22 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
RICHARD RATHBUN. 
Richard Rathbun, assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., January 25, 1852, and died July 16, 
1918. He received his education at Cornell University, specializing 
in geology and paleontology. Here he was associated with Charles 
Fred Hartt, professor of geology, who assigned to Mr. Rathbun the 
task of working up for publication a collection of fossils from Brazil, 
which resulted in the publication of Mr. Rathbun’s first paper on 
the “Devonian Brachiopoda of. Erere, of the Province of Para, 
Brazil.” During this work he had occasion to visit the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, where the environment proved 
so congenial that he remained here fortwo years. During thesummer 
months he served as a volunteer assistant under Spencer F. Baird in 
marine explorations on the New England coast. Through his as- 
sociation with Prof. Baird his connection with the Smithsonian 
Institution began. . 
In 1875 he was appointed geologist to the Geological Commission 
of Brazil, and for the following three years he studied the geological 
features of that country. On returning to the United States he was 
appointed a scientific assistant in the United States Fish Commission, 
in. which service he remained until 1896. 
During this period several papers from his pen appeared in “ The 
Fisheries and the Fish Industry of the United States.” During 
these years also he was involved in the fur seal investigation, The 
most important international commission to the Fur Seal Islands 
was the one sent out in 1896, and Mr. Rathbun was named chief 
advisor to Mr. Hamlin in immediate charge of the case. 
In 1896 Mr. Rathbun came to the Smithsonian Institution and at 
the beginning of 1897 took up the duties as assistant in charge of 
office and exchanges, later being named assistant secretary. The fol- 
lowing year, holding this same title, he was given charge of the Na- 
tional Museum, which position he held until his death. 
One of the most important events during his administration of 
the Museum was the appropriation for and the construction of the 
new Natural History Building, in which he took a deep interest, and 
for which he was in large part responsible. He also undertook the 
development of the National Gallery of Art, a feature of the Smith- 
sonian which is mentioned first in the act creating the Institution, but 
which had remained dormant for lack of adequate facilities. 
Mr. Rathbun was a member of many scientific societies, including 
several foreign connections. His bibliography contains nearly 100 
titles, including the numerous papers written during his connection 
with the Fish Commission, and his official reports as administrator 
of the National Museum. 
