Clark, Henry James, 1826-1873

Henry James Clark Papers

1865-1872
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: FS 048
Depiction of Trichodina pediculus
Trichodina pediculus

The first professor of Natural History at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Henry James Clark, had one of the briefest and most tragic tenures of any member of the faculty during the nineteenth century. Having studied under Asa Gray and Louis Agassiz at Harvard, Clark became an expert microscopist and student of the structure and development of flagellate protozoans and sponges. Barely a year after joining the faculty at Massachusetts Agricultural College at its first professor of Natural History, Clark died of tuberculosis on July 1, 1873.

A small remnant of a brief, but important career in the natural sciences, the Henry James Clark Papers consist largely of obituary notices and a fraction of his published works. The three manuscript items include two letters from Clark’s widow to his obituarist and fellow naturalist, Alpheus Hyatt (one including some minor personal memories), and a contract to build a house on Pleasant Street in Amherst.

Subjects

Developmental biologyMassachusetts Agricultural College--FacultyMassachusetts Agricultural College. Department of Veterinary ScienceProtozoans

Contributors

Clark, Henry James, 1826-1873Clark, Mary Young HolbrookHyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902

Types of material

ContractsLetters (Correspondence)