Harris Hawthorne Wilder (April 7, 1864 – February 27, 1928) was an American zoologist and anatomist. He was professor of zoology at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in Massachusetts, where for 36 years until his death. He was the first American to study dermatoglyphics, the study of skin ridges and fingerprints, and this along with his studies of facial reconstruction placed him among the pioneers of fingerprint analysis and forensic sciences. Hawthorne was born in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, the only child of parents Solon and Sarah Watkins Wilder (''née'' Smith). His father was a musical director, and his mother the daughter of a physician. He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in Massachusetts, graduating with an A.B. in 1886. He then taught high school biology in Chicago for three years before attending the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

in Germany. He studied under anatomist

Robert Wiedersheim Robert Ernst Eduard Wiedersheim (21 April 1848 in Nürtingen – 12 July 1923 in Schachen (Lindau)) was a German anatomist who is famous for publishing a list of 86 "vestigial organs" in his book ''The Structure of Man: An Index to His Past Histor ...

, and earned a Ph.D. in 1891. He joined the Smith College faculty in 1892, where he spent the remainder of his career. On July 26, 1906, he married Inez L. Whipple, a Smith College instructor and former research assistant. Wilder's published work include seven books and 39 journal articles. He was a member of the American Society of Naturalists,

American Society of Zoologists The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology is organized to integrate the many fields of specialization which occur in the broad field of biology.. The society was formed in 1902 as the American Society of Zoologists, through the merger of ...

, Association of American Anatomists,

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, International Association for Identification, and the

Boston Society of Natural History The Boston Society of Natural History (1830–1948) in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the s ...

References

External links

*
Harris Hawthorne Wilder Papers
at

Smith College Archives Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college with coed graduate and certificate programs, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. The Smith College Archives document the life of the College by collecting mat ...

, Smith College Special Collections *Department of Biological Sciences records
H.H. Wilder Collection
at

, Smith College Special Collections * 1864 births 1928 deaths 20th-century American zoologists People from Bangor, Maine Amherst College alumni University of Freiburg alumni Smith College faculty {{US-zoologist-stub