Harper, Francis, 1886-1972

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Francis Harper, native of Massachusetts, was a zoologist and author affiliated with many universities. He was the author of Mammals of the Okefinokee Swamp Region of Georgia (1927). He retired in Chapel Hill, N.C.

From the guide to the Francis Harper Papers, ., 1902-1968, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Henry Weed Fowler was an ichthyologist.

From the guide to the Reminiscences on old naturalists, 1959, (American Philosophical Society)

Francis Harper worked for the US Biological Survey, collecting across the United States, 1916 - 1920. His field work is documented in the Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_616_pid_EACP613

Francis Harper, native of Massachusetts, was a zoologist and author affiliated with many universities. He was the author of "Mammals of the Okefinokee Swamp Region of Georgia" (1927). He retired in Chapel Hill, N.C.

From the description of Francis Harper papers, 1902-1968 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 24990418

John Bartram was the first native American botanist and made many journeys through the southern frontier, collecting seeds and bulbs for transplanting. He was Royal Botanist at the time of his 1765 trip to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

From the guide to the John Bartram diary, 1765-1766, of a journey through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, 1765-1766, (American Philosophical Society)

Francis Harper was born on November 17, 1886, in Southbridge, Massachusetts. His father, William Harper, who was Canadian, born in Ontario, studied in the United States and also in Germany, where he met Francis’ mother, Bertha Tauber. William Harper was a preacher and a teacher, eventually becoming superintendent of schools in Massachusetts, Georgia, and New York.

Francis had two brothers and two sisters: Roland, a botanist for the Alabama State Geological Survey in Tuscaloosa, AL; Otto, an insurance salesman in Napa, CA; Hermina, poet and editor in Charlotte, NC; and Wilhelmina, a librarian at Redwood City, CA (throughout their correspondence, both Roland and Wilhelmina addressed Francis as “Booie”).

In 1923, Harper married Jean Sherwood of Cornwall, New York. Jean Sherwood had served as tutor to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s children, Anna and Elliot, and was active all of her life in women’s and environmental causes.

Francis and Jean had four children: Mary Sherwood, born in 1926, always called “Molly,” Robert Francis, born in 1928, always called “Robin,” Lucy Lee, born in 1933, nicknamed “Boobles,” and David Bartram, born in 1937, nicknamed “Diddy”.

In addition, the correspondence includes information about both the Harper and Sherwood extended families.

Dr. Harper was a “naturalist” in the earlier sense of the word, taking all of nature as his province-plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, mammals, people (and their languages and culture).

He attended Cornell University from 1903 to 1905, 1912 to 1914, and 1921 to 1924, earning an AB in 1914 and a PhD in 1925. From 1917 to 1919 he served in the United States Army in France with the 79th division and then in New York and Maryland.

After completing his doctor’s degree, except for a short stint at Swarthmore College, Harper did not aspire to be a college professor. Instead, he made his living from grants or from working for museums, government agencies, committees and commissions, and research agencies. Among these are the Boston Society of Natural History, the American Society of Mammalogists, the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Science Foundation, the Arctic Institute, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

He participated in numerous scientific expeditions to Canada and the Okefinokee Swamp, as well as throughout the southeastern U.S. in search of the route of the Bartrams. From these he produced a whole series of studies and publications. Among his colleagues, at least, the best known of Harper’s publications were the studies of the caribou of Keewatin, the birds of the Ungava Peninsula, the Ungava Montagnais, and the extinct and vanishing mammals of the Old World. His major contribution, however, is certainly the Yale University Press edition of William Bartram’s Travels (1958).

His publications do not adequately reflect the range of his interests. His letters are replete with references to subjects that were especially important to him. Chief among these is the Okefinokee Swamp-the environment, its people, and their culture. Harper owned land in the Okefinokee and was accepted by its inhabitants. He studied their language and arts, making recordings for the Library of Congress of their music and "hollerin’" as he called it. He was also a fierce defender of the integrity of the Swamp and was instrumental, with Jean Sherwood’s influence, in having the Okefinokee declared a national Wildlife Refuge.

He also pursued Bartram flora-Franklinia and Elliotta-, Indian mounds, and tree frogs (Psuedacris), and involved himself in debates ranging from fire ant control to his opposition to racial integration. All in all, what the letters reveal are strongly held, often passionate and contrarian, opinions concerning important biological and social issues of his time.

Many of Harper’s correspondents were also his life-long friends. A glance at the finding aid reveals that some of those to whom letters were addressed in the first decade of the twentieth century were still writing to him when he died. Much of the exchange concerned scientific matters, but much of it also concerned social and political issues as well as domestic news. A study of the subjects contained in the letters reveals a lively interest in most current issues.

Harper died on November 17, 1972, on his 86th birthday. Although he remained active in his profession right up until the time of his death, he left several major projects unfinished. One was a book about the people and lore of the Okefinokee Swamp. Okefinokee Album, by Francis Harper and Delma E. Presley, was published posthumously by the University of Georgia Press in 1981.

From the guide to the Francis Harper papers, 1899-1973, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Department of Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn William B. Provine collection of evolutionary biology reprints, 20th century. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
creatorOf Francis Harper papers, 1899-1973 University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Department of Special Collections
referencedIn Notes, [ca. 1885], on the Labrador caribou, Circa 1885 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Wright, Albert Hazen, 1879-1970. Albert Hazen Wright papers, 1820-1960. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Presley, Delma Eugene. Delma Eugene Presley collection of South Georgia history and culture, 1880-1951. Georgia Southern University
referencedIn Tomkins, Ivan Rexford, 1893-1966. Ivan Rexford Tomkins papers, 1911-1966. Georgia Historical Society
creatorOf Harper, Francis, 1886-1972. [Collected reprints] Cornell University Library
creatorOf Fowler, Henry Weed, 1878-1965. Reminiscences on old naturalists, 1959. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Correspondence of the Chesser and other Okefenokee families with Francis Harper 1931-1941. Georgia Southern University
creatorOf Harper, Francis, 1886-1972. Francis Harper papers, 1902-1968 [manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
creatorOf Papers, 1888-1958, 1904-1958 (bulk) New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf John Bartram diary, 1765-1766, of a journey through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, 1765-1766 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Turner, Lucian McShan. Notes, [ca. 1885] : on the Labrador caribou. American Philosophical Society Library
creatorOf Francis Harper Papers, ., 1902-1968 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
creatorOf Harper, Francis, 1886-1972. [Francis Harper papers] University of Kansas Archives / MSS / Rare Books, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
referencedIn Records, 1930-1962. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Library. Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection. 1668-1983. American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Reminiscences on old naturalists, 1959 American Philosophical Society
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873 person
associatedWith American Committee for International Wild Life Protection. Office of the Secretary. corporateBody
associatedWith Banks, Joseph, Sir, 1743-1820 person
associatedWith Bartram, John, 1699-1777 person
associatedWith Cooper, Thomas, 1759-1839 person
associatedWith Coues, Elliott, 1842-1899 person
associatedWith Cuvier, Georges, Baron, 1769-1832 person
associatedWith Darlington, William, 1782-1863 person
associatedWith Edison, Thomas A., (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931 person
associatedWith Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955 person
associatedWith Everett, Edward, 1794-1865 person
associatedWith Fitch, John person
associatedWith Fowler, Henry Weed, 1878-1965. person
associatedWith Genth, F. A., (Frederick Augustus), 1820-1893 person
associatedWith Gray, Asa, 1810-1888 person
associatedWith Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872 person
associatedWith Harding, Warren G. person
associatedWith Hart, William D. person
associatedWith Newcomb, Simon person
associatedWith Newton, Isaac, Sir, 1642-1727 person
associatedWith Nichols, John Treadwell, 1883-1958. person
associatedWith Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 1779-1851 person
associatedWith Presley, Delma Eugene. person
correspondedWith Provine, William B. person
associatedWith Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796 person
associatedWith Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813 person
associatedWith Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 1793-1864 person
associatedWith Seybert, Adam, 1773-1825 person
associatedWith Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866 person
associatedWith Stevens, Henry person
associatedWith Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872 person
associatedWith Thompson, Maurice, 1844-1901. person
associatedWith Thompson, Will Henry, 1846-1918. person
associatedWith Thomson, Charles, 1729-1824 person
associatedWith Tomkins, Ivan Rexford, 1893-1966. person
associatedWith Turner, Lucian McShan. person
associatedWith Turner, Lucien M. (Lucien McShan) person
associatedWith Waterton, Charles, 1782-1865 person
associatedWith Wayne, Anthony person
associatedWith Wright, Albert Hazen, 1879-1970. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
North Carolina
Florida
Okefenokee Swamp (Ga. and Fla.)
Okefenokee Swamp (Ga. and Fla.)
United States
United States - Social life and customs - To 1775
Georgia
South Carolina
Georgia
Subject
Cope, E. D. , (Edward Drinker), 1840-1897
Exploration and discovery
Natural history
Naturalists
Reptiles
Rhoads, Samuel Nicholson, 1862-1902
Swamps
Zoologists
Occupation
Botanists
Activity

Person

Birth 1886-11-17

Death 1972-11-17

English

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