New York Aquarium Departmental Files, bulk: Bulk, 1971-1975, 1966-1986
Scope and Content
The majority of the records in the series consist of outgoing memos, correspondence and other materials created by the Aquarium’s animal curators and its Education Department. Curatorial files were created by James Atz, John Clark, William Flynn, and Stephen Spotte, as well as Assistant / Associate Curator H. [Howard] Doug Kemper; Education files were created by Director of Education Karen Hensel and Aquarium Instructor Douglas Dixon. Atz and Clark are somewhat less well represented than the other creators, Kemper and Hensel somewhat more so. The records document the activities and concerns of the Aquarium’s curatorial and education staff from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. Major subjects include the Aquarium’s volunteer/docent program, its educational programs, the duties of Aquarium tank-men, collection research and acquisition, and relations between Aquarium staff and their colleagues at the New York Zoological Society. There are also more general materials produced for the public, for example fact sheets and bibliographies, as well as correspondence between the public and Aquarium staff (including 1972 correspondence between curators and two young boys who wrote in expressing their desire to acquire penguins from the Aquarium and/or accompany Aquarium staff on a South Pole penguin-collecting voyage).
Additionally, the series includes daily and hourly totals of Aquarium attendance for the years 1971-1974, when the Aquarium was experimenting with evening and night hours, as well as a file containing 1985-1986 correspondence with the Aquarium Committee of NYZS Board of Trustees from Kathy Schaeffer, the Associate Manager of Public Affairs for the Aquarium.
Dates
- Majority of material found within Bulk, 1971-1975
- 1966-1986
Access Restrictions
There are access restrictions within this series. Please contact the WCS Archives for further information.
Extent
From the Collection: 19.05 Linear Feet (19 Hollinger boxes, 1 half-Hollinger box, 9 cartons)
From the Collection: 1.46 Cubic Feet (1 bound volume/album container, 1 flat box, 1 map case folder)
Language of Materials
English
Creator
- From the Collection: New York Aquarium (Organization)
- From the Collection: New York Zoological Society. Osborn Laboratories of Marine Sciences (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Wildlife Conservation Society Archives Repository