Osborn, Henry F. DAB, Supp Osborn Osborn ish program [Oppenheimer's personal papers are in the Li- Osborn's father's enthusiasm for science had n. Its nega- brary of Congress. Other repositories of source ma- a profound impact on him. As a child, Osborn ted by Pres- terial are the Center for History of Physics of the developed a private collection of animals, and public. The American Institute of Physics, in New York; Bancroft on several occasions he accompanied his father leavage be- Library at the University of California at Berkeley; on museum expeditions for fossil vertebrates, the California Institute of Technology Archives; the ve nuclear Harvard University Archives; the Los Alamos Na- trips that took him to dinosaur beds in the tried weap- tional Laboratory, Records Division; and the Na- western United States and prehistoric elephant d by Op- tional Archives, in Washington, D.C. Oppenheim- deposits in Egypt. Similarly, he followed his eimer's less er's scientific papers are listed in Smich and Weiner, father's footsteps in his formal education: after ogen bomb cited below. Lectures and articles (1946-1966) are graduating from the Groton School in 1905, 10 regarded published in Science and the Common Understand- Osborn attended Princeton University for four ing (1954); The Open Mind (1955); and Uncommon years, graduating with a B... in 1909. He spent expired in Sense (1984). the next year studying at Trinity College, Cam- isultant but See United States Atomie Energy Commission, In bridge. His education included several courses tor Joseph the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: Transcript of in the natural sciences, though he consciously munists in Hearing Before Personnel Security Board (1954); Hans A. Bethe, "J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1904- avoided becoming a specialist. imer's crit- 1967, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal After college Osborn held a number of jobs. y clearance Society, 14 (1968); / I. Rabi et al., Oppenheimer He worked first in the freight yards of San Soviet sym- (1969); Philip M. Stern, with Harold P. Green, The Francisco and later as a member of a railroad on on nu- Oppenheimer Case: Security on Trial (1969); and crew in Nevada. Eventually he returned to New Alice Kimball Smith and Charles Weiner, eds. York and, on Sept. 8, 191+, married Marjorie r was noti- Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections M. Lamont; they had three children. In order er that his (1980). Transcribed interviews with Oppenheimer to support his family, Osborn sought a career in July 1954, and many who knew him are in the Archive for business. He became treasurer of the Union Oil accept the History of Quantum Physics and the Center for History of Physics (American Institute of Physics) and Company and from 1914 to 1917 served as mer chose treasurer of a business that manufactured la- in the Archives and Special Collections of the e a special Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An obituary bels. After serving as a captain in the army ng, which is in the New York Times, Feb. 19, 1967.] during World War I, he became a partner in 54, distin- ALICE KIMBALL SMITH Redmond and Company, a New York invest- Its testified ment banking firm. In 1935 he joined the ehalf, but banking firm of Maynard, Oakland, and Law- ntinuation OSBORN, HENRY FAIRFIELD (Jan. 15, rence, but he quit the same year and retired C released 1887-Sept. 16, 1969), naturalist and conserva- from a business world that he now considered g and on tionist, was born in Princeton, N.J., the son of artificial. although Henry Fairfield Osborn, a biology professor and Osborn's retirement from business enabled doubt, his president of the American Museum of Natural him to devote all his time and energy to his made it History, and Lucretia Perry. He grew up in a passion for animals. Since 1923 he had served ets. family of considerable wealth and social stand- as a trustee and member of the executive board a large ing, for his paternal grandfather, William of the New York Zoological Society, and in nity. Op- Henry Osborn, had made a fortune in the 1935 he became the secretary and in 1940 the publicly. railroad business, and by marriage the Osborn president of the organization. In those positions e for Ad- family had ties to J. Pierpont Morgan and Osborn made his most important contributions lends and Cleveland Dodge. Drawing upon those power- to science and society. As president of the director's ful social and economic connections, Osborn's Zoological Society, Osborn had responsibility ds, where father had forged a career as a leading organizer for the Bronx Zoo, and during his twenty-eight ng love of and administrator for science in New York City: years in office, he instituted a number of abin as a in the early 1890's he founded the departments changes. Interested in exhibiting animals in broad to of biology at Columbia University and verte- their natural habitat, Osborn played a central t honors. brate paleontology at the American Museum of role in developing the African Plains exhibit, a e AEC's Natural History, he was a founder and the first bird house that allowed tropical birds to fly contribu- president of the Bronx Zoo (1896), he helped to freely in native surroundings, and new build- of health reorganize the New York Aquarium (1902), and ings for penguins, apes, and nocturnal animals. rector in he became president of the American Museum Osborn's efforts were not revolutionary, but of Natural History (1908). under his direction the Bronx Zoo and the New 485 Osborn Ouimet York Aquarium developed new facilities for ing of Animals (1974). See also the interview with animals and viewers, thereby promoting better Osborn in the New Yorker, Mar. 9, 1957; and opportunities for public education and scien- Laurance Rockefeller, "My Most Unforgettable tific research. Character," Reader's Digest, Oct. 1972. An obituary Osborn's work in conservation broadened the is in the New York Times, Sept. 17, 1969.] interests of the Zoological Society and made his RONALD RAINGER reputation. In a 1945 editorial in the zoo's bulletin, Animal Kingdom, he warned of a OUIMET, FRANCIS DESALES (May 8, depletion of forests, soils, and water resources 1893-Sept. 2. 1967), golfer and stockbroker, that would threaten human existence. He fur- was born in Brookline, Mass., the son of Arthur ther developed that argument in Our Plundered Ouimet, a gardener from Canada, and Mary Planet (1948) and The Limits of the Earth Ellen Burke. Whenever his older brother, Wil- (1953). The former described how humans had fred, worked as a caddy, Ouimet borrowed his misused the land and called for the conserva- club. He played in the cow pasture behind their tion of natural resources to ensure the' contin- house. where there were swamps, brooks, and a uation of civilization. The latter defined the gravel pit. He called it the most difficult course explosive increase in world population and its he ever played. impact on food, water, and other natural re- Ouimet started working as a caddy at the age sources. Both books were nontechnical exposi- of eleven. He often played golf at 5 A.M., until tions, and their popularity established Osborn chased away by the greenskeepers. Samuel as a leading advocate for conservation and Carr, who was kind to the boys who carried his intelligent use of the earth's resources. clubs, gave him a driver, a lofter, a midiron, Within the Zoological Society, Osborn and and a putter. In 1908, Ouimet graduated from others soon established the Conservation Foun- Heath Grammar School. He attended Brook- dation, an organization that produced books, line High School, where he organized the golf films, and special studies on water resources, team, but he did not graduate. In 1909 he won flood control, and endangered species. He and the Greater Boston Interscholastic Champion- Laurance Rockefeller, a vice-president of the ship. He failed to qualify for the National Zoological Society, helped to create the Jackson Amateur Championship by one stroke in 1910, Hole Wildlife Park at Moran, Wyo., a preserve 1911, and 1912. But in 1913, at Wollaston, he where naturalists could investigate the biology won the Massachusetts State Amateur Cham- of the Rocky Mountains. Throughout the pionship. 1950's and 1960's, Osborn lectured on conser- While working as a clerk at the Wright and vation and wrote articles on the impending Ditson Sporting Goods Company, Quimet ecological crisis for Science, the Atlantic joined the Woodland Golf Club. The president Monthly, and other periodicals. From 1950 to of the United States Golf Association, Robert 1957 he served on the Conservation Advisory Watson, persuaded him to enter the United Committee of the United States Department of States Open at the Brookline Country Club. the Interior and on the Planning Committee of The 1913 Open was one of the most publicized the Economic and Social Council of the tournaments in the United States, and it helped United Nations. He died in New York City. change the image of golf, which, until that Not a scientist himself, Osborn popularized the time, did not have mass appeal in the United concerns of scientists and helped to mobilize States or players who could compete with the public and government support for a nascent best Europeans. Harry Vardon, five-time Open ecology movement that a decade later became a champion of Great Britain, and the long hitter major scientific and public-policy issue. Edward ("Ted") Ray were favored to win at Brookline. On September 19, after fifty-four holes/ in the rain, Ouimet was tied with Vardon [Manuscript sources on Osborn include records, correspondence, and other materials at the Bronx and Ray at 225. Both Englishmen finished the Zoo and his father's papers at the New-York Histor- seventy-two holes with 304. Ouimet needed to ical Society. Osborn edited The Pacific World (1944) play the last six holes in 2 under par to tie. At and Our Crowded Planet (1962). the seventeenth hole, Ouimet needed a 3. Ray On Osborn's work as president of the New York recalled, "Ouimet's ball finished twelve feet or Zoological Society, see William Bridges, A Gather- so from the tin, leaving him with the most 486 5/17/04 IN 1932 THE HOME GEOGRAPHIC MONTHLY (v. 2, # 1) PUB LISHED AN ARTICLE BY GEORGE B. DORR TITLED "ACADIA, THE SEACOAST PARK.' , This publication was established by Home Geographic Society of Worcester, Mass., an "educational institution" founded by a host of academics affiliated with Harvard, Columbia, and Clark University among others. Fairfield Osborne. President of the American Museum of Natural History, was an incorporator as well. Its purpose was "to create and promote interest in geography among achildren; to promote friendly and sympathetic relations among the children of the world; to assemble and distribute geographic materials, slides, films, specimens, etc...." " This article is not written strictly for a juvenile audience and the publication "is SO rich in interesting information and educational value that everyon e, shild or sdult, finds it readable and engrossing." Model? National Geographic Magazine Lefalophodon: Henry Fairfield Osborn Page 1 of 1 Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) Blue-blood director of the American Museum of Natural History, successful in raising funds for exhibits, expeditions, large research projects, and related institutions such as Columbia University. Osborn's extensive patronage network include New York bluebloods like the high society lawyer Madison Grant and the philanthropist Morris Jesup. A prominent orthogenetic theorist and advocate of eugenics: he wrote the preface to Grant's 1916 eugenicist tract The Passing of the Great Race, and co-ogranized the Second International Congress of Eugenics in 1921, along with Grant and Davenport. Opposed to natural selection and hostile to experimental biology and genetics until his death, feuding with T. Morgan. One of the worst taxonomists in the history of vertebrate paleontology, naming countless scores of invalid species; author of several large monographs on mammals and dinosaurs that were largely ghost-written by his cadre of employees, Osborn in 1890. From including Matthew and Gregory. Baatz, p. 178. Career: Ph.D., Princeton University Assistant Professor, Princeton University, 1881-1890 Professor, Columbia University, 1890-1909 Curator, American Museum of Natural History, early 1890's-1935 O President Studied under: T. Huxley Students: W. Gregory R. Lull W. Matthew Colleagues: W. Scott (at Princeton) Key publications: The Age of Mammals in Europe, Asia and North America (1910: researched by W. Matthew) Lefalophodon Home - Timeline - Bibliography - Related Sites - Comments & Suggestions http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~alroy/lefa/Osborn.html 2/18/2003 Page 1 of 1 Am this Not Hist Ronald Epp From: "Ronald Epp" To: Cc: "Ronald Epp" Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:03 AM Subject: Henry Fairfield Osborn Query I am engaged in research for a biography of George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944), a contemporary of AMNH President Osborn, and founder and first superintendent of Acadia National Park. Mr. Osborn wrote a letter of support for road development in Lafayette National Park (later Acadia) which was entered into a formal hearing before the Secretary of the Interior on March 26, 1924. I lack a copy of these remarks and would certainly value knowing whether they are in your possession and if so whether this document might be copied for me. I came across this reference at the Rockefeller Archive Center. I am unable to discern from your online catalog whether you might have manuscript materials relative to the relationship between Mr. Dorr and President Osborn. I appreciate the professional courtesy of your effort to determine whether any documents relative to my interests are in your holdings. Thank you. Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Director of the Harry & Gertrude Shapiro Library Southern New Hampshire University 2500 North River Road Manchester, NH 03106-1045 603-668-2211, ext. 2164 603-645-9685 (fax) 2/19/2003