Van Riper, Walker

Variant names
Dates:
Active 1887
Active 1960

Biographical notes:

Walker Van Riper (1887-1960) was born in Sedalia, Missouri on March 9, 1887. After receiving an A.B. at Yale University in 1909, he was Secretary at the American Trust Company, St. Louis, Missouri 1909-1912, and received a B.L. from St. Louis University in 1912. He went west in 1912 for health reasons and taught Banking and Investments at Colorado College from 1914-1915, and Investment Banking in Denver from 1915-1925. From 1926 until his retirement in 1943, he was an Investment Analyst at Colorado National Bank in Denver. Mr. Van Riper was a very keenly interested naturalist. Following his retirement, he became the Curator of Spiders and Insects at the Denver Museum of Natural History with a salary of $1.00 per year. This collection of his papers relates only to his interests as a naturalist. He was particularly interested in the photography of natural subjects. He specialized in the photography of rattlesnakes, hummingbirds and spiders and wrote accompanying texts. From a technical photographic standpoint, he was involved in the early use of the high-speed electronic flash, or strobe light, invented by Harold E. Edgerton of M.I.T., whom he knew and with whom he did photographic work on the hummingbird.

From the description of Walker Van Riper collection, 1887-1960. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 773610840

Links to collections

Comparison

This is only a preview comparison of Constellations. It will only exist until this window is closed.

  • Added or updated
  • Deleted or outdated

Information

Permalink:
SNAC ID:

Subjects:

  • Black widow spider
  • Hummingbirds
  • Natural history museum curators
  • Naturalists
  • Photography of insects
  • Photography of reptiles
  • Rattlesnake

Occupations:

not available for this record

Places:

  • Colorado (as recorded)