Oberholser, Harry C. (Harry Church), 1870-1963

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Ornithologist.

From the description of Papers of Harry C. Oberholser, 1883-1960 (bulk 1920-1945). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79449477

Ornithologist who worked in the Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior (1895-1941) and was curator of ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

From the description of Papers, 1864-1963. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 17725278

Harry Church Oberholser (1870-1963) was an ornithologist who wrote Bird Life of Texas.

From the description of Oberholser, Harry Church, papers, 1920-1973. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 38451418

Biographical Note

  • 1870, June 25: Born, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • 1888: B.A., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
  • 1895 - 1941 : With United States Biological Survey (ornithologist, 1895-1914; assistant biologist, 1915-1923; biologist, 1924-1928; senior biologist, 1928-1941)
  • 1904 - 1910 : Professor of zoology, Biltmore Forest School
  • 1914: M.S., George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Married Mary Forrest Smith Professor of ornithology, Pennsylvania Summer School for Teachers
  • 1916: Ph.D., George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
  • 1919 - 1939 : Lecturer, American School of Wildlife Protection
  • 1920 - 1935 : Professor of zoology, American University Graduate School, Washington, D.C.
  • 1925 - 1927 : President, Biological Society of Washington, D.C.
  • 1931: Published with S. Prentiss Baldwin and Leonard G. Worley. Measurements of Birds. Cleveland, Ohio
  • 1938: Published The Bird Life of Louisiana. New Orleans: [T. J. Moran’s Sons]
  • 1941 - 1947 : Curator of ornithology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio
  • 1963, Dec. 25: Died, Cleveland, Ohio

From the guide to the Harry C. OberholserPapers, 1883-1960, (bulk 1920-1945), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Harry Church Oberholser (1870-1963) was one of the most eminent ornithologists in the United States. His work as an exact observer of minute differences between various types of birds made him especially noted as a taxonomist during the era when descriptive ornithology was in its heyday. His sixty years in the field of ornithology allowed him sufficient time to complete many significant projects, which included creating large collections of bird skins, developing an index of two million cards on North American bird distribution and migration, promoting and supervising bird banding as a data-gathering activity for scientific inquiry, and establishing an annual waterfowl census for the United States and Canada.

Oberholser was born in Brooklyn New York, in 1870. In 1877 he and his family moved to Newman Springs, New Jersey. In 1890, the family migrated to Wooster, Ohio, where Harry managed his father's retail store.

In 1895, Oberholser was selected from a field of applicants to be an ornithological clerk in the United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy (later known as teh Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior). He remained with the organization for forty-six years and eventually became Senior Biologist. During his tenure he took frequent leaves of absence and sabbaticals in order to accomplish projects in distant areas, further his education, and teach and lecture. One of his duties while in Washington was to identify feathers and bones held as evidence of violations of Federal law; he was thus important in providing state's evidence in the courts during the time when the Federal government began to regulate the conservation of wildlife resources.

Although poor health had prevented him from attending Columbia University in 1888, he revived his educational pursuits at George Washington University in Washington, D. C., where he received his B.A. and M.S. degrees in 1914 (also getting married the same year) and his Ph.D. in 1916.

Dr. Oberholser taught at the Biltmore Forest School in North Carolina from 1904-1910. He lectured at the American School of Wildlife Protection at McGregor, Iowa, from 1919-1939 and was a professor of zoology at American University from 1920-1935. In 1928, he established the annual winter waterfowl census; the same year he began his long association with Cleveland, Ohio, when he served as an advisor to the Department of Ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

In 1941, he retired from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History immediately appointed him Curator of Ornithology, while Dr. Aldrich, who had held that position, went to Washington as Oberholser's successor. While Curator, Dr. Oberholser expanded the museum's bird collection from 11,000 to 53,000 specimens; he also served on the Board of Managers governing the museum.

Olberholser was active in local Cleveland organizations such as the Cleveland Bird Club (later the Cleveland chapter of the Audubon Society) and the Bird Research Foundation. After resigning from the museum in 1947, he continued to live in Cleveland Heights, editing manuscripts and books for himself and others until his death in 1963.

During his life, Dr. Oberholser was a member of nearly forty societies, including the American Ornithologists' Union, the Bombay Natural History Society, the Audubon Society, and the Biological Society of Washington.

His most extensive work, The Bird Life of Texas, was begun in 1900 when he started a three-year series of treks across the Lone Star State to research birds. He wrote and rewrote drafts of this book, continuing in this work until his death. This, his major publication, was printed in 1974 by the University of Texas in a two-volume edition illustrated by the famous nature artist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

From the guide to the Harry Church Oberholser Papers, 1864-1963, (Western Reserve Historical Society)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Heiser, Joseph Mathew, Jr. J.M. Heiser Jr. Environmental Collection 1860-1987. Houston Area Library Auto Network
referencedIn Biography -- Oberholser, Harry Church. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
referencedIn Roy Bedichek Papers, 1897-1959 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
creatorOf Harry C. Oberholser Papers 1883-1960 (bulk 1920-1945) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Oberholser, Harry C. (Harry Church), 1870-1963. Papers, 1864-1963. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn J. M. Heiser Jr. Environmental Collection MSS 0246., 1860-1987 Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Libary
referencedIn Bedichek, Roy, 1878-1959. Bedichek, Roy, papers, 1897-1959. University of Texas Libraries
creatorOf Oberholser, Harry C. (Harry Church), 1870-1963. [Ornithological papers / Oberholser] The Field Museum Library, The Field Museum of Natural History
creatorOf Harry Church Oberholser Papers, 1864-1963 Western Reserve Historical Society
creatorOf Oberholser, Harry C. (Harry Church), 1870-1963. Oberholser, Harry Church, papers, 1920-1973. University of Texas Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Aldrich, John W. (John Warren), 1906-1995 person
correspondedWith American Museum of Natural History corporateBody
correspondedWith American Ornithologists' Union corporateBody
correspondedWith Bailey, Florence Merriam, 1863-1948 person
correspondedWith Bailey, Vernon, 1864-1942 person
associatedWith Bedichek, Roy, 1878-1959 person
correspondedWith Bell, W. B. (William Bonar), 1877-1949 person
correspondedWith Bent, Arthur Cleveland, 1866-1954 person
correspondedWith Bishop, Louis B. person
correspondedWith Bishop, Louis B. person
correspondedWith Brandt, Herbert, b. 1884 person
correspondedWith Cattell, James McKeen, 1860-1944 person
correspondedWith Cleveland Museum of Natural History corporateBody
correspondedWith Cottam, Clarence, 1899- person
correspondedWith Fisher, A. K. (Albert Kenrick), 1856-1948 person
correspondedWith Forbush, Edward Howe, 1858-1929 person
correspondedWith Grinnell, Joseph, 1877-1939 person
correspondedWith Griscom, Ludlow, 1890-1959 person
associatedWith Heiser, J. M. person
associatedWith Heiser, Joseph Mathew, Jr. person
correspondedWith Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee), 1850-1930 person
correspondedWith Jackson, Hartley H. T. (Hartley Harrad Thompson), 1881- person
correspondedWith Jones, Lynds, b. 1865 person
correspondedWith Keyes, Charles R. (Charles Reuben), 1871-1951 person
correspondedWith Kirn, A. J. (Albert J.) person
correspondedWith Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont), 1834-1906 person
correspondedWith Lincoln, Frederick Charles, 1892-1960 person
associatedWith McPike, Eugene Fairfield, b. 1870. person
correspondedWith Merriam, C. Hart (Clinton Hart), 1855-1942 person
correspondedWith Nelson, Edward William, 1855-1934 person
correspondedWith Nice, Margaret Morse, b. 1883 person
correspondedWith Palmer, T. S. (Theodore Sherman), 1868-1955 person
correspondedWith Pearson, T. Gilbert (Thomas Gilbert), 1873-1943 person
correspondedWith Preble, Edward Alexander, 1871-1957 person
correspondedWith Richmond, Charles Wallace, 1868-1932 person
correspondedWith Ridgway, Robert, 1850-1929 person
correspondedWith Roberts, Thomas S. (Thomas Sadler), 1858-1946 person
correspondedWith Sprunt, Alexander, 1898-1973 person
correspondedWith Stone, Witmer, 1866-1939 person
correspondedWith Taverner, P. A. (Percy Algernon), 1875-1947 person
correspondedWith Taylor, Walter P. (Walter Penn), 1888-1972 person
correspondedWith Todd, W. E. Clyde (Walter Edmond Clyde), 1874- person
correspondedWith United States. Bureau of Biological Survey corporateBody
correspondedWith United States National Museum corporateBody
correspondedWith U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service corporateBody
correspondedWith Van Tyne, Josselyn, 1902-1957 person
correspondedWith Wilson Ornithological Club corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Halley's comet
Ohio
Texas
United States
Subject
Birds
Mammals
Oberholser, Harry Church, 1870-1963
Ornithologists
Ornithologists
Ornithologists
Ornithology
Ornithology
Occupation
Ornithologists
Activity

Person

Birth 1870-06-25

Death 1963-12-25

Americans

English

Information

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