Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Hyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902.
Title:	Alpheus Hyatt II Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1854-1958
Quantity:	4.0 linear ft.
Abstract:	Correspondence, diary, expedition journal, financial material, scientific notebook and sketches, photographs, published material, including articles and newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks. Correspondence (1854-1902) includes that of Alexander Agassiz, Charles E. Beecher, E.D. Cope, James D. Dana, J.S. Diller, G.K. Gilbert, G. Brown Goode, Asa Gray, Robert T. Hill, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Hyatt’s father, Alpheus Hyatt, Audella Beebe Hyatt, Jules Marcou, Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor, A.S. Packard, Charles Schuchert, and Charles Walcott.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Alpheus Hyatt II, naturalist, paleontologist, and educator, was born in Washington, D. C. an April 5, 1838, the son of Alpheus and Harriet Randolph (King) Hyatt. He attended various private schools, including the Maryland Military Academy, and then entered the class of 1856 at Yale. After completing his freshman year, however, he dropped out for a year of travel in Europe with his mother, upon his return he entered Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University. As an outstanding pupil of Louis Agassiz, he graduated with highest honors in 1862. He then enlisted as a private in the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry for the Civil War, emerging with the rank of captain.

At the end of his service, Hyatt decided to pursue his scientific studies, working for a time at the Essex Institute at Salem, Mass. where he and other naturalist friends founded and for a number of years edited the "American Naturalist". In 1867 he was appointed one of the curators of the Essex Institute, working with his friends A. S. Packard, A. E. Verrill, E. S. Morse, and Alexander Agassiz. He took an active part in the foundation of the Peabody Academy of Science. In 1867 he married Audella Beebe and soon became the father of Alpheus Hyatt III, Harriet Randolph Hyatt and Anna Vaughn Hyatt. A second son died in infancy. In 1871 Hyatt was elected custodian of the Boston Society of Natural History, becoming its curator in 1881 and remaining the scientific head of the society until his death in 1902. After 1873 he made his home in Cambridge where he could be near the great collection of fossil cephalopods of the Museum of Comparative Zoology which were his first scientific love. In 1879 he established a summer laboratory for the study of marine zoology at his country home at Annisquam, Mass. He kept a 60 foot schooner with which he made scientific cruises along the New England coast to study fossils and the general geology of these regions. But the location was found unfavorable for the site of a general marine laboratory, so after a few years the station was moved to Woods Hole, Mass., and Hyatt became the first president of its board of trustees.

As an educator, Hyatt served as professor of zoology and paleontology at M.I.T., a chair he held for eighteen years. He also was professor of biology and zoology at Boston University from 1877 until his death. His scientific studies revolved around the lower forms of animal life and was one of the first to combine the study of both living and fossil forms. In 1875 he was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and in 1898 received the honorary degree of L1. D. from Brown University. His studies took him ton y parts of the world. He died at his home at Cambridge in 1902.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Alpheus Hyatt II Papers include biographical material, correspondence, manuscripts, published material, and related items.

Correspondence includes letters incoming, outgoing, letters to and from others, and two letterbooks. One letterbook contains letters from his wife, dated 1889. The other contains miscellaneous correspondence. Subject File includes various materials, such as artifacts, bills and vouchers, Civil War materials, a diary entitled "Travel Book," an expedition journal, a map, mortgages and bills of sale, and photographs. Manuscripts includes holograph papers, notes, and artifacts by Professor Hyatt collected in a large folder, a scientific notebook, and a scientific sketches. Published Material includes articles and newspaper clippings about Alpheus Hyatt II and others. Oversize contains two large photographs, one of an unidentified person and the other of Professor Hyatt's desk.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Incoming correspondence, subject file, and manuscripts are arranged alphabetically. Outgoing correspondence are arrange chronologically. Published Materials are organized alphabetically by type and then chronologically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center has numerous collections for the Hyatt-Mayor families. For information on members of the Hyatt, Mayor, Beebe, and Huntington families see the SCRC Subject Index for the finding aids of individual family members.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Alpheus Hyatt II Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Anna Hyatt Huntington, 1965-1967.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: --
Date: Nov. 1966
Revision history: 20 Mar 2008 - converted to EAD (LDC)

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Inventory

	Biographical Material
Box 1		Miscellaneous

	Correspondence
		Incoming Correspondence
Box 1			A
Box 1			Agassiz, Alexander
Box 1			B
Box 1			Beecher, Charles E.
Box 1			C
Box 1			Cope, E. D.
Box 1			D
Box 1			Dana, James D.
Box 1			Diller, J. S.
Box 1			E - G
Box 1			Gilbert, G. K.
Box 1			Goode, G. Brown
Box 1			Gray, Asa
Box 1			H
Box 1			Hall, James
			Hill, Robert T.
Box 1				1889-1893
Box 1				1895
			Hyatt, Alpheus I.
Box 1				1854
Box 1				Jan.-May 1855
Box 1				Jun.-Dec. 1855
Box 2				1856
Box 2				1857
Box 2				1858
Box 2				1859
Box 2				1860
Box 2				1861
Box 2				1862 , 1864
			Hyatt, Alpheus III.
Box 2				1891, 1895-1896
Box 2				1897-1900, Undated
			Hyatt, Audella
Box 2				1873, 1876
Box 2				1877, 1880-1881, 1883
Box 2				1885
Box 2				1886
Box 2				1887
Box 2				1888
			Hyatt, Audella
Box 3				1890
Box 3				1891
Box 3				1896-1897
			Hyatt, Harriet R. (mother)
Box 3				1856, 1861, 1867, 1870, 1871
Box 3				1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898
Box 3				Undated
			Hyatt, Harriet R. (daughter)
				See Mayor, Harriet Hyatt
Box 3			Hyatt, Ida
Box 3			I - L
Box 3			Lowell, Augustus
Box 3			M - N
Box 3			Marcou, Jules
Box 3			Mayor, Harriet Hyatt
Box 3			P - R
Box 3			Packard, A. S.
Box 3			Reusch, Hans
Box 3			S
Box 3			T - U
Box 3			W
Box 3			Walcott, Charles
Box 3			Unidentified
		Outgoing Correspondence
Box 3			1862, 1863, 1883, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1897
		Correspondence To and From Others
			Correspondence Subject:
				Letterbook:
Box 3					1889 letters from wife
Box 3					Miscellaneous

	Subject File
Box 4		Artifacts
Box 4		Bills and Vouchers
Box 4		Blueprint and Maps
Box 4		Civil War Materials:
Box 4			List of Officers
Box 4			1862
Box 4			1863
Box 4			1864
Box 4			1865
Box 4		Diary "Travel Book"
Box 4A		Expedition Journal, 1885
Box 4A		Invitation to Inaugural Ball, 1889
Box 4A		Legal Papers
Box 4A		Mortgages and Bills of Sale
Box 4A		Photographs

	Manuscripts
Box 5		Papers and Articles
Box 6		Scientific Notebook
Box 6		Scientific Sketches

	Published Material
Box 6		Newspaper clippings about Alpheus Hyatt II
Box 6		Newspaper clippings about others 1858, 1865

	Oversize
Box 7		4 scrapbooks
Box 7		Numerous scientific writings, drawings, and photographs

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