Scope and Content Note
The papers of Harry Church Oberholser (1870-1963) span the years 1856-1960, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1945. The collection consists primarily of correspondence supplemented by bird counts, membership certificates, printed matter, articles by Oberholser and others, material on African birds, and cards illustrating bird measurements. The papers are in English and organized into four series: General Correspondence, Special Correspondence, Miscellany, and 2022 Addition.
The General Correspondence consists chiefly of letters from ornithologists and other scientists concerning bird life and bird specimens in the United States and other countries, letters concerning Oberholser’s work with scientific organizations, and correspondence concerning his books and articles.
Correspondents include John W. Aldrich, American Museum of Natural History, American Ornithologists' Union, Florence Merriam Bailey, Vernon Bailey, W. B. Bell, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Louis B. Bishop, Herbert Brandt, James McKeen Cattell, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Clarence Cottam, A. K. Fisher, Edward Howe Forbush, Joseph Grinnell, Ludlow Griscom, Henry W. Henshaw, Hartley H. T. Jackson, Lynds Jones, Charles R. Keyes, A. J. Kirn, S. P. Langley, Frederick Charles Lincoln, C. Hart Merriam, Edward William Nelson, Margaret Morse Nice, T. S. Palmer, T. Gilbert Pearson, Edward Alexander Preble, Charles Wallace Richmond, Robert Ridgway, Thomas S. Roberts, Alexander Sprunt, Witmer Stone, P. A. Taverner, Walter P. Taylor, W. E. Clyde Todd, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Bureau of Biological Survey, United States National Museum, Josselyn Van Tyne, and Wilson Ornithological Club.
The 2022 Addition includes notebooks containing Oberholser's ornithological observations, particularly in the Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and Red Bank, New Jersey, areas from 1886 to 1888.