Henry Henshaw

March 3, 1850 (age 80)

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

As a boy Henry Henshaw had been interested in the varied wild life of the woods and marshes about his home but he soon developed a preference for birds, and the enthusiastic study of ornithology, largely in the field, occupied much of his time for many years. In 1872 he was attached as a naturalist to the Wheeler Survey, which was engaged in general explorations west of the one-hundredth meridian. Annual field trips in this connection to various parts of the West, and the preparation of reports in Washington, kept him busy until the Survey was terminated in 1879. He made notable collections of birds, and his interest extended also to several other branches of natural history - mammals, fishes, reptiles, insects, and even plants. In 1885 his collection of birds and eggs was acquired by the British Museum. After the conclusion of the Wheeler Survey, since no opening in ornithological work was then available, he joined the staff of the Bureau of Ethnology. Because of administrative duties his ornithological studies were largely discontinued for some years. Henshaw was editor of the American Anthropologist from 1889 to 1893. In the latter year, owing to ill health, he was compelled to ask for an indefinite leave of absence. He went in December 1894 to the Hawaiian Islands, where he remained about ten years, studying the birds and natural history in general and devoting much time to outdoor photography with notable success. Finding himself once more in condition for serious work, he returned in 1904 to the United States, and in 1905 was appointed administrative assistant in the Bureau of Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, becoming assistant chief in December of the same year. As his administrative duties were heavy, he again found little time for collecting and observing bird life in the field. While in Hawaii he had taken up the use of the microscope in the examination of land shells, and after returning to Washington derived much pleasure in noting under a high-power lens the surpassing beauty and infinite variety of form presented by diatoms. In 1910 he became chief of the Biological Survey. The work of the Bureau developed rapidly along diversified lines, with direct bearing upon wild-life administration, and with the increasing responsibilities of his position his health again began to suffer and he resigned on December 1, 1916. He never entirely recovered his full powers, and thereafter did comparatively little active work. He died at Washington.

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Report Upon the Ornithological Collections Made in Portions of Nevade, Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, During the Years 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ... Office, Washington, 1883, pages 117-166

(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

The Book Of Birds: Common Birds Of Town And Country And American Game Birds

(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Who Are the American Indians?

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Perforated Stones from California

(This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

Birds Of The Hawaiian Islands: Being A Complete List Of The Birds Of The Hawaiian Possessions, With Notes On Their Habits

(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Henry Wetherbee Henshaw Edit Profile

ethnologist naturalist ornithologist

Background

Henry Henshaw was born on March 3, 1850, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, the youngest of the seven children of William and Sarah Holden (Wetherbee) Henshaw.

Education

Henry Henshaw was educated in the Cambridge public schools and planned to go to Harvard, but in 1869, shortly before he was to take the entrance examination, his health gave way, and, although it was restored by a winter in Louisiana, his plans for a college course were abandoned. His subsequent training as a naturalist comprised chiefly outdoor study.

Career

As a boy Henry Henshaw had been interested in the varied wild life of the woods and marshes about his home but he soon developed a preference for birds, and the enthusiastic study of ornithology, largely in the field, occupied much of his time for many years. In 1872 he was attached as a naturalist to the Wheeler Survey, which was engaged in general explorations west of the one-hundredth meridian. Annual field trips in this connection to various parts of the West, and the preparation of reports in Washington, kept him busy until the Survey was terminated in 1879. He made notable collections of birds, and his interest extended also to several other branches of natural history - mammals, fishes, reptiles, insects, and even plants. In 1885 his collection of birds and eggs was acquired by the British Museum. After the conclusion of the Wheeler Survey, since no opening in ornithological work was then available, he joined the staff of the Bureau of Ethnology. Because of administrative duties his ornithological studies were largely discontinued for some years.

Henshaw was editor of the American Anthropologist from 1889 to 1893. In the latter year, owing to ill health, he was compelled to ask for an indefinite leave of absence. He went in December 1894 to the Hawaiian Islands, where he remained about ten years, studying the birds and natural history in general and devoting much time to outdoor photography with notable success. Finding himself once more in condition for serious work, he returned in 1904 to the United States, and in 1905 was appointed administrative assistant in the Bureau of Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, becoming assistant chief in December of the same year. As his administrative duties were heavy, he again found little time for collecting and observing bird life in the field.

While in Hawaii he had taken up the use of the microscope in the examination of land shells, and after returning to Washington derived much pleasure in noting under a high-power lens the surpassing beauty and infinite variety of form presented by diatoms. In 1910 he became chief of the Biological Survey. The work of the Bureau developed rapidly along diversified lines, with direct bearing upon wild-life administration, and with the increasing responsibilities of his position his health again began to suffer and he resigned on December 1, 1916. He never entirely recovered his full powers, and thereafter did comparatively little active work. He died at Washington.

Achievements

Henry Henshaw was famous through his Report on the Ornithology of Nevada, Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (1875). His numerous researches in the sphere of ornithology and ethnology were compiled and published as books, most important of which include: Birds of the Hawaiian Islands (1902); Birds of Town and Country (1914); American Game Birds (1915); Friends of our Forests, the Warblers (1917), and others. Henshaw also contributed many articles to the Handbook of American Indians (2 vols. , 1907, 1910). The most notable contribution of his later years was his autobiography, which was published in several numbers of the Condor, an ornithological journal, during 1919 and 1920.