Cooper Ornithological Society

Organizational History

The Cooper Ornithological Club (COC), the forerunner of the present Cooper Ornithological Society, was formed on June 22, 1893 in San Jose by four active birders and oologists in order to provide a forum in which to study and discuss birds with like-minded, well-informed enthusiasts. In December 1934 the Club became incorporated, and in May 1952, the Club changed its name to the Cooper Ornithological Society, with the principal intent of better conveying the club's academic and scientific orientation. The Society currently numbers over 3000 professional and amateur ornithologists from around the world. The primary goal of the Society, as expressed through its meetings, sponsorship of symposia, and publications, is to advance the scientific study of birds and their habitats, and support their conservation.

The original founding members of the COC included Chester Barlow, Wilford H. Osgood, Harry Painton, and Fred Schneider. The name of the club, as well as that of the present society which bears its name, commemorates an early California naturalist, Dr. James Graham Cooper (1830-1902), whose son, J.S. Cooper, was long active in the affairs of the Society.

The earliest ornithological club in California, similarly named after Cooper, was founded in the winter of 1890-1891 by students at the University of the Pacific in Santa Clara. It lasted only a few years, when many if not most of the early members of the club transferred to the newly instituted Stanford University. While it was resurrected for a short time a few years later, and is important as an early example of organized ornithological research on the West Coast, it achieved nothing close to the academic presence nor level of regional dispersion achieved by the later Cooper Ornithological Club (or the Society which eventually took its name).

The Southern Division of the Club arose from independent origins in 1893 when several bird collectors organized to form the Southern California Natural History Society. As its member list, meetings, and activities increasingly overlapped with the local COC chapter in Santa Clara, however, the SCNHS title soon fell by the wayside. Although each division had regular meetings and field trip schedules, the first joint annual meeting of the two divisions of the COC occurred in Los Angeles in 1926.

Although its commitment to filling its principal goals has never wavered, the Society has undergone numerous structural organizational changes during the course of its existence, reflecting both its natural growth as a professional organization, as well as the shifting interests and aspirations of both the organization and its members. Certain events have precipitated both technical and procedural adjustments, the incorporation of the COC in 1934 being one obvious example of such an occurrence. In 1976 the Northern and Southern Divisions were abolished as such, signaling a less provincial mindset on part of the Society and reflecting the increasingly international scope of membership.

The present leadership is composed of a nine-member Board of Directors; nine officers, including two positions held by editors of the Society's two major publications; and nearly twenty standing and ad-hoc committees. There are also a number of representatives to various councils and societies.

Progressive research and widespread ornithological awareness and appreciation have always been at the heart of the Society's mission, and the numerous publications it has produced over the course of its existence have been integral to helping achieve those objectives. COC member and future Club president Harry R. Taylor's independent monthly journal, The Nidiologist (later called The Nidologist), served as the closest thing to an official Club publication for the first four years of the Club's existence. The Nidologist halted publication in 1897 and the new unofficial outlet became The Osprey, a monthly journal co-founded by Chester Barlow, who had played a key role in stimulating the formation of the Club, as well as assisting in the formulation of its earliest aims and tenets. In 1898 the club decided to publish an official journal. The first issue was published in 1899 as the Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club, and was edited primarily by Barlow. In 1900 the name of the journal was changed to The Condor. The journal, which is currently one of the premier ornithological publications in the world, has been published continuously for over a century.

At the same time The Condor was becoming established around the turn of the 20th century, the COC also recognized the need for a forum that would be more amenable to longer submissions beyond the scope of The Condor. A new series was begun, titled Pacific Coast Avifauna, to allow for these more extensive offerings. The series was published continuously until 1974, and continued in 1978 under the new title Studies in Avian Biology, whose present scope includes both monographs and proceedings of symposia of general interest to ornithologists.

From the handful of founding members present at the first organizational meetings of the Cooper Ornithological Club in 1893, and those at the first organizational meetings of the Southern California Natural History Society (forerunner to the Southern Division of the COC) held that same year, the Cooper Ornithological Society has grown from a small group of naturalists and amateur enthusiasts into an international community of scholars, scientists, and amateur enthusiasts. Preserving the rich history evidenced by the records in this collection is of vital importance to present as well as future generations of ornithologists and historians of science.

Chronology

• 1890: Unaffiliated forerunner to the Cooper Ornithological Club, also named after James Cooper, is founded at the College of the Pacific in Santa Clara, California.
• 1893: Cooper Ornithological Club is founded on June 22 in San Jose, California. Future Southern Division of the COC is founded separately in Los Angeles, as the Southern California Natural History Society.
• 1894: Cooper member H.R. Taylor publishes The Nidiologist (later renamed The Nidologist), the first unofficial publication dedicated to providing coverage of the COC. Southern California Natural History Society merges with the Santa Clara COC chapter, giving rise to the Southern Division of the COC.
• 1895: First annual COC outing is held in Arroyo Seco, California.
• 1896: First formal mention of Northern and Southern Divisions occurs in The Nidologist.
• 1897: The Nidologist ceases to publish. A column edited by COC member Donald Cohen appearing in the unaffiliated journal The Osprey becomes the new mouthpiece of the Club.
• 1899: Club begins to publish Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club.
• 1900: Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club changes name to The Condor. Club begins to publish Pacific Coast Avifauna, a series intended to provide a forum for longer submissions, as well as transcripts of symposia proceedings.
• 1921: Board of Governors is formed.
• 1926: First annual meeting of entire COC (North and South) is held in Los Angeles.
• 1934: Cooper Ornithological Club becomes incorporated.
• 1952: Name of the organization is changed at the annual business meeting to Cooper Ornithological Society.
• 1965: Editorial office of The Condor leaves California for Lawrence, Kansas.
• 1970: Cooper Ornithological Society and Wilson Ornithological Society hold first joint annual meeting.
• 1974: Pacific Coast Avifauna halts publication.
• 1976: Northern and Southern Divisions are abolished.
• 1978: Series in Avian Biology, a new COS publication, assumes the role previously held by Pacific Coast Avifauna.

From the guide to the Cooper Ornithological Society records, 1874-1994, (The Bancroft Library)