Othniel Charles Marsh to Marshall P. Felch, 1882-1891

File — Box: 21

Identifier: IV

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection of more than 150 letters was given (ca. 1925) to Earl Douglass by Sarah Felch Zimmerman, daughter of Marshall P. Felch.

Marsh, professor of vertebrate paleontology (the first in the United States) at Yale University, was placed in charge of the United States Geological Survey's work in vertebrate paleontology in 1882. Marsh is credited with the discovery of many fossil vertebrates and the description of many more, with published works on fossil descriptions and on fossil vertebrates.

These letters were written when Marsh was with the USGS and Marshall P. Felch was at the quarry in Garden Park, Colorado. Felch served for more than ten years as Marsh's field man--digging, numbering, packing, shipping, and diagraming the bones and the quarry. Marsh's correspondence instructed Felch on the execution of these duties, arranged for salaries of Felch and his employees, and in many letters described his (Marsh's) progress in assembling the fossils.

In the interview Douglass had with Sarah Felch Zimmerman in 1925, she stated that Felch's letters were in New Haven, Connecticut (presumably Yale University). In one letter to Felch, Marsh wrote that he was binding all of Felch's letters.

Dates

1882-1891

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.