Scope and Content Note
The papers of Charles Bendire (1836-1897) span the years 1874-1919, with the bulk of the documents dated 1884-1896. The papers consist of correspondence and related material and document Bendire's role as honorary curator of the Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he held when on leave from the Army, 1883-1884, and continued after his retirement from the Army in 1886. Many of the letters relate to ornithology, in particular the securing of specimens for the museum collection, the identification of eggs, and the publication of Bendire's Life Histories of North American Birds (U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, 1892).
Correspondents include J. A. Allen, Chester Barlow, Theodore D. A. Cockrell, George Bird Grinnell, Charles Hallock, Walter Adams Johnson, Edward Avery McIlhenny, C. Hart Merriam, Otho C. Poling, William S. Ralph, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Henry Reed Taylor.