Background
Alton Anthony Lindsey was born on May 7, 1907, in Monaca, Pennsylvania, United States. He was a son of Earl Creal Lindsey, a Methodist minister, and Lois (Whitmarsh) Lindsey.
520 N Main St, Meadville, PA 16335, United States
In 1929, Alton received a Bachelor of Science degree from Allegheny College.
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
In 1937, Lindsey received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology from Cornell University.
(These separate essays view Audubon as an ornithologist, a...)
These separate essays view Audubon as an ornithologist, a woodsman, a writer, a storyteller, a person more fascinating, than any of his achievements, and an artistic entrepreneur, who made his dream come true.
https://www.amazon.com/Bicentennial-John-James-Audubon/dp/0253106508/?tag=2022091-20
1985
conservationist ecologist educator scientist author
Alton Anthony Lindsey was born on May 7, 1907, in Monaca, Pennsylvania, United States. He was a son of Earl Creal Lindsey, a Methodist minister, and Lois (Whitmarsh) Lindsey.
Alton spent much of his boyhood, devoted to nature study in the mountains and along the streams of Western Pennsylvania, in Boy Scout activities and learning to be a skilled taxidermist.
In 1925, Alton finished the Allegheny High School in Pittsburgh. In 1929, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Allegheny College. At the time Alton studied at the college, he met Paul Siple, the scientist, who subsequently developed the well-known Wind Chill Index. Siple and Lindsey were lifelong friends. Both of them were Eagle Scouts.
Then, Alton went on to study at Cornell University. However, he had to interrupt his education to serve as the vertebrate biologist from 1933 to 1935 on Byrd's second trip to the Antarctic. While Byrd and others traveled into the interior toward the South Pole, he stayed on the coast to study penguins, seals and other animals. Later, Alton returned to Cornell University, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biology in 1937. Arthur Eames and A. A. Allen were his mentors at the university.
In 1988, Alton received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Allegheny College. In 1995, he received the same degree from Purdue University.
During his lifetime, Alton participated in several research expeditions, including the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, held from 1933 to 1935, and the Purdue Research Team expedition to the Sonoran Desert in 1951. Alton studied penguins and seals in the Antarctic, permafrost in the Arctic and an enormous lava bed in New Mexico, that became the 114,000-acre El Malpais National Monument. Alton also studied starlings, volcanic vegetation, ducks and the sand dunes of the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan, which became the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (now known as Indiana Dunes National Park) partly as a result of his labors.
Upon his graduation from Cornell University, Alton took a teaching job at the American University in Washington, where he taught from 1937 till 1940. Between 1940 and 1942, Lindsey worked as a teacher at the University of Redlands in California. In 1942, he was appointed to the same post at the University of New Mexico and remained there till 1947, when he moved to Purdue University as a Professor of Forest Ecology. Alton continued working at the educational establishment till his retirement in 1973.
In addition, Alton was a charter member of the Nature Conservancy and its Indiana chapter. He also established the Pine Hills Nature Preserve and the Big Walnut Natural Area in Indiana.
It's also worth noting, that, throughout his career, Lindsey penned 10 books, 15 magazine articles and 70 technical papers, and served as an editor of numerous magazines and journals.
(These separate essays view Audubon as an ornithologist, a...)
1985Lindsey's somewhat stern demeanor sometimes belied his wholesome sense of humor and his love of clever expression. He had a whimsical side, that only those closest to him knew and understood. Puns, witticisms, epigrams, rhymes, poetry and prose flowed from his well-stocked mind like a spring freshet, when he was in a jovial, even playful mood. Alton particularly loved word reversals.
During his lifetime, Alton eschewed such modern devices, as word processors and computers, even typewriters, for his own personal use. Typically, Alton would handwrite his manuscripts (usually with a stubby little pencil), then have the office staff type his draft copy.
Linsey studied wildlife, sometimes capturing live birds to examine. When a family cat ate one, the cat disappeared, although his nephew, Ralph Levering, a historian, who told the family story, didn't remember being told exactly how.
Alton married Elizabeth (Smith) Lindsey on June 2, 1939. Their marriage produced two children - David Earl and Louise Whitmarsh.