1828-1910

Robert Whitfield was born on May 27, 1828 in Willowvale, New York and had few educational opportunities, but always devoted time to the acquisition of knowledge.  He became very interested in natural history after acquiring a microscope, and began learning about paleontology while working in Colonel Jewett’s cabinet of fossils.  Through Jewett, Whitfield met James Hall who helped him meet people in the scientific community and establish a publication record.  Whitfield took an interest in morphometrics and was very good at drawing different species of fossils.  In 1848, Whitfield got married and later had four children.  He became Hall’s assistant in 1856, and worked with him for many years.  However, this relationship came to an end around 1874 when Whitfield was not given credit for a report for which he had made many of the drawing.  Whitfield then began working as the assistant curator in the New York State museum in Albany, taking care of the geology and paleontology collections.  He also became a professor of geology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  In 1877, Whitfield went to the American Museum of Natural History and became its Curator of the Department of Geology until he retired.  While at the museum, he helped establish the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.  Robert Parr Whitfield died in 1910.