Evermann, Barton Warren, 1853-1932

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Barton Warren Evermann was a botanist who collected in Alaska, Idaho, and Indiana in the late 19th century.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_298_pid_EACP295

Biographical note

Barton Warren Evermann, educator, scientist, and long-time director of the California Academy of Sciences, was born on October 24, 1853 in Monroe County, Iowa. Evermann's family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was there that he grew up, completed his education, and married. While teaching in Carroll County, Indiana he met fellow teacher Meadie Hawkins. They were married on October 24, 1875. They had a son, Toxaway Bronte, born in 1879, and a daughter, Edith, born in 1894.

In his professional life, Evermann had three overlapping careers: educator, ichthyologist, and director of the California Academy. From 1871 to 1879 he was a teacher and administrator in the public schools of Howard and Carroll counties, Indiana. He then moved to Ventura County, California, where he taught from 1879 to 1881. Returning to Indiana, Evermann served as superintendent of the Carroll County schools from 1883-1885 while taking a break from his undergraduate studies at Indiana University. After obtaining his B.S. in zoology in 1886, Evermann took a job as professor and head of the department of biology of the Indiana State Normal School, where he remained until 1891. Even after moving on to his scientific career, Evermann maintained an interest in education, giving special courses of lectures at Cornell and Yale between 1900 and 1906, and serving as Vice President of the District of Columbia Board of Education between 1906 and 1910. And as director of the California Academy of Sciences he placed great emphasis on the role of museums in public education.

Evermann began his scientific career under the tutelage of biologist David Starr Jordan, whom he first met in 1877 while Jordan was a professor at Butler University. Meadie Evermann was then a student in one of Jordan's classes and in 1878 the Evermanns joined Jordan and a group of other students on an extended hiking and study trip from Kentucky to Georgia. Evermann did not begin his formal education under Jordan until his return to Indiana in 1881. As Jordan was now president of Indiana University, Evermann enrolled as a student there, earning his B.S. in 1886, A.M. in 1888, and finally his Ph. D. in 1891. Many of Evermann's earliest publications are in ornithology, but under Jordan's influence Evermann soon took up ichthyology as his specialty. They later went on to co-author numerous publications together.

While a professor at the Indiana State Normal School, Evermann took a series of temporary positions with the United States Fish Commission, participating in expeditions to different parts of the country each summer from 1886 to 1890. In 1891, Evermann took a permanent position with the Fish Commission (which was renamed the Bureau of Fisheries in 1903), where he would remain until 1914. He was given a series of positions of increasing responsibility, serving as head of the Division of Scientific Inquiry from 1903 to 1910 and chief of the Alaska Division from 1911 to 1914. He was also appointed U.S. Fur Seal Commissioner for 1892 and was chairman of the Fur Seal Board from 1908 to 1914. And from 1905-1914 he was also Curator of Fishes at the U.S. National Museum.

In 1914, Evermann left the Bureau of Fisheries to become director of the California Academy of Sciences, a position he held until his death in 1932. As director, Evermann played important roles in restructuring the museum's exhibits around habitat groups, establishing the Steinhart Aquarium, and in acquiring several important specimen collections, including the Indiana University fish collection, which was transferred in 1929. Evermann was also active in the field of conservation. In 1914 and 1915 the Academy carried out a substantial project to relocate Tule Elk, which were in danger of extinction, to various locations around the state of California, and throughout the 1910s and 1920s Evermann was an energetic advocate for the conservation of marine mammals. In addition to these activities, Evermann continued to publish on scientific topics, ultimately authoring or co-authoring 387 publications in total. Evermann kept up his work until he was overcome by illness in the summer of 1932. He died in Berkeley, California on September 27, 1932 at the age of 78.

Sources:

G. Dallas Hanna, "Barton Warren Evermann," Science 76, no. 1971 (Oct. 7, 1932): 317-18.

G. Dallas Hanna, "Barton Warren Evermann, 1853-1932," Copeia 1932, no. 4 (Dec. 31, 1932): 161-62.

Indiana University Alumni Quarterly, Alumni Notes by Classes, April 1929, 287-89.

Mark R. Jennings, "Barton Warren Evermann (1853-1932) and His Contributions to North American Ichthyology," in Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology, ed. Theodore W. Pietsch and William D. Anderson, Jr. (Lawrence, Kan: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1997), 291-310.

Remington Kellogg, "Barton Warren Evermann," Journal of Mammalogy 14, no. 4 (Nov. 1933): 394.

T. S. P., "Obituary," The Auk 50, no. 4 (Oct. 1933) : 465-66.

From the guide to the Evermann (Barton Warren) papers, undated, (California Academy of Sciences, Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Clark, George A., 1864-1918. Fur seal controversy papers, 1897-1918. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Evermann (Barton Warren) papers, undated California Academy of Sciences, Special Collections
referencedIn Deam, Charles Clemon, 1865-1953. [Letters], 1904-1916. Indiana State Library - ISL
referencedIn Stanford war records, 1917-1945. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Stanford War records, 1917-1945 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Records of the California State Parks Council Bancroft Library
referencedIn George A. Clark papers, 1897-1917 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Clark, George Archibald, 1864-1918. George A. Clark papers, 1897-1917. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931. Papers of David Starr Jordan, 1861-1964. Library of Congress
referencedIn David Starr Jordan papers, 1861-1964 Cecil H. Green Library. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Goldborough, Edmund Lee. Papers, 1901-1903. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
referencedIn Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931. David Starr Jordan papers, 1861-1964. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn William B. Provine collection of evolutionary biology reprints, 20th century. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
creatorOf Evermann, Barton Warren, 1853-1932. Barton Warren Evermann papers. California Academy of Sciences
referencedIn Deitrick, James. James Deitrick papers, 1900-1918. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Albatross (Steamer). corporateBody
associatedWith American Association for the Advancement of Science. Pacific Division . corporateBody
correspondedWith California State Parks Council. corporateBody
associatedWith Clark, George A., 1864-1918. person
associatedWith Clark, H. Walton, (Howard Walton), 1870-1941 person
associatedWith Deam, Charles Clemon, 1865-1953. person
associatedWith Deitrick, James. person
associatedWith Duniway, C. A. person
associatedWith Gilbert, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1859-1928 person
associatedWith Goldborough, Edmund Lee. person
associatedWith Hudson, Charles B., (Charles Bradford), 1865-1939 person
associatedWith Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931. person
associatedWith McDowell, John E. person
associatedWith Meeks, Seth Eugene person
associatedWith Miller, Robert Cunningham, 1899- person
associatedWith National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Division of Fishes. corporateBody
associatedWith Pan-Pacific Union. corporateBody
correspondedWith Provine, William B. person
associatedWith Rutter, Cloudsley, d. 1903 person
associatedWith United States. Bureau of Fisheries . corporateBody
associatedWith United States Fish Commission. corporateBody
associatedWith Yosemite National Park (Calif.). corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
California
Alaska.
Maxinkuckee, Lake (Ind.)
Subject
Birds
California Academy of Sciences
Fishes
Golden trout
Ichthyologists
Ichthyology
Natural history museum directors
Northern fur seal
Science
Tule elk
Whaling
Wildlife conservation
Occupation
Botanists
Activity

Person

Birth 1853-10-24

Death 1932-09-27

Americans

English

Information

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