Robert Wilson Shufeldt Jr. (December 1, 1850January 21, 1934) was an American
osteologist,
myologist,
museologist
Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including Curator, curating, Conservation-restoration of cultural heritage, preservation, ...
and
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
who contributed to comparative studies of
bird anatomy
Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight. Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems cap ...
and
forensic
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...
science.
He held strong views on race and was a proponent of
white supremacy
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
.
[ A scandal and subsequent divorce from his second wife, the granddaughter of the famous ornithologist John James Audubon, led to a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of the United States of America on the subject of alimony and bankruptcy.
]
Life and career
Son of Admiral Robert Wilson Shufeldt and Sarah Shufeldt, he was born in New York in 1850. After a school education in the United States and Havana, he joined as a Captain's clerk
A captain's clerk was a rating, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy and the United States Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records, correspondence, and accounts. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that a purser serve a ...
on the US Gunboat which was under the command of his father. In 1872 he joined Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
to study medicine and obtained a degree in 1876 from Columbian, Washington DC. He joined the Medical Department of the Army
The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD), formerly known as the Army Medical Service (AMS), encompasses the Army's six medical Special Branches (or "Corps"). It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the me ...
as a Lieutenant and was posted to Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...
. He later worked as a surgeon in the campaign against the Sioux Indians. He retired in 1891 from the army as a Captain but was readmitted and posted on duty in the Army Medical Museum as a curator in 1882. He retired on January 9, 1919 as a surgeon.[ From 1884 to 1888 he was stationed at Fort Wingate in New Mexico, collecting in the Zuni Mountains and nearby regions. He was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party and a supporter of ]Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
.
Scientific contributions
Shufeldt's scientific interests began during his years in surgical practice. He had made zoological and botanical collections and had published extensively on osteology.[ He became an honorary curator at 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 ...
in 1882 and held it until 1892.
He published as many as 1,100 notes and books, often on natural history but specializing in anatomy and systematics of birds which included a study of the last passenger pigeon
The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...
.[ He had an interest in fossil birds and contributed to ]Alfred Newton
Alfred Newton FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous publications were a four-volume ''Dictionar ...
's ''A Dictionary of Birds'' (1893–1896). He is credited with coining the word "paleopathology
Paleopathology, also spelled palaeopathology, is the study of ancient diseases and injuries in organisms through the examination of fossils, mummified tissue, skeletal remains, and analysis of coprolites. Specific sources in the study of ancie ...
", the study of diseases and cause of death of decomposed specimens. He also took a great interest in the field of photography, using it to document birds as well as human anatomy. He published a report on taxidermy and a book ''Studies of the human form for artists, sculptors and scientists'' (1908) which included many nude photographs. He was also a collector of skeletons and was known to have dug up the graves of many Indian tribes.
Shufeldt brought the work of Gerhard Heilmann
Gerhard Heilmann (later sometimes spelt "Heilman") (25 June 1859 – 26 March 1946) was a Danish artist and paleontologist who created artistic depictions of ''Archaeopteryx'', '' Proavis'' and other early bird relatives apart from writing the 19 ...
, written in Danish, to the attention of American researchers.
Personal life
Shufeldt married three times, first to Catherine Babcock, then to Florence Audubon (granddaughter of John James Audubon) before marrying Alfhild Dagny Lowum, a Norwegian.[ The first wife Catherine committed suicide in an asylum. His second wife, Florence Audubon, left him after two months of marriage, accusing him of adultery. Florence sought divorce on the grounds that Robert was having an affair with their Norwegian housekeeper, who would later become his third wife. Around this time he published a pamphlet titled ''On Female Impotency'' which included a photograph of a nude woman who he described as a mulatto but likely Ms. Audubon. This paper describing his personal problems, thinly veiled as medical research and meant to blackmail Florence, stated his affiliation to the Smithsonian Institution which outraged the Smithsonian leadership and led to his dismissal in 1897. Shufeldt refused to pay alimony following the divorce and claimed bankruptcy which was taken up in the US Supreme Court ''Audubon v. Shufeldt'', 181 US 575 (1901). He took back many of the specimens that he had collected for the Smithsonian and later deposited them with the New York State Museum. Other organizations like the AOU also attempted to distance themselves due to the potential for scandal and shame.
Shufeldt had two sons from his first wife Catherine. Robert (1877–1892), who was interested in ornithology, died while collecting specimens for Marietta College. Family oral history, however, called this a hazing incident. Percy (1879–1949) briefly attended Marietta College as well, and became a successful harvester and trader of chicle. A daughter, Catherine, died of diphtheria in childhood. A foster daughter was listed in the 1881 census as a nurse.]
Shufeldt died at his home in Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...
, Washington, D.C. on January 21, 1934. He and his wife Alfhild Dagny Lowum (1871–1934) are buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
.Burial Detail: Shufeldt, Robert W (Section 6, Grave 9710)
– ANC Explorer
References
External links
*
at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shufeldt, Robert Wilson
American white supremacists
Osteology
1850 births
1934 deaths
American ornithologists
United States Army Medical Corps officers
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery