The Entomology Department has preserved beetles collected by O. N. Sanford from the 1850s.
William S. Wright, (b.1866-1933), began his association with the department.
W.S. Wright, an amateur entomologist who supervised Nature Study for the San Diego schools, also worked in the entomology collection at the San Diego Natural History Museum. He was a skilled carpenter who directed the Manual Training program for the San Diego school system. Wright designed and constructed the Museum’s “Nature Study Cabinets,” wooden cabinets with five trays to display insects, birds, mammals, minerals, and shells. These cabinets were delivered to many rural San Diego county schools for the children to enjoy. Wright had a special interest in the Lepidoptera and donated some 30,000 specimens to the Entomology Department.
Paper published on the honey ants of Point Loma, written by Percy Leonard in the Museum’s scientific publication, Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 1:3.
Paper written on Hemiptera by E.P. Van Duzee in Transactions 2:1.
Earliest departmental correspondence began in 1915 when William S. Wright, expert on Microlepidoptera, began exchanging letters and queries with E.P. Van Duzee of the California Academy of Sciences.