ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION    

Title
Howard Johnson Shannon Collection

Collection Number
SC 300

OCLC Number
1035382682

Creator 
Howard Johnson Shannon, 1876-1936

Provenance 
Purchased in 1985.

Extent,Scope, and Content Note 
The collection consists of Howard Johnson Shannon's field notebooks compiled between 1910 and 1936.
Extent: 1.25 linear ft. (3 boxes)

Arrangement and Processing Note
Procesed by Kristen J. Nyitray in 2004.
Finding aid updated and revised by Kristen J. Nyitray in August 2019.
The collection is organized in chronological order.

Language
English 

Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.

Rights and Permissions 
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to publication.  

Citation 
[Box], [Item], Howard Johnson Shannon Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.

Historical Note
"Howard Johnson Shannon was born on May 30, 1876 in Jamaica, Queens County, New York to Stephen and Ellen H.W. Shannon. He was a pupil of sculptor and art instructor Herbert Adams. He graduated in 1895 from Pratt Institute, Department of Fine Arts (“drawing, painting, and composition course”). A painter and illustrator, his book The Book of the Seashore: the Life Experiences of a Naturalist on the Beach was published by Doubleday in 1935."

"Howard Shannon lived the life of his Long Island beach for more than a quarter of a century, and, in this book, with brush and pen, he has pictured it for his readers by means of an abundance of luminous illustrations; and, even more vividly, by imaginative and poetic word pictures, which, because they have caught both the visible and invisible spirit of his world by the sea, present the vital throbbings of its heartbeats and the embattled struggles of its inhabitants far more accurately than any cold statement of listed facts. The sandy white ocean bars which front our north Atlantic coast from Maine to Delaware form the focus of the author's keen observations which extended through the seasons, through the years, ranging from the phenomena of the mysterious migrating journeys of insect, bird, and fish, to the physical changes of the shoreline itself from year to year. Many of Mr. Shannon's observations are original and distinct contributions to science; he has discovered new species and new facts of life history."  (Source: Foreward, The Book of the Seashore: the Life Experiences of a Naturalist on the Beach, 1935).

Subjects
Artists -- New York (State)
Naturalists -- New York (State
Natural history.
Seashore.
Artists.
Naturalists.
New York (State)

INVENTORY

Box 1
Field notebooks

April-September 15, 1910
June 10-September 16, 1912
August 7-September 9, 1914
September 16-October 20, 1914
March 26-July 14, 1915
March 26-September 11, 1915
September 17, 1915-January 16, 1916
March 31-July 30, 1916
August 3-September 16, 1916
September 17-October 11, 1916
March 26-August 18, 1917
August 19 -September 29, 1917

Box 2
Field notebooks

October 1-October 21, 1917
July 20, 1918-May 16, 1920
May 22-June 17, 1920
June 18-June 25, 1920
June 27-July 12, 1920
July 20-September 25, 1920
June 16-September 21, 1921
September 22- October 22, 1921
May 30-June 10, 1922
May 30-October 18, 1922
April 20-November 12, 1927
1926-1936?

Box 3
The Book of the Seashore: The Life Experiences of a Naturalist on the Beach. Text and images by Harold J. Shannon. New York: Doubleday, 1935.