Oliver Perry Hay
Oliver Perry Hay (May 22, 1846 – November 2, 1930) was an American herpetologist, ichthyologist, and paleontologist. Hay was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, to Robert and Margaret Hay. In 1870, Hay graduated with a bachelor of arts from Eureka College in Illinois.
Also recorded as O. P. Hay · Oliver P. Hay
Oliver Perry Hay

Unknown (photo in family collection, but photographer is unknown) · From the Oliver Perry Hay family collection. I have the direct permission from great-ganddaughter Donna Hay to upload this photo for the purposes of sharing it on Wikipedia for her great-grandfather's · Public domain
- Name
- Oliver Perry Hay
- Born
- 22 May 1846
- Died
- 2 November 1930
- Education
- Eureka College (BA) Indiana University Bloomington (PhD)
- Field
- * Zoology
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- paleontologist · zoologist · herpetologist · ichthyologist · writer
- Fields
- ichthyology · zoology · paleontology
- Languages
- English
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Oliver Perry Hay (May 22, 1846 – November 2, 1930) was an American herpetologist, ichthyologist, and paleontologist. Hay was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, to Robert and Margaret Hay. In 1870, Hay graduated with a bachelor of arts from Eureka College in Illinois.
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Biography
Biography
He taught at the college as a sciences professor from 1870 to 1873. He married Mary E. Howsmon of Eureka, Illinois, in 1870. He was a professor at Oskaloosa College in Iowa from 1874 to 1876. He was a student at Yale University from 1876 to 1877. Seventeen years after earning his bachelors, he earned his PhD from Indiana University Bloomington. From 1877 to 1879, he taught at Abingdon College just before it was incorporated into his alma mater, Eureka College. His longest professorship was at Butler University from 1879 to 1892. From 1894 to 1895, he worked at the Field Museum of Natural History as assistant curator of zoology, where despite his specialty in ichthyology, he worked in all nonornithological fields of zoology. In 1912, Hay was appointed as a research associate at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and was given office space at the United States National Museum. There, he did much work with the USNM's collections in vertebrate paleontology. He published extensively on fossil turtles and Pleistocene mammals. The catalogs that he constructed were a great aid in recording existing knowledge and became standard references. His papers from 1911 to 1930 are stored at the Smithsonian Institution. Oliver and Mary had four children together. Their son, William Perry Hay, was also a zoologist.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Oliver Perry Hay • Born — 22 May 1846 • Died — 2 November 1930 • Education — Eureka College (BA) Indiana University Bloomington (PhD) • Field — * Zoology • Paleontology • Workplaces — Carnegie Institution for Science
Works
Works
Below is a partial list of Hay's work. * * * * *
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Oliver Jens SchmittAuthor
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- Oliver SchmitzAuthor
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