Charles Frederick Holder (1851–1915) was an American naturalist, conservationist, and writer who produced over 40 books and thousands of articles. Known as a pioneer of

big-game fishing Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually done on a large body of water such as the ocean. History Big-game fishing st ...

, he founded and led the Tuna Club of Avalon, credited as the first game fishing organization. He was socially active in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, where he was a trustee of Throop College and co-founder of the Tournament of Roses.

Biography

Holder came from a wealthy Massachusetts

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family. His father was the zoologist

Joseph Bassett Holder Joseph Bassett Holder (1824–1888) was an American zoologist and physician. Holder was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, October 26, 1824 to parents Aaron L. and Rachel Bassett Holder. His mother was a Quaker minister. Holder studied at the Friends' ...

(1824–1888) and his mother Emoia Violet Jones. He attended the Friends' school in Providence, Rhode Island, and Allen's preparatory school at West Newton, Massachusetts, as well as from private tutors. In 1869, he attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis but he did not continue in the Navy after graduation. After working as a curator at New York's

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, he moved to

in 1885. A passionate naturalist throughout his life, he was known for his books on marine zoology and the first books on big-game fishing, a sport Holder pioneered in 1869. His books are noted for their combination of accurate scientific detail with exciting narratives.Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
(2005) From 1890 to 1892, Holder was a President of the Tournament of Roses Association, and for 1910 he was named the tournament grand marshal. He became known in Pasadena as a businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist/sportsman. In 1898, he founded the Tuna Club of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island, as an international organization that called for proper management of all game fish.The History of The Tuna Club of Avalon
International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame
In 1910, he traveled with Frederick Russell Burnham to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and uncovered Mayan artifacts, including the ''

Esperanza Stone The Esperanza Stone was a large (8-feet long) inscribed stone found in the valley of the Yaqui, Mexico. It was discovered and excavated in 1909 by Major F. R. Burnham and Charles Frederick Holder. Discovery The stone was discovered during a ...

'', a supposedly paranormal relic described in ''

The Book of the Damned ''The Book of the Damned'' was the first published nonfiction work by American author Charles Fort (first edition 1919). Concerning various types of anomalous phenomena including UFOs, strange falls of both organic and inorganic materials fro ...

''. Holder died in Pasadena as a result of an automobile accident caused by him being under illegal substances and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

.Pasadena Museum of History
/ref> In 1998, he was inducted in the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

*''Elements of zoology'', (1885) *
The Ivory King: A Popular History of the Elephant and Its Allies
' (1886) *''Living Lights: A Popular Account of Phosphorescent Animals and Vegetables'', (1887) *''Southern California : its climate, trails, mountains, canyons, watering places, fruits, flowers and game, a guide-book'', (1888)
''All about Pasadena and its vicinity; its climate, missions, trails and cañons, fruits, flowers and game''
(1889)
''Charles Darwin; His Life and Work''
(1891)
''Along the Florida Reef''
(1892)
''Louis Agassiz; His Life and Work''
(1893) *''Chinese Slavery in America'', (1897) *''An isle of summer, Santa Catalina; its history, climate, sports and antiquities'', (1901) *''The big game fishes of the United States'', (1903), part of The

American Sportsman's Library The ''American Sportsman's Library'' is a series of 16 uniformly-bound volumes on sporting subjects, from an American perspective, published by the Macmillan Company (see Macmillan Publishers) in the period 1902-1905. Caspar Whitney, the owner/ed ...

''The Log of a Sea Angler''
(1906)
''Life in the open; sport with rod, gun, horse, and hound in southern California''
(1906) — Holder's account of hunting and fishing in the counties of Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego. The topics include horseback hunts for lynx, fox, and wolves; fishing for trout in the Sierra Madres and for game fish off Catalina; pursuit of shore birds and water fowl; mountain lions and mountain goats; and photographic hunts for sea lions. Throughout, Holder argues for the sportsman's role in conservation. *''Sport fishing in California and Florida'', (1908). Bulletin of the Bureau of fisheries, volume XXVIII. Proceedings of the Fourth

International fishery congress The International Fishery Congress was a series of conferences before World War I at which representatives of countries involved in the fishing industry exchanged views. Precursors At the International Fisheries Exhibition in London in May 1883 it ...

, Washington. *''Pasadena, the crown of the valley'', (1909) *''Fish stories alleged and experienced, with a little history natural and unnatural'' (1909) (with

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

) *''Recreations of a sportsman on the Pacific coast'', (1910) *''The Channel islands of California; a book for the angler, sportsman, and tourist'', (1910) *''A method of studying the life history of fishes'', (1910) *''A method of transporting live fishes'', (1910) *''The Esperanza Stone'' (1910)

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

, pp. 196. ISSN 0036-8733.
''Salt Water Game Fishing''
(1914) * Biography of Frederick Russell Burnham (unpublished manuscript, 1915)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holder, Charles Frederick 1851 births 1915 deaths American fishers American science writers Angling writers Charles Darwin biographers People associated with the American Museum of Natural History People from Avalon, California People from Lynn, Massachusetts People from Pasadena, California road incident deaths in California

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links