Ralph Hoffmann (November 30, 1870 – July 21, 1932) was an American
natural history teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, and
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
. He was the author of the first true
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...
.
Early life
Ralph Hoffmann was born on November 30, 1870, at
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...
, the second of five children raised by Ferdinand and Caroline Hoffmann. Ferdinand Hoffmann (1827–1906) was born in Germany, the son of a surgeon who had served in
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's army.
[Boston Evening Transcript - Google News Archive - Jul 30, 1906] He came to America in the late 1840s where, with the assistance of educator Jared Reid, he founded the ''Berkshire Family School for Boys'' (also known as the Edward Place School for Boys) in 1855. Jared Reid is additionally known for being the father of painter
Robert Reid.
In 1868, three years after the death of his first wife, Elizabeth J. Hoffmann, Ferdinand married Caroline Bullard (1846–1908), the daughter of a Massachusetts' clergyman. Ralph Hoffmann would go on to attend
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and graduate with the class of 1890.
Career
Hoffmann began teaching at
Buckingham Browne and Nichols
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten (called Beginners) through twelfth grade. BB&N is regularly ranked am ...
in 1891. A few years later he helped to establish the Alstead School of Natural History in
Alstead, New Hampshire
Alstead () is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,864 at the 2020 census. Alstead is home to Feuer State Forest.
History
The town was chartered by Massachusetts Governor Jonathan Belcher in 1735 as one ...
where for a time he would spend his summer breaks from BB&N teaching. In 1910 he was chosen to be the first head of the
Country Day School
The Country Day School movement is a movement in progressive education that originated in the United States during the late 19th century. Country Day Schools sought to recreate the educational rigor, atmosphere, camaraderie and character-building ...
in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
. Nine years later he relocated to
Santa Barbara to teach natural history at the
Cate School for Boys. There he became a mentor to the American botanist
G. Ledyard Stebbins
George Ledyard Stebbins Jr. (January 6, 1906 – January 19, 2000) was an American botanist and geneticist who is widely regarded as one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th century. Stebbins received his Ph.D. in botany from Har ...
. In 1925 Hoffmann was named to succeed
William Leon Dawson as director of the
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Santa Barbara, California.
It reconnects more than 150,000 people each year (including their 5,700 members) to nature indoors and outdoors. Nestled in nature, the museum ...
.
In 1901 Hoffmann published with
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America), and one of ...
''Bird Portraits'' and in 1904 released ''A Guide to the Birds of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and Eastern New York'', a work that focused on field marks, behavior, habitat, call notes and songs in order to facilitate bird identification in the field. In 1922 he published a monograph on the flora of
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in ...
, and in 1927 ''Birds of the Pacific States''.
Marriage
On June 23, 1894, Hoffmann married at
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
,
Eliza Gertrude Wesselhoeft, the daughter of a prominent German-American doctor. Over the following ten years the couple became the parents of two daughters and a son. After her husband's death in 1932, Gertrude turned to acting and began what would become a 30-year career as a
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
.
Death
On July 21, 1932, Hoffmann joined a group of scientists on an expedition to
California's Channel Islands to explore
San Miguel Island
San Miguel Island (Chumash: ''Tuqan'') is the westernmost of California's Channel Islands, located across the Santa Barbara Channel in the Pacific Ocean, within Santa Barbara County, California. San Miguel is the sixth-largest of the eight Cha ...
for fossil remains of the prehistoric
pygmy mammoth
The pygmy mammoth or Channel Islands mammoth (''Mammuthus exilis'') is an extinct species of dwarf elephant descended from the Columbian mammoth (''M. columbi'') of mainland North America. This species became extinct during the Quaternary extin ...
. Later in the day he separated from his party to search for specimens of a rare flower on the island's rocky cliffs. After he failed to return the group searched the foggy island for some eight hours before finding his body at the base of a steep cliff. The handle on his climbing trowel had broken, apparently causing his fatal fall.
[The Nevada State Journal – July 23, 1932]
References
;Notes
;Sources
Hoffmann Bird Club: Ralph Hoffmann* van de Hoek, Robert Jan 'Roy'. (2005). Biographical Note about Ralph Hoffman
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Ralph
1870 births
1932 deaths
American ornithologists
American ornithological writers
American male non-fiction writers
American botanical writers
American people of German descent
Harvard University alumni
Accidental deaths from falls