Benjamin Sharp Papers and Glass Lantern Slides
Scope and Contents
This collection contains materials primarily related to Academy of Natural Sciences sponsored expeditions to collect specimens and study the natural world in the West Indies in 1888, Greenland in 1891, and Hawai’i in 1893.
Dates
- 1844 - 1952
- Majority of material found within 1888 - 1894
Creator
- Sharp, Benjamin, 1858-1915 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining approval from them.
Biographical / Historical
Benjamin Sharp (1858-1915), was a zoologist and a professor of invertebrate zoology at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Born on November 1, 1858 to Quaker parents, Benjamin and Hannah B. Sharp in Germantown, Philadelphia, Sharp earned his A.B. degree from Swarthmore College in 1878. He then went to the University of Pennsylvania where he studied medicine, earning his M.D. in 1879 and his Ph.D. in 1880. His education continued when he traveled to Europe and received another Ph.D. from the University of Wurzburg in Bavaria in 1883.
In 1883, Sharp returned to Philadelphia and was offered the position of professor of invertebrate zoology at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. A year later, in 1884, he began teaching the same subject at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a professor for the rest of his life, working at the University of Pennsylvania until 1896 and at the Academy of Natural Sciences until his death in 1915. From 1890 to 1901, Sharp served as corresponding secretary for the Academy of Natural Sciences. In addition to teaching, Sharp participated in expeditions to the West Indies from 1888 to 1889; to Greenland in 1891, along with Robert Peary; to Hawai'i in 1893; and to Alaska, Siberia and the Arctic in 1895.
In 1881, Sharp married Virginia May Guild of Massachusetts and they had three children: Karl, Harold and Dorothy. In 1905, the family moved to Massachusetts. From 1910 to 1913, Sharp served as a representative for Nantucket in the Massachusetts Legislature, and on the Committee on Fisheries.
Sharp died in 1915 at the age of 56 years as a result of pneumonia.
Bibliography:
New York Times. "Dr. Benjamin Sharp Dead." January 26, 1915.
Extent
6 linear feet (10 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 2 series as follows:
Series 1: Glass lantern slides, 1893-1920
Series 2: Personal and professional papers, 1844-1952
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Elwyn R. Francis in June 1956 and Nancy Newhouse in May 2023.
Processing Information
The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project. Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.
2023 accrual to existing collection minimally processed by Jessica M. Lydon, Brooke Dolan Archivist and added to Series 2.
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
- Alaska
- Correspondence
- Field notes
- Greenland
- Hawaii
- Indigenous people
- Lantern slides
- Leprosy -- Patients
- Maps
- Peary, Robert Edwin (Robert Edwin Peary) (1856-1920)
- Photographs
- Scarborough (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Scientific expeditions
- Siberia (Russia)
- West Indies
- Zoological specimens -- Collection and preservation
Creator
- Sharp, Benjamin, 1858-1915 (Person)
- Pilsbry, Henry Augustus, 1862-1957 (Person)
- Author
- Garrett Boos
- Date
- 2010.12.02
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project. Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.
Revision Statements
- May 2023: Revised by Jessica M. Lydon, Brooke Dolan Archivist to include description of accrual to collection.
Repository Details
Part of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Repository
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia PA 19103 USA
215-299-1075
215-299-1144 (Fax)
archives@ansp.org