Kalbfleisch Field Research Station
Kalbfleisch Field Research Station collection, 1937-1982.
This collection contains documents related to the American Museum of Natural Historys acquisition and operation of the Kalbfleisch Field Research Station in Huntington, Long Island. The records span from 1937, when Ms. Kalbfleisch began pursuing her wish to bequeath the estate, through 1982 when the Museum finally sold the property. The collection provides a comprehensive history of the Station by featuring information related to all aspects of its existence, including: correspondence, memos, legal documents, photographs and negatives, newspaper clippings, publications, and scientific data reports.
August Kalbfleisch bequeathed to the American Museum of Natural History a 94 acre estate in Huntington, New York along with an endowment of approximately $600,000. Thanks to a later gift from a Mrs. Rosalind Havemeyer in 1970, the size increased to 98 acres. Kalbfleisch stipulated that the estate be utilized by the museum as a place of research and study, and from 1958 to around 1978, it served as a research center for various departments at the museum. Dr. Wesley E. Lanyon, an ornithologist and curator of birds for the museum, was named resident director of the Kalbfleisch Research Station in 1958. In the summer of 1960, the Museum first organized its summer research program for students, the Undergraduate Research Participation Program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. In 1973, the program was eliminated due to cutbacks in funding from the National Science Foundation. The estate was demolished and the land developed in 1983.
American Museum of Natural History
Kalbfleisch Field Research Station
AIP-ICOS
American Museum of Natural History. Library. Special Collections. Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA