William Brewster (ornithologist)

William Brewster (July 5, 1851 – July 11, 1919) was an American ornithologist, naturalist, and conservationist. He worked as a curator at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, co-founded the American Ornithologists' Union and the Nuttall Ornithological Club, and served as the first president of Mass Audubon.

Early life and education

Childhood

William Brewster was born on July 5, 1851, in South Reading (now Wakefield), Massachusetts, the youngest of four children born to John Brewster, a successful Boston banker, and Rebecca Parker (Noyes). The couple settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1845. Brewster's sister and older brothers died in early childhood, inspiring Longfellow, a close neighbor, to write the poem The Open Window.

Brewster attended Cambridge public schools, Washington Grammar School and Cambridge High School, taking a preparatory course to enter Harvard. He suffered eyesight problems as a youth and into adulthood. He was often unable to read or study, sometimes for extended periods. During his last year of high school, he was unable to read so his mother read his lessons to him. His parents and doctors deemed him too frail and nearsighted to attend Harvard.

Early bird study

At about the age of 10, Brewster became close friends with a boy his age, Daniel Chester French. French's father was a hunter and amateur taxidermist who displayed his skill in cases in his home. where he served until his death, though after 1900 he cared for birds alone, and he left his position at the Boston Society of Natural History in 1887. He also devoted substantial time to his own private museum of ornithology

He spent much time on expeditions and from 1873 to 1898 he did so while suffering from bouts of lameness and debilitating pain in his legs. In 1898, lameness confined him to his hotel room in the Netherlands for two weeks. He was successfully treated by John Gehring, MD in Bethel Maine, who analyzed his problem as psychogenic and treated him with hypnotic suggestion. This allowed Brewster to hike 2–6 miles per day in his ornithological work. As he wrote to Gehring, "My legs, for the first time in twenty years, feel exactly alike. I did run and jump and try in every way to see if I could not reveal some lingering weakness but without doing so"

Brewster was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1876 became president of the Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge, He was a co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) in 1883 and served as its president from 1895 to 1898.

Published works

Brewster published over 300 articles and is available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

William Brewster Memorial Award

In honor of Brewster, the American Ornithological Society awards the William Brewster Memorial Award to the author or co-authors (not previously so honored) "of the most meritorious body of work (book, monograph, or series of related papers) on birds of the Western Hemisphere published during the past ten years." The award, consisting of a medal and honorarium, was given every other year from 1921 through 1937 and then annually.

References