Background
Rau, Charles was born in 1826 in Verviers, Belgium.
Rau, Charles was born in 1826 in Verviers, Belgium.
He was educated at the University of Heidelberg and emigrated to the United States in 1848, where he engaged in teaching, first in the west, and later in New York City.
He was a curator at the Smithsonian for more than a decade. Beginning in 1863, he contributed articles to the publications of the Smithsonian Institution, and subsequently his articles were published in nearly every annual report. From 1875 until his death, he was curator in the Department of Antiquities at the National Museum in Washington, District of Columbia and devoted himself to the study of American archaeology, on which he became a recognized authority.
He wrote on American antiquities for Die Natur.
The University of Freiburg in Baden gave him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1882. His great library and collections were bequeathed to the National Museum.
He was a member of the principal archaeological and anthropological societies of Europe and America.