal Sterkiana was named
in his honor.
back to History of the Section
back to History of the Section
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