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Hall's accomplishments throughout his employment for the Museum were many. Between 1847 and 1894, he published 13 volumes of The Paleontology of New York, his principal contribution to the field of paleontology. One of the Museum's most prized possessions was acquired by Hall in 1866. After receiving correspondence from an official at Harmony Mills, in Cohoes, New York, regarding the discovery of "curious things" and the jaw of "some unknown beast,"[1] Hall went to visit the discovery site himself and assisted with the excavation of what became known as the Cohoes Mastodon. The remains of the now emblematic beast were eventually brought to the Museum and have been on display intermittently over the past 142 years.

Throughout his career, it seems Hall divided his time between completing his monumental report, Paleontology of New York State, and battling, quite literally, with the state legislature over funding. In his annual appearances before the lawmakers, Hall was renowned for theatrical outbursts during which he would stamp about, slamming his cane on tabletops and swinging it in the faces of legislators while spouting technical jargon at them. His methods, though quite unorthodox, were often successful. In 1883, for example, the Legislature was swayed to appropriate $15,000 a year for paleontology alone—a cost that exceeded the entire budget for the rest of the Museum, including equipment, supplies, travel, and salaries of all the scientists!

In 1893, a law was passed empowering the then governor, Roswell Flower, to appoint Hall as state geologist and paleontologist for life, fully independent of an oversight or administration by the Museum's regents. A year later in 1894, Hall retired as Director of the Museum while continuing his research at his private laboratory. In the summer of 1897, at the age of 86, Hall traveled to St. Petersburg to attend the International Geological Congress and also participated in an expedition to the Ural Mountains. Hall died the following summer on August 6, 1898, in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. He is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Albany, New York.

CONTROVERSY

James Hall was headstrong, single-minded, and a tenacious advocate of science and accuracy. In addition to his raucous conflicts with state legislators, Hall often turned private disagreements with fellow scientists into outlandish public disputes. In one notable instance in 1849, Hall became outraged at discovering that James T. Foster, a school teacher in Greenbush, New York, had ordered the publication of a popularized—though by Hall's standards, vague and inaccurate—geological chart for distribution in public schools. When he learned that copies of the map were to be shipped via the Hudson River Night Line to New York City, Hall stole aboard and threw the entire printing into the Hudson River!

Furthermore, anticipating that Hall might overextend the state’s allocation for scientific publications, the legislature passed an edict limiting scientific monographs to eight volumes. Undeterred, Hall published the massive work The Paleontology of New York, which consists of more than 4,500 pages and 1,000 full-page illustrations, by placing certain volumes as subdivisions of others, thus reducing the 13 actual volumes he produced to the mandated eight! Additionally,
Hall would also go to extreme lengths to acquire collections, often extending handsome offers to collectors to study their specimens in his laboratory in Albany. When the apprentice finally moved on, the collection would not.

Another, more controversial conflict occurred between Hall and his former mentor, Ebenezer Emmons. As a result of the Geological and National History Survey, Emmons published a series of geologic monographs and maps in the 1840s regarding the formation of the Taconic mountains, dating the formations as Early Cambrian (young). Hall, who conducted similar research and dated the formations as Ordovician (older), took Emmons' view as a personal attack and took Emmons to court. Both scientists presented their arguments to the court, but, in 1850, Hall's zealous persuasiveness and army of supporters swayed the court's decision in his favor. As if the public embarrassment of losing to his former student wasn't enough, Emmons was further shamed by being banned from ever practicing geology in the State of New York. (Emmons moved to North Carolina the following year. Ten years later, fossils were discovered that ultimately validated Emmons' theory).

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

James Hall was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1811. His interest in science and nature was piqued as a young man; raised close to the Massachusetts shore, he dedicated much time to observing sea life in tidal inlets and collecting shells and flowers. He attended the Rensselaer School from 1830 to1832 and studied natural sciences under Amos Eaton. He remained at the Rensselaer School as assistant professor of chemistry and natural sciences until 1836 when he was made Professor of Geology. During that same time, he gained valuable field experience working as an economic geologist for Stephen Van Rensselaer and Silas Wright.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Clarke, John Mason, James Hall, Geologist and Paleontologist. (Albany, New York, 1923), 386.

JAMES HALL

When James Hall retired in 1894, Merrill became director of the State Museum. In 1898, upon James Hall's death, Merrill also became State Geologist.  He held both positions jointly until he left the State Museum in 1904 to become a consulting mining geologist in Los Angeles.

Merrill is best known to geographers through the hypsometric map of New York State, 1:760,320, which was published in 1901 under his direction. This map, compiled from data collected from investigations of the Precambrian series of rocks in the Adirondacks and the southeastern Highlands, was the first truly comprehensive and up-to-date effort to show the geological features of an entire area on an adequate scale.  Merrill also published several papers to the Bulletin of the New York State Museum including: Salt and Gypsum Industries in New York (1893); Mineral Resources of New York (1896); Road Materials and Road Building in New York (1897); and Natural History Museums of the United States and Canada (1903).

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION:

Merrill was born in New York City in 1861. He graduated from the Columbia School of Mines with a Bachelor's degree in 1885 and a Ph.D. in 1890. He then held a fellowship in geology at Columbia College from 1886-1890. His formal training as a geologist occurred from 1885-1890 when he worked as an assistant to the New Jersey Geological Survey.

FREDERICK J.H. MERRILL

Clarke was intimately involved in the planning of the construction of the State Education Building. Clarke's proudest moment, both professionally and personally, is said to have been December 29, 1916 when Theodore Roosevelt was the featured speaker at the new Museum's dedication ceremony.  At the time, New York State was considered to have one of the finest museums in the country.

In his twenty-one years as director, Clarke accomplished much. The Geological Survey was greatly expanded; two of the museum's most popular publications were completed:  Birds of New York (1914) and Wild Flowers of New York (1919); and annual free public lectures were held in the Museum. Clarke also began to acquire land for the purpose of preservation and scientific research, including Indian Ladder Park, 350 acres west of Albany, Lester Park near Saratoga, Myron H. Clark reservation near Syracuse and Starks Knob reservation near Schuylerville (most of which were eventually transferred to the Department of Conservation and converted into recreational state parks).

In 1916, Clarke completed a grand proposal for a new Museum that would be solely devoted to the things of New York State. However, in 1922, Legislature voted to give two and one-half million dollars for a Roosevelt Memorial connected with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City instead.

Clarke served as director until his death in 1925. While working for the State Museum, Clarke concurrently served as Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy from 1894-1925. His complete bibliography includes 452 titles, 300 of which are of paleontologic or geologic in nature. He identified 135 new genera and at least 870 new species. At least 3 genera and 42 species are named after him [1]. His most important publication included the two-volume Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America in 1908-1909.

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION:

Clarke was born in Canandaigua, New York on April 15, 1857. He received his bachelor's degree from Amherst in 1877 and worked towards a doctorate at the University of Goettingen, Germany. From 1881-1884 he was a professor of Geology and Mineralogy at Smith College, Massachusetts and then lectured at  Massachucetts Agricultural College at Amherst where he taught zoology, geology and German. In 1899, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Germany from the Philosophical Faculty of Marburg University on January 4, 1899.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Charles Schuchert, "Biographical Memoir of John Mason Clark"  National Academy of Sciences, Biographical Memoirs Vol XII no 6. (1926) 206.

JOHN M. CLARKE

Adams felt strongly that museums could be a vehicle for bringing education to the general population. During his tenure, the State Museum became responsible for the educational supervision and policy of the Allegany School of Natural History in the Allegany State Park. Conducted in cooperation with the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, the school provided opportunities for teachers and youth leaders to conduct fieldwork in geology and geography and was one of the first Museum education programs. Additionally, Adams oversaw a series of scientific and educational surveys of the natural resources of New York State and of national forests and parks, and began a series of popular handbooks based on such studies.

Adams published over 154 titles of widely varying subject matter, though he was "most widely known for his publications in the field of animal ecology, for his attempts to apply ecological research methods to the problems of human communities, and for his continual emphasis upon ecology as a teaching mechanism." [1] He was one of the founders of the Ecological Society of America (1916) and was early to recognize detrimental impacts to our natural environment.

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Adams was born in Clinton, Illinois in 1873. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1895, received a Master of Science degree from Harvard in 1899 and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1908.

From 1903 to 1907, Adams pursued museum work, first at the University of Michigan and then at the University of Cincinnati.  In 1914, he accepted a position as Forest Zoologist at the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse. From 1919 to 1926, he directed the Roosevelt Wildlife Experiment Station until he was hired to direct the New York State Museum.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Hugh M. Raup, "Charles C. Adams, 1873-1955" Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 49, no. 2. (Jun., 1959), 164.

CHARLES C. ADAMS

This plan was accepted by the Legislature, and, in 1945, resulted in the creation of the New York State Science Service which would perform Museum-related research and act as the State's scientific advisor within its fields of competence. Educational activities were also expanded and, in 1947, the Museum Education Office was established and staffed with a group of specially trained teachers.

Guthe left the State Museum in 1953 to become a research associate for the American Association of Museums in Washington, visiting between 500-600 museums and organizations housing collections to gather data on their programs and administration. Unfortunately, most of this data was lost in a fire that nearly destroyed his son's home in 1959.

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION:

Guthe was born in 1893 in Kearney, Nebraska. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan in 1914. He attended the Division of Anthropology at Harvard University and received a Masters of Arts degree in 1915 and a Ph.D. in 1917. From 1920-1922, he was a research associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington where he carried on field work in British Honduras and Guatemala.

In 1922 he became the first anthropologist on the faculty at the University of Michigan and held the position of Associate Director in charge of Anthropology in the Museum of Zoology where the anthropology collections were then housed. In 1928 he was appointed director of the newly created Museum of Anthropology. In 1936, he became director of the University Museums. He held that position until 1944 when he resigned to become Director of the New York State Museum.

CARL E. GUTHE

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND

Fenton was born in 1908 at New Rochelle, NY. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1930. In 1935, Fenton served as a community worker in charge of Tonawanda and Tuscarora Reservations for the United States Indian Service. In 1937, he received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale Univeristy for a field study of Iroquois ceremonies. From 1939-1951 he worked with the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. During World War II, he served as secretary of the Smithsonian War Committee and as research associate of the Ethnogeographic Board. In 1945, he organized and conducted the first conference on Iroquois Research, still held annually.

Fenton was a recognized scholar of the Iroquois Indians of New York and Canada.

WILLIAM N. FENTON

In 1968, Broughton was appointed director of the State Museum. Publications of Dr. Broughton include scientific articles in the areas of structural geology and industrial minerals, and general articles on environmental geology and the mineral conservation ethic. He was also a specialist on the storage and disposal of radioactive and other industrial wastes and on the impact of the geological environment on megalopolitan problems.

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND

Dr. Broughton was born in Rome, New York in 1914. He attended the University of Rochester where he received his Bachelor's degree in 1936 and his Master's of Science degree in 1938. In 1940, he received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University for investigations of geologic structures in New Jersey slates.   From 1940-43, he was a faculty member at Syracuse University in the Department of Geology and Geography and spent summers conducting fieldwork as a junior geologist of the United States Geological Survey.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Binder, David. "Geology Map Due for Manhattan" New York Times,  July 16, 1961, sec. R1.

JOHN BROUGHTON

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND

Noel Fritzinger was born in Philadelphia on November 29,1929. He received his B.A. degree in Biology from Amherst College in 1951. Before joining the New York State Museum, Mr. Fritzinger  served as Manager of Planning and Evaluation for the Speciality Chemicals Division of Allied Chemical Corporation.

In 1995, Noel joined Lyman Orton to establish the Orton Family Foundation and served as its first President & CEO. While there he oversaw the initial research and development of CommunityViz software and the publication of Hands on the Land. Since leaving his Trustee position in 2005, Noel has maintained his commitment to land conservation and lives and works with his wife on their farm in the mountains of Weston, VT.

NOEL FRITZINGER

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND

Patrick T. Houlihan received his Ph.D. in primitive art from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and his M.A. at the University of Minnesota. He was a museum intern at the Milwaukee Public Museum, Director for two years of the Anthropology Museum, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh and head of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona before joining the New York State Museum.

In 1989, Sullivan assisted with efforts to return 12 Wampum Belts, as well as the title of Wampum-keeper, back to the Onondaga. Prior to resigning in 1990 to become director of the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art in Arizona, Sullivan remarked that his key accomplishment as director was "in broadening community support for the Museum through 'creating a kind of public-private partnership.'" He cited Museum Associates, a support group that, at the time of his departure, had grown to include almost 6,000 families.[1]

Following the Heard Museum, from 1999-2007 Sullivan served as chief executive officer of the Historic St. Mary's City Commission in Maryland where he oversaw research, interpretation and site preservation of Maryland's first capital and where he organized public history and museum studies programs with St. Mary's College. In 2008, he accepted the position as director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Martin Sullivan was born in Troy, New York. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Siena College in 1965, a master's degree in American history in 1970 and a doctorate degree in 1974 from the University of Notre Dame. From 1972 to 1975 he was executive director of the Indiana Committee for the Humanities. From 1976-1980 he worked for the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. From 1980-1983 Sullivan was president of the Institute of Man and Science in Rensselaerville.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Albany Times Union "State Museum Director Accepts Arizona Appointment," sec. C5, January 9, 1990.

MARTIN SULLIVAN

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Louis Levine is a native of New York City. He received a B.A. with honors and a Ph.D. with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania. He has written, reviewed and edited books and monographs and dozens of articles, most in the field of archaeology.  He has taught at the University of Toronto, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of Copenhagen. Prior to joining the State Museum, Levine served as Associate Director of Exhibits at the Royal Ontario Museum.

LOUIS LEVINE

CLIFFORD SIEGFRIED