Frederick William True (July 8, 1858 – June 25, 1914) was an American biologist, the first head curator of biology (1897–1911) at the

United States National Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, now part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Biography

He was born in Middletown,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

in 1858. He received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

from the University of New York in 1878, when he entered the U.S. government service. He was expert special agent on fisheries for the 10th census, 1879. In 1881, True started working for the U.S. National Museum as a clerk. That year he became librarian and acting curator of mammals, which positions he filled until 1883. True was curator of mammals at the U.S. National Museum (1883-1909), curator of comparative anatomy (1885-1890), executive curator (1894-1897), head curator of biology (1897-1911) and assistant secretary in charge of the library and international exchange service (1911-1914). He was appointed to the board of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

on March 2, 1900. ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge, Volumes 39-40'', American Philosophical Society, The Society, 1900. He started his career studying

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, but his poor eyesight obligated him to give up studies with the microscope, and he turned to studies of cetaceans and their relatives.

True's beaked whale True's beaked whale (''Mesoplodon mirus'') is a medium-sized whale in the genus ''Mesoplodon''. It is native to the northern Atlantic Ocean. The common name is in reference to Frederick W. True, a curator at the United States National Museum (no ...

, True's vole and

True's shrew mole True's shrew mole (''Dymecodon pilirostris'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan (Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu) and is a common species above 1000 meters in grassland, shrubland and forest. Sometimes this speci ...

were named by him, and have vernacular names in his honor.

Works

* "Note on the occurrence of an armadillo of the genus Xenurus in Honduras" * ''Review of the Family of

Delphinidae Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as the ...

'' * ''Whalebone Whales of the Western North Atlantic'' (1904) * ''Observations on Living White Whales'' (1911)

Family

He married Louis Elvina Prentiss in 1887, and at his death two of their children were living. He was the son of Methodist clergyman and writer Charles Kittredge True. His brother Alfred Charles True was a noted agricultural educationist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:True, Frederick William American curators New York University alumni 1858 births 1914 deaths American biologists