The United States National Museum's collection of corals was originally entrusted to the care of the Department of Marine Invertebrates which was established in 1880. Of particular importance in that collection were the corals collected by the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. In 1914, Marine Invertebrates was merged with the Division of Mollusks to form a single Division of Marine Invertebrates. In 1921, the Division of Mollusks was reestablished and the coral and helminthological collections were turned over to it. The Curator of the Division of Mollusks, Paul Bartsch, began to refer to a Section of Corals in his annual reports although there was never a curator for the Section. This practice continued until the coral collection was transferred to the Division of Marine Invertebrates about 1962.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Agency History. Record 217921
