Charles Frederick Hartt Papers

About this collection

The Charles Frederick Hartt papers at Cornell University document his career conducting research in Brazil and include correspondence, large cloth posters used during lectures, and a catalog of specimens collected in Brazil and brought to Cornell University. Some of the specimens depicted in the cloth posters remain a part of Cornell’s Anthropology Collections. The materials were digitized in 2025 to enhance usability, particularly of the very large cloth posters, some of which were larger than 7 feet by 7 feet.

Historical context

Charles Frederick Hartt had a career noted for his work in Brazil including traveling as part of the Thayer Expedition with Louis Agassiz in 1865-1866. Documentation of this work would be published in his work Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil in 1870 while he was serving as a Professor of Geology at Cornell University. Hartt would continue his explorations in Brazil making observations about the land, people, plants, animals, and environment. He ultimately contributed more than 500,000 specimens to the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. Hartt would lecture about his expeditions utilizing posters, believed to be created by him, to better showcase his findings for the audience.

Using the collection

The online collection currently only contains the cloth posters, but if researchers would like to see digital images of other materials from this collection, they should contact rareref@cornell.edu for more information.

More information

Collection steward

Evan Earle, Peter J. Thaler University Archivist

Metadata creation

Cornell University Library; William Brice, Professor Emeritus of Geology and Planetary Sciences, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown; Peter Fraissinet, Assistant Curator & Librarian - LHB Hortorium, School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Biology Section; James Morin, Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; Alison RIttershaus, Ph.D., Curator of the Anthropology Collections; Jacki Whisenant, Department of Entomology

Funding

Cornell University Library

Credits

This collection overview was last reviewed in 2025.

Collection sources

• Charles Frederick Hartt papers