“Professor C. V. Riley Resigns.” Rural California, 1894

The Charles Valentine Riley Collection includes correspondence, unpublished lectures, photographs, news clippings, drawings, reprints, books, and artifacts covering the time period from 1868 to 1919. Much of the correspondence is original; however, several letters are copies of items held by other institutions. Copies are noted as such in the container list.

The nine series of materials focus on the history of entomology and the development of biological control of insects injurious to crops. In addition to professional papers and documents, the collection includes many personal articles such as family photographs, a wedding announcement, Riley's desk, clock, microscope, books, medals, and drawings, a portrait painted by Henry Ulke, known as the painter of the Presidents, and clippings about Riley's untimely death. Riley's talent and experience as a natural history illustrator is a focus of the collection as well.