William Leon Dawson (1873–1928) was a noted American

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 ...

, author and lecturer.

Early years

William Dawson was born on 20 February 1873 at

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, a small

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

in southern

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

just north of the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

state line. He was the only child of William E. and Ada Eliza Sarah (née Adams) Dawson and would spend his early years living in Iowa,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Dawson received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree from Oberlin Theological Seminary. Like his father, Dawson became a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

minister, but by the early 1900s had chosen instead the field of

ornithology 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 ...

as his full-time profession.

Career

Dawson was a lifelong photographer of birds and had over his career authored numerous articles and books on the subject. His major works were ''Birds of Ohio: A Complete Scientific and Popular Description of the 320 Species of Birds Found in the State'' (1903), ''Birds of Washington: A Complete Scientific and Popular Description of the 372 Species of Birds Found in the State'' (1909) and ''Birds of California: A Complete Scientific and Popular Description of the 580 Species of Birds Found in the State'' (1923). In California, Dawson, a proponent of using bird motifs in art, maintained a studio at Los Colibris in

Mission Canyon Mission Canyon is a census-designated place and an unincorporated suburb of Santa Barbara, California, in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County, United States. The population was 2,381 at the 2010 census, down from 2,610 at the 2 ...

near Santa Barbara where he displayed his extensive

Oology Oology (or oölogy) is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek ''oion'', meaning egg. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometimes called egg c ...

and photographic collection. In 1916 he founded the Museum of Comparative Oology on his Mission Canyon property that soon became 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 ...

. Dawson served as the museum's first director until 1925 when

Ralph Hoffmann Ralph Hoffmann (November 30, 1870 – July 21, 1932) was an American natural history teacher, ornithologist, and botanist. He was the author of the first true bird field guide. Early life Ralph Hoffmann was born on November 30, 1870, at Stockbr ...

, a natural history teacher and amateur ornithologist, was named to replace him. Dawson also founded The Birds of California Publishing Company and was involved with several ornithology and nature conservation clubs. Throughout his career Dawson was active on the national lecture circuit giving talks on the different species of birds, their habitats and the importance of conservation.

Marriage

William Dawson married New York native Frances Etta Ackerman at

Shabbona, Illinois Shabbona () is a village in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 925 at the 2010 census, down from 929 at the 2000 census. History The village takes its name from the Potawatomi chief and peacemaker Shabbona. Chief Shabbona ...

on 1 May 1895. The couple went on to be the parents of two sons and a daughter, William Oberlin, Giles Edwin, and Barbara Dorothy. William studied to be an ornithologist while Giles Dawson went on be curator of books and manuscripts of the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...

Death

William Leon Dawson died at White Cross Hospital in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

on 30 April 1928 after a short bout with influenza that had worsened into pneumonia. At the time of his death he was working on an updated edition of his book ''Birds of Ohio''.Sandusky Register - Friday, January 23, 1931

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, William Leon 1873 births 1928 deaths American ornithologists American ornithological writers American male non-fiction writers Oberlin College alumni People from Leon, Iowa