Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist,

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 ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish ( Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish ( Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of O ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

, and museum

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. Baird was the first curator to be named 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". Found ...

. He eventually served as assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian from 1850 to 1878, and as Secretary from 1878 until 1887. He was dedicated to expanding the natural history collections of the Smithsonian which he increased from 6,000 specimens in 1850 to over 2 million by the time of his death. He published over 1,000 works during his lifetime.

Early life and education

Spencer Fullerton Baird was born in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

in 1823. His mother was a member of the prominent Philadelphia

Biddle family The Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an Old Philadelphian family descended from English immigrants William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), who arrived in the Province of New Jersey in 1681. Quakers, they had emi ...

; he was a nephew of Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate Charles B. Penrose and a first cousin, once removed, of U.S. Senator

Boies Penrose Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After serving in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, he represented Pennsylvania in the Un ...

and his distinguished brothers,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

, Spencer, and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. He became a self-trained naturalist as a young man, learning about the field from his brother, William, who was a birder, and the likes of

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictori ...

, who instructed Baird on how to draw scientific illustrations of birds. His father was also a big influence on Baird's interest in nature, taking Baird on walks and gardening with him. He died of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

when Baird was ten years old. As a young boy he attended Nottingham Academy in

Port Deposit, Maryland Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located ...

and public school in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 20,118; ...

. Baird attended

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = Jo ...

and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, finishing the former in 1840. After graduation he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with an interest in studying

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

at the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

. He returned to Carlisle two years later. He taught natural history at Dickinson starting in 1845. While at Dickinson, he did research, participated in collecting trips, did specimen exchanges with other naturalists, and traveled frequently. He married Mary Helen Churchill in 1846. In 1848, their daughter, Lucy Hunter Baird, was born. He was awarded a grant, in 1848, from the

to explore bone caves and the natural history of

southeastern Pennsylvania The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

. In 1849 he was given $75 by the Smithsonian Institution to collect, pack and transport specimens for them. It was during this time that he met Smithsonian Secretary

Joseph Henry Joseph Henry (December 17, 1797– May 13, 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smit ...

. The two became close friends and colleagues. Throughout the 1840s Baird traveled extensively throughout the northeastern and central United States. Often traveling by foot, Baird hiked more than 2,100 miles in 1842 alone.

Professional career

Starting at the Smithsonian

In 1850, Baird became the first curator at the

and the Permanent Secretary for the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, the latter which he served for three years. Upon his arrival in Washington, he brought two railroad box cars worth of his personal collection. Baird created a museum program for the Smithsonian, requesting that the organization focus on natural history in the United States. His program also allowed him to create a network of collectors through an exchange system. He asked that members of the Army and Navy collect rare animals and plant specimens from west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. In order to balance the collection, Baird sent duplicate specimens to other museums around the country, often exchanging the duplicates for specimens the Smithsonian needed. During the 1850s he described over 50

new species A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalia ...

s, some by himself, and others with his student

Charles Frédéric Girard Charles Frédéric Girard (8 March 1822 – 29 January 1895) was a French biologist specializing in ichthyology and herpetology. Born in Mulhouse, France, he studied at the College of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, as a student of Louis Agassiz. ...

. Their 1853 catalog of the Smithsonian's snake collection is a benchmark work in North American herpetology. Baird also was a mentor to herpetologist

Robert Kennicott Robert Kennicott (November 13, 1835 – May 13, 1866) was an American naturalist and herpetologist. Chronic illness kept Kennicott out of school as a child. Instead, Kennicott spent most of his time outdoors, collecting plants and animals. H ...

who died prematurely, at which point Baird left the field of herpetology to focus on larger projects. Eventually, he became the Assistant Secretary, serving under

. As assistant, Baird helped develop a publication and journal exchange, that provided scientists around the world with publications they would have a hard time accessing. He supported the work of

William Stimpson William Stimpson (February 14, 1832 – May 26, 1872) was a noted American scientist. He was interested particularly in marine biology. Stimpson became an important early contributor to the work of the Smithsonian Institution and later, dir ...

, Henry Ulke and Henry Bryant. Between his start as Assistant Secretary and 1855, he worked with Joseph Henry to provide scientific equipment and needs to the

United States and Mexican Boundary Survey The United States and Mexican Boundary Survey (1848–1855) determined the border between the United States and Mexico as defined in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which had ended the Mexican–American War. The results of the survey were publi ...

. In 1855, he was elected to 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 ...

. He received his Ph.D. in

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phys ...

in 1856 from Dickinson College. In 1857 and 1852 he acquired the collection of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science. However, the objects did not join the permanent collection of the Smithsonian until 1858. Baird attended the funeral of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

in 1865, alongside Joseph Henry. In 1870, Baird was vacationing in

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 ...

, where he developed an interest in maritime research. He went on to lead expeditions in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and

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 ...

United States Fish Commission and United States National Museum

On February 25, 1871,

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

appointed Baird as the first Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for the

United States Fish Commission The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...

. He served in this position until his death. With Baird as Commissioner, the commission sought opportunities to restock rivers with

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

and lakes with other food fish and the depletion of food fish in coastal waters. Baird reported that humans were the reason for the decline of food fish in these coastal areas. Individuals with access to shoreline property used weirs, or nets, to capture large amounts of fish on the coast, which threatened the supply of fish on the coast. Baird used the U.S. Fish Commission to limit human impact through a compromise by prohibiting the capture of fish in traps from 6pm on Fridays until 6pm on Mondays. The ''

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pac ...

'' research vessel was launched during his tenure, in 1882. He was highly active in developing fishing and

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

policies for the United States, and was instrumental in making

Woods Hole Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

the research venue it is today. Baird became the manager of 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 ...

in 1872. Baird told

George Perkins Marsh George Perkins Marsh (March 15, 1801July 23, 1882), an American diplomat and philologist, is considered by some to be America's first environmentalist and by recognizing the irreversible impact of man's actions on the earth, a precursor to the ...

that he sought to be the director of the National Museum and that he had intentions to expand on the collections within the museum en masse. He was the primary writer of ''A History of North American Birds,'' which was published in 1874 and continues to be an important publication in

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 t ...

today. He created all of the United States federal exhibits in the

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

, many of which won awards. When the exposition ended, Baird was successful in persuading other exhibitors to contribute the objects from their exhibits to the Smithsonian. In total, Baird left with sixty-two

boxcar A boxcar is the North American (AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most ...

s filled with 4,000 cartons of objects. Owing to the large number of objects collected, in 1879,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

approved construction for the first National Museum building, which is now the

Arts and Industries Building The Arts and Industries Building is the second oldest (after The Castle) of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Initially named the National Museum, it was built to provide the Smithsonian with its first proper faci ...

Second Secretary at the Smithsonian

died on May 13, 1878 and on May 17, Baird became the second Secretary of the Smithsonian. Baird was allowed to live, rent free, in the Smithsonian Institution Building, but declined and had the east wing converted into workspace. He also had

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

s installed throughout the building. That year, he was made a member of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

by the King of Sweden. In 1880 Baird was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

He oversaw the building of the new National Museum building, which opened in 1881. In September 1883, he was unanimously declared a founding member of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

even though his duties prevented him from attending their first convention. During the February 1887, Baird went on leave due to "intellectual exertion". Samuel P. Langley served as Acting Secretary.

Death and legacy

Spencer Fullerton Baird died on August 19, 1887. Upon Baird's death, the Arts and Industries building was draped with a mourning cloth.

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. H ...

spoke at Baird's funeral. Baird is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Baird's sparrow Baird's sparrow (''Centronyx bairdii'') is a species of North American birds in the family Passerellidae of order Passeriformes. It is a migratory bird native to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Description The Baird's sparrow can be ident ...

, a migratory bird native to Canada, Mexico and the United States, is named after him. A medium-sized shorebird known as Baird's sandpiper is also named after him. Baird Auditorium in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is named in his honor. It is located on the

National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...

side of the first floor of the museum. Baird's wife, Mary, donated his stamp collection to the National Museum. His papers are held in the

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Instituti ...

. In 1946, Baird was one of four Smithsonian Secretaries featured in an exhibition about their lives and work curated by United States National Museum curator Theodore T. Belote. In 1922, the Baird Ornithological Club was founded and named after Baird. Spencer Baird Road in

is named for him.

Eponymy

Natural world

*The genus '' Bairdiella'' of drumfishes was named after him by

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural his ...

in 1861. * Baird's smooth-head, ''Alepocephalus bairdii'' Goode and

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

, 1879. * Lancer dragonet, ''Callionymus bairdi''

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, 1888 * Mottled sculpin, ''Cottus bairdii'' Girard, 1850. * Bumphead damselfish, ''Microspathodon bairdii'' (

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

, 1862). * Marlin-spike grenadier, ''Nezumia bairdii'' ( Goode &

, 1877). *

Baird's beaked whale Baird's beaked whale (''Berardius bairdii''), also known as the northern giant bottlenose whale, North Pacific bottlenose whale, giant four-toothed whale, northern four-toothed whale and the North Pacific four-toothed whale, is a species of whale ...

, ''Berardius bairdii'' Stejneger, 1883. * Baird's pocket gopher, ''Geomys breviceps'' (Baird, 1855) * Prairie deer mouse, ''Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii'' (Hoy and Kennicott, 1857) * Baird's shrew, ''Sorex bairdi'' (Meriam, 1895) *

Baird's tapir The Baird's tapir (''Tapirus bairdii''), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America. It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as ...

, ''Tapirus bairdii'' (Gill, 1865). *

, ''Ammodramus bairdii'' ( Audubon, 1844). * Baird's sandpiper, ''Calidris bairdii''

Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geographi ...

, 1861. *

Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker The Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker ( es, carpintero real, link=no) (''Campephilus principalis bairdii'') is a subspecies of the ivory-billed woodpecker native to Cuba. Originally classified as a separate species, recent research has indicated th ...

, ''Campephilus bairdii'' (now ''C. principalis bairdii''), Cassin, 1863. * Baird's flycatcher, ''Myiodynastes bairdii''

Gambell Gambell ( ess, Sivuqaq, russian: Гамбелл) is a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located on St. Lawrence Island, it had a population of 640 at the 2020 census, down slightly from 649 in 2000. History ''S ...

, 1847. * Baird's trogon, ''Trogon bairdii'' Lawrence, 1868. *

Tanner crab ''Chionoecetes'' is a genus of crabs that live in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The genus ''Chionoecetes'' currently contains seven distinct species. Other names for crabs in this genus include "queen crab" (in Canada) and "spider ...

, ''Chionoecetes bairdi'' Rathbun, 1924. *

Red lobster Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...

, ''Eunephrops bairdii'' S. I. Smith, 1885. * Baird's rat snake, ''Pantherophis bairdi'' (

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, 1880). * Baird's patch-nosed snake, '' Salvadora bairdi'' Jan, 1860.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Baird, S.F.", pp. 14-15).

Author abbreviation in zoology

* Baird

Sea vessel

*M.V. ''Spencer F. Baird'', Ocean-surveying ship.

Locations

*The Lake Shasta Caverns were formerly named Baird Cave.

References

External links

*
Spencer F. Baird's Vision for a National Museum
online exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution Archives

from the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...

National Academy of Sciences Biographical MemoirSpencer Fullerton Baird Index of Corresondents, 1850s - 1870s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, John Fullerton 1823 births 1887 deaths American naturalists American taxonomists American ichthyologists American ornithologists Dickinson College alumni Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution people Members of the American Antiquarian Society United States Fish Commission personnel People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania People from Reading, Pennsylvania Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) West Nottingham Academy alumni Columbia University alumni 19th-century American zoologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences