Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers, 1868-1975 [Bulk Dates: 1882-1928]
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Smith College Archives Northampton, MA
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collection
Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers
Creation of Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers
Time of Creation of Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers
Wilder, Harris Hawthorne, 1864-1928.
Biographical History for: Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers
Biographical Note Harris Hawthorne Wilder was born in Bangor, Maine, on April 7, 1864. He was the only child of Solon Wilder and Sarah Watkins Smith. His father was a noted musical director and composer in New England, who published a book of church hymns in 1874, including a number of original pieces. His most recognized composition was an arrangement of Augustus Toplady's Rock of Ages, using a responsive double chorus. Harris Hawthorne Wilder takes his lifelong nickname, "Hallie," from his father's musical proclivities, a name drawn from Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, referring to Solon Wilder's fondness for grand oratorios. His mother, Sarah "Sally" Wilder, was the family homemaker, who continued in this role for her adult son until her death in 1907. She came from a family of physicians, including her father, Chandler Smith, and three uncles. Although Wilder's maternal grandparents died too early to influence him directly, Wilder later cited his mother's family for his original interest in biological and anatomical matters. Harris Wilder lived the first three years of his life in Bangor, as his father served as chorister at the French Street Congregational Church. In 1888, the family moved to the Boston area where Solon Wilder accepted a teaching position at the Boston Conservatory of Music. He was also chorister at the Shepherd Memorial Church in Cambridge. During the Wilders' stay in Cambridge, Sarah Wilder's recently widowed sister, Eliza Gardner Smith, lived with the Wilder family. Wilder credits his "Aunt Lizzie" with inspiring him toward a life of learned curiosity, as well as instructing him in drawing, a talent that marked his professional career and one evident throughout this collection of his personal papers. "Aunt Lizzie's" daughter, and Harris Wilder's cousin, Rebecca Wilder Holmes, eventually joined Harris Wilder at Smith College as a professor of music. In 1871, prompted by Solon Wilder's poor health, the Wilder family moved to Princeton, Massachusetts, and lived with Solon Wilder's parents, Ivory and Louisa Wilder. During the following years, Solon Wilder expanded his reputation by organizing and conducting a number of musical festivals throughout New England, plus a number in the Midwest. In 1871, a young Harris Wilder accompanied his family on one tour to Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and finally to Missouri, where he investigated the caves made famous by Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer. Solon Wilder died of tuberculosis in 1874, when Harris Wilder was ten years old. Inspired by his mother and his "Aunt Lizzie," Harris Wilder showed a bent toward scientific investigation from a young age. As a boy, he would cut out paper dolls like many children, but would then diagram their skeletons. When Wilder was six, a family friend presented him with a seven-month human embryo skeleton. He was also given a human skull by another aunt. He often brought home carcasses of woodchucks and skunks in order to reconstruct their skeletons. While living in Cambridge, he built his own museum containing numerous skeletons. When he was a young adolescent, a local physician, Joseph O. West, helped him unearth the doctor's dead horse, "Thomas Equinas," so Wilder could study the horse's anatomy. By the age of fourteen, he was regularly corresponding with Alfred Wially, a French scientist living in London, and exchanging silk-producing moth cocoons. Growing up in Princeton, a summer retreat community near Mt. Wachusett, afforded Wilder the opportunity to meet many interesting and successful people boarding in his family's home. Some of the children of these visitors became lifelong friends. In 1880, he traveled to Worcester to attend high school, returning home on the weekends. As a young student, he took part in numerous musical productions, a talent he utilized throughout his later life at Smith College. Wilder family's financial resources were limited and only with a gift from the Chickering family, regular summer boarders at the Wilder house, could he attend college. Daughter May Chickering remained a friend throughout Wilder's life. In 1882, Wilder enrolled at Amherst College, studying zoology and classics. There he met Professor John Tyler, who had just introduced a biology department at Amherst. Tyler would become a main influence in Wilder's professional life. After receiving his A.B. from Amherst in 1886, Wilder taught biology for three years in the Chicago public school system. In 1889, motivated by Tyler who had also studied in Germany, Wilder traveled to Freiburg University, a noted center of amphibian research, to pursue a doctorate degree. He Studied with Robert Wiedersheirn and August Weismann and received his Ph.D. in 1891. A minor subject of his examination was medieval English. He returned to the United States and taught again in Chicago. Wilder's mother accompanied her son in all his career moves. A year later in 1892, Wilder obtained a position at Smith College. He would remain at Smith for the next thirty-six years. Wilder's professional achievements and his contributions to the Smith College curriculum were numerous. In his second year at Smith, Wilder founded the school's Zoology Department. Two years later he added fieldwork to the curriculum, a rare notion at that time. By the early 1900s, his classes, especially those in evolution and anthropology, were overenrolled by both majors and non-majors. He was an active researcher and writer, publishing either an article or a book nearly every year of his professional life. He produced five major books: History of the Human Body, Personal Identification, A Laboratory Manual of Anthropometry, Allan's Prehistoric Past, and The Pedigree of the Human Race. His primary areas of research were amphibian studies, primate and human identification using palm and sole prints, teratology (the study of genetic malformations) among human twins, comparative anatomy, and physical anthropology, including the excavations of skeletal remains of indigenous Indian races of Massachusetts. Notable achievements included the discovery of a species of salamanders without lungs or gills, and the development of a system for reconstructing a lifelike human face solely from the measurements taken from a deceased individual's skull. Although interested in the study of eugenics, a popular field at the turn of the century, Wilder differed with many of his colleagues by suggesting that the differences between races, which to Wilder were often evolutionary adaptations to climate, should be celebrated by science, not used as a means of social and political separation. In 1901, Wilder met Inez Whipple, one of the Zoology Department's first graduate students. The two co-taught a class in 1906, "Anatomy and Physiology of Man." That same year, Wilder and Whipple were married. In 1914, Inez Whipple Wilder became a full professor at Smith. The couple frequently worked together in their research. The Wilders led an active social life in the Northampton community, and their Belmont Street house, which was located a block from campus and built from a plan of an Italian villa, became a popular gathering place for friends, students, and visiting scholars. Their life together included many travels to Egypt, Jamaica, and southern Europe. In 1920, Harris Wilder taught at Ginling University in Shanghai, China. Following the Wilders' return from China, their home became a center for visiting students from China. Wilder died of a cerebral hemorrhage on February 27, 1928. He was working on his autobiography when he died. Inez Wilder completed the early stages of this project before her own death a year later.
Biographical Note 1864 (April 7)born in Bangor, Maine1867family moved to South Boston, Massachusetts1868family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts1872family moved to Princeton, Massachusetts1874Solon Wilder, father, died1880-1882attended Worcester Classical High School1882-1886attended Amherst College (A.B.)1886-1889taught high school biology in Chicago, Illinois1886Ivory Wilder, grandfather (paternal), died1888Louisa Wilder, grandmother (paternal), died1889-1891attended Freiburg University, Germany (Ph.D.)1891-1892taught high school biology in Chicago, Illinois1892-1928taught zoology at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts1906 (July 26)married Inez Whipple1907Sarah Watkins Smith, mother, died1916HHW and Inez Wilder nearly drown in Connecticut River1928 (February 27)died
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Harris Hawthorne Wilder papers, perhaps by Wilder's own intent, reflect a single overarching theme: Wilder as a man of science. Although the collection comprises both personal and professional materials, very few documents fall outside of this portrait. Even personal documents such as diaries and correspondence tend to illustrate Wilder's buoyant compassion for the natural world. Personal items unrelated to Wilder's interest in science are rare. Whether this focus reflects Wilder the man, or just this particular collection, is not certain. The Wilder papers, measuring 21 linear feet (54 boxes), include biographical accounts, both formal and informal; eulogies and obituaries; newspaper clippings, including accounts of the near drowning of Wilder and his wife; genealogical studies; photographs; memorabilia; scrapbooks; diaries; an autobiography of his youth; correspondence, including 22 items from mentor and Amherst College professor John Tyler; class notes made as a student at Amherst and at Freiburg University in Germany; lecture notes made as a teacher; publications; unpublished manuscripts; speeches; original research data; and a slide collection used in his teaching. These materials date from 1868-1975, with the bulk spanning 1882-1928. The strengths of this collection lie in two areas: 1) biographical materials, especially those concerned with Wilder's early life, and 2) Wilder's research and publications. Professional materials include either the original manuscripts or reprints of most of his 65-item bibliography. These documents, however, tend to represent the final stages of publication with few items offering a view into Wilder's preliminary thinking. These files appear to be Wilder's office files rather than his working files. A view into the early stages of Wilder's writing process is available in many of his unpublished manuscripts, which often contain early versions of material that appeared in publications years later. Wilder students often remembered him as an inspiring teacher and examples of his teaching style can be found in his handwritten "Popular Lectures." He was also noted for his generalist, "man for all seasons," approach to knowledge, drawn principally from his early training in the classics. This tendency can be seen in manuscripts of Popular speeches, which Wilder presented at Northampton social functions. Other notable materials from Wilder's professional life include the original palm and sole prints from his internationally acclaimed dermatoglyphics research, a field that he discovered. A noticeable weakness of the collection is the relative absence of items from Wilder's adult personal life, especially from his life with wife and fellow Smith College professor Inez Wilder. Only photographs and secondary biographical accounts offer a view of this period. Wilder's adult life is represented almost exclusively by his professional activities. As a result, the Wilder collection offers little to researchers wanting to recreate the social milieu around Smith College and Northampton near the turn of the century. Researchers wanting to reconstruct the formal history of Smith College may find letters written by Wilder as the dean of the Zoology Department to the Board of Trustees useful. By contrast, his autobiography, diaries, childhood correspondence, memorabilia, and scrapbooks offer an excellent view into the private history of a boy growing up in a rural Massachusetts resort town between 1865-1885. The Wilder collection also contains an extensive genealogical study by Wilder himself. Wilder's family came from old New England stock, including Thomas Wilder who first arrived in America in 1638, and perhaps even an unconfirmed Wilder who arrived on the Mayflower. Wilder traced his family tree back to Nicholas Wilder, who fought at Bosworth Field in 1485 and received a landed estate (Shiplake) and coal of arms (Burke's Peerage, sub. Wilder) from Henry VII.
series
Series I. Biographical
Index
Biographical accounts, published and unpublished 1971-1975, 1982, n.d.
Obituaries 1928, 1929
Newspaper clippings 1906-1932, n.d.
Wilder Family Genealogy 1874, n.d.
Biographical and genealogical notes based on writings by HHW, unidentified [Inez Wilder?] n.d.
Awards and Memberships 1902-1923
Series II. Photographs
HHW 1894, n.d.
Family 1879-1926, n.d.
HHW with colleagues and Students 1896-1901, n.d.
HHW in Germany 1889-1891
Series III. Memorabilia
Childhood: 1) 1869
Childhood: 2) 1871-1879
Education: Worcester High School 1880-1883
Education: Amherst College: 1) Notebooks 1883, 1884, nd.
Education: Amherst College: 2) Notebooks 1884, 1885, n.d.
Education: Amherst College: 3) Drawing n.d.
Education: Amherst College: 4) Letters of Recommendation, Commencement Announcement 1886, 1888
Education: Freiburg University: 1) HHW visiting card; Notebooks [1889-1891]
Education: Freiburg University: 2) Notebooks [1889-1891]
Education: Freiburg University: 3) Drawings 1889
Family Correspondence n.d.
Scrapbooks: Childhood [annotated by HHW] 1868-1872, 1878-1879
[See Oversize Materials]
Scrapbooks: Adult 1896-1911
Series IV. Writings, Non-Professional
Diaries 1876-1882
Autobiography (of early life) 1930
Series V. Correspondence
A. To Family from HHW 1872, 1880
B. From friends and associates to HHW (with transcriptions) 1875-1923
1) Chickering, Mary (2) 1879, n.d.
2) Grimes, Thaddeus (1) 1878
3) Hyeth, E. (1) n.d.
4) Johnson, Helen (1) n.d.
5) Kimball, George (5) 1875, 1876, 1877, 1880, n.d.
6) Porter, Charles Alden (10) 1875-1879
7) Potter, John M. (8) 1877-1879
8) Roote, C.B. (1) 1914
9) Scott, Mary Augusta (1) 1917
10) Shanghai College (1), fragment n.d.
13) Watson, Arthur (1) 1901
14) Wesselhoeft, C. (1) n.d.
Poems and Songs
[See Professional Activities: Teaching: Smith College]
Series VI. Professional Activities
Teaching
Teaching: High School in Chicago 1891-1892
Teaching: Smith College, arranged chronologically 1892-1928
A. Zoology Department Course Descriptions 1892-1928
B. Course Notes: General Zoology 1892-1894, n.d.
C. Course Notes: Invertebrates 1897-1901, n.d.
D. Course Notes: Histology and Cytology 1901
E, Course Notes: Philosophical Zoology 1905
F. Course Notes: Animal Evolution 1908-1912
G. Course Notes: Economic Zoology 1899, bulk 1909-1910
H. Course Notes: Vertebrate Embryology 1910-1911
I. Course Notes: Evolution-Anthropology 1912-1913
J. Course Notes: Ethnology 1912, 1918, 1922
K. Course Notes: Anthropology n.d.
L. Course Notes: History of Anatomy n.d.
M. Course Notes: Vertebrate Morphology n.d.
N. Course Notes: Other 1899, 1901, n.d.
O. "Popular Lectures" (both course-related and non course-related) 1891-1987
P. Student Notes from class taught by HHW 1893
Q. Poems and Songs on Zoology: by HHW, students, and others n.d.
R. Zoology Department Operations 1898-1918
Teaching: "C.S.H. Summer of 1918," unidentified
Teaching: Ginling College, China 1920
Publications
Publications (arranged chronologically): Bibliographies
Publications: "A Contribution to the Anatomy of Siren Lacertina," (reprint) 1891
"Die Nasengegend von Menopoma Alleghaniense und Amphiuma Tridactylum," (reprint) 1891
"Studies in the Phylogenesis of the Larynx," (reprint) 1892
"Lungenlose Salamandriden," (reprint) 1893
"The Amphibian Larynx," (reprint) 1896
Publications: "Lungless Salamanders (Second Paper)," (reprint) 1896
Publications: Invertebrate Zoology: A Synopsis of the Anirnal Kingdom, (monograph) 1894
Publications: "Studies in Fresh-Water Entomostraka," (reprint) 1896
Publications: "Aquaria: Their Construction and Equipment," (reprint) n.d. [1898-1913]
Publications: "The Pharyngo-Oesophageal Lung of Desmognathus Fusca," (original manuscript and reprint) 1901
Publications: A Synopsis of the Animal Kingdom, (monograph) 1902
Publications: "Palms and Soles," (reprint) 1902
Publications: "Scientific Palmistry," (reprint) 1902
Publications: "Palm and Sole Impressions and Their Use for Purposes of Personal Identification," (reprint) 1903
Publications: [Preface] "The Ventricle Surface of the Mammalian Chiridium with Special Reference to the Condition Found in Man," (reprint) 1904
Publications: "The Skeletal System of Necturus Maculatus Rafinesque," (reprint) 1903
Publications: "On Titles for Papers," (reprint) 1904
Publications: "Zur Korperlichen Identitat bei Zwillingen," (reprint) 1908
Publications: "The Morphology of Cosmobia: Speculations Concerning the Significance of Certain Types of Monsters," (reprint) 1908
Publications: History of the Human Body , 1909 (revised 1923)
A. Statement by HHW concerning manuscript (copy)
B. Original manuscript: Chapters I-IV
C. Original manuscript and drawings: Chapters V-VI
D. Original manuscript and drawings: Chapters VII-VIII
E. Original manuscript and drawings: Chapters IX-X
F. Original manuscript and drawings: Chapters XI-XII
G. Drawings: Chapters XIII-XIV
H. Galleys of figures [part 1]
I. Galleys of figures [part 2]
J. Illustrations
K. Author's copy
Publications: "A Petroglyph from Eastern Massachusetts," (reprint) 1911
Publications: "The Appendicular Muscles of Necturus Maculosus," (reprint) 1912
Publications: "The Physiognomy of the Indians of Southern New England," (reprint) 1912
Publications: "Racial Differences in Palm and Sole Configurations," (reprint) 1913
Publications: "[Introduction]," The Craniometry of Southern New England Indians, (reprint) 1915
Publications: "Palm and Sole Studies," (reprint) 1916
Publications: "Restoration of a Cliff-Dweller," (reprint) 1917
Publications: "The Position of the Body in Aboriginal Internments in Western Massachusetts," (reprint) 1917
Publications: "Desmognathus Fuscus (sic)," (reprint) 1918
Publications: Personal Identification: Methods for the Identification of Individuals Living or Dead , 1918
A. Early draft, 1905: quotations for chapter headings
B. Reviews and Press Notices
C. Photograph of Wentworth, Bert (co-author)
D. Correspondence
E. Monograph of Personal Identification
Publications: "Physical Correspondence in Two Sets of Duplicate Twins," (reprint) 1919
Publications: "A Ginling College Essay," (reprint) 1920
Publications: "Indian Corn-hills in Massachusetts," (reprint) 1920
Publications: A Laboratory Manual of Anthropometry 1920
Publications: "Anthropometric Measurements," (reprint) 1921
Publications: "Racial Differences in Palm and Sole Configuration III: Palm and Sole Prints of Japanese and Chinese," (reprint) 1922
Publications: "[Memorial to] Robert Wiedersheim," (reprint) 1923
Publications: "Notes on the Indians of Southern Massachusetts," (reprint) 1923
Publications: Man's Prehistoric Past , 1923
A. Galleys of figures; illustrations
B. Reviews
C. Copy inscribed by author
Publications: "The Phylogeny of the Human Foot: The Testimony Presented by the Configuration of the Friction Ridges," (reprint) 1924
Publications: "The Bodily Proportions of Women in the United States: Based Upon Measurements Taken from One Hundred Smith College Students," (draft) 1924
Publications: "[A Review of] Manual of the Vertebrates of the United States," (reprint) 1924
Publications: "Palm and Sole Studies VIII. Occurrence of Primitive Patterns (Whorls)," (reprint) 1925
Publications: "Palm and Sole Studies IX: The Morphology of the Hypothenar of the Hand: A Study in the Variation and Degeneration of a Typical Pattern," (reprint) 1926
Publications: The Pedigree of the Human Race , 1926
A. Original Manuscript: preface: table of contents
B. Original Manuscript: Chapters I
C. Original Manuscript: Chapter II
D. Original Manuscript: Chapter III
E. Original Manuscript: Chapter IV
F. Original Manuscript: Chapter V
G. Original Manuscript: additions and revisions
H. Original Manuscript: list of illustrations; illustrations; photographs
I. Original Manuscript: reviews
J. Copy inscribed by author
Publications: "Study of Error in Interpretation and Formulation of Palmar Dermatoglyphics," (reprint) 1928
Publications: "Revised Methods of Interpretation and Formulation of Palmar Dermatoglyphics," (reprint) 1929
Bound volume of 13 HHW reprints 1904-1918
Illustrations, unidentified, n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts
Unpublished Manuscripts (arranged alphabetically): "Acanthias Vulgaris," n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts: "A Comparison of the Bones of the Skull of Desmognathus Fusca and Spelerpes Bislineatus," n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts: "The Larynx of Pipa Americana," n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts: Outlines of Anthropology , n.d.
A. Early manuscript n.d.
B. 1908 manuscript (copy)
C. 1909 manuscript (original)
D. 1914 manuscript (copy)
E. "Part 11: Ethnology" (copy) n.d.
F. "Part III: Ethnology" (copy) n.d.
G. Miscellaneous notes and revisions n.d.
H. Tracings of Text Figures n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts: <unittitle>Outlines of Culture-History</unittitle>, n.d.
A. Introduction
B. Chapter I "Man's View: Self and the World."
C. Chapter II "The Use and Control of Fire."
D. Chapter III "Tools and Their Use."
E. Chapter IV "Basketry and Weaving."
F. Chapter VII "Hunting and Fishing; Warfare."
G. Chapter VIII "Domestication of Animals."
H. Chapter IX "Domestication of Plants: Agriculture."
I. Chapter X "Roads', Transportation; Orientation."
J. Chapter X [XI] "Weights and Measures; Space and Time."
K. Chapter XII "Decoration and Dress."
L. Chapter XIII "Spoken Language."
M. Chapter XVI "Games and Sports; Mime and Pageantry."
N. Chapter XVIII "Fine-Arts."
O. Chapter XX "Philosophy."
P. Notes
Unpublished Manuscripts: "Outlines of Human Morphology," n.d.
Unpublished Manuscripts: "Outlines of Zoology," n.d.
A. Table of Contents, Introduction, Vertebrates
B. Mammalia, Samopsida, Ichthyopsida
C. Prevertebrata: Articulata
D. Articulata
E. Arachnoidea
F. Carbon copy of manuscript
Unpublished Manuscripts: "The Phalangeal Patterns of the Human Toes," n.d. [1918-1919]
Speeches
Speeches (arranged chronologically), "Butterflies and Moths of Hampshire County," 1885
Speeches: "The Work of Charles Darwin," 1909
Speeches: "The Origin of European Civilization," 1909
Speeches: "The Val Soda," 1909
Speeches: "The Beginning of Human History," 1910
Speeches: "The Teaching of Latin and Greek," 1912
Speeches: "The Origin of the Greek," n.d.
Speeches: "Popular Lectures"
Research
Research: Anthropometry (unprocessed)
Research: Anthropornetry (unprocessed)
Research: Dermatoglyphics (unprocessed)
Research: New England Indian Files 1904-1920
"Indian Place Names--Massachusetts" n.d.
"Indian History in Massachusetts" n.d.
"Pocumtucks" n.d.
Notes on Indians--Northampton & Laurel Park, Massachusetts 1913, n.d.
Northampton, Indian Hill & Hadley 1904-1920
"Field Notebook #3 --Hadley, & Cheapside/Greenfield, Massachusetts 1915-1917
"Rhode Island Early History" 1904, 1912, 1916
An Account of Excavation of Fort Neck Cemetary--Charlestown, Rhode Island 1912 September
Field Notebook #1 --Charlestown, Rhode Island; Field Notebook #2 --Hadley/Hatfield, Massachusetts 1912 Summer
Penobscot, Maine 1910, n.d.
"Roots in Algonkin Place Name" n.d.
Clippings Concerning Indians, Notes, and Photographs 1908-1917
Notebooks (3): n.d.
"Indian Aborigines"
"Primitive Music"
Unidentified
"Quotations from Early Explorers concerning the conditions of the country of Southern New England" n.d.
Maps, Topographical of New England 1914, 1920
"Maps of New England" n.d.
Notes, Maps & Miscellaneous on Indians 1887, n.d.
Scorebook of Primitive Music--incomplete n.d.
Research: Teratology (unprocessed)
Research: Other (unprocessed)
Teaching and Research Tools
Teaching and Research Tools: (unprocessed)
Teaching and Research Tools: Bust [Cope?] (unprocessed)
Teaching and Research Tools: Reprint Collection (unprocessed)
Teaching and Research Tools: Slide Collection (unprocessed)
Miscellaneous (unprocessed)
Oversize Materials
Oversize Materials: (1) (unprocessed)
Oversize Materials: (2) (unprocessed)
Oversize Materials: (3) (unprocessed)
Oversize Materials: (4) (unprocessed)