Reginald Heber Howe, Jr.(April 10, 1875 – 28 January 1932)[2]was an Americannaturalistandpreparatory schoolscience teacher. His research specialized in thelichens,birds, anddragonflies.He founded theBelmont Hill Schooland served as its firstheadmaster.
Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 10 April 1875 |
| Died | 28 January 1932(aged 56) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Middlesex School;Belmont Hill School |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | R.Howe[1] |
Life and career
editReginald Heber Howe, Jr., born on April 10, 1875, inQuincy, Massachusetts,was the second child of a prominentEpiscopalianminister of the same name.[3]Reginald Heber Howe senior (1846–1924) became therectorof theChurch of Our SaviourinBrooklinein 1877.[4]The early life of Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., was predominantly spent in theLongwood areaof Brookline, known for its grandmansions.Howe completed his education at theNoble and Greenough Preparatory Schoolin Boston and later worked for three years at thePlymouth Cordage Companyto fund his college education. He enrolled atHarvard Universityin 1897, graduating from theLawrence Scientific Schoolin 1901.[3]
During his academic years, Howe demonstrated a prolific interest in thenatural sciences,publishing several articles. His early works included studies on North Americanwood frogs,subspecies of birds, a mammal species, and the breeding behavior of theAmerican robinin eastern Massachusetts. Additionally, Howe authored or co-authored four books onornithology,and had a deep interest inbiogeography.[3]
Following his graduation in 1901, Howe began a teaching career atMiddlesex SchoolinConcord, Massachusetts,a newly establishedpreparatory schoolfor boys. Over the next two decades, he contributed significantly to the school, teaching science, and coachingcrew.[3]In 1921, he coached thefreshmanrowing team; this went so well that he was asked to coach both the freshman andvarsitycrews the following year.[5]He founded theThoreau Museum of Natural History.During this period, Howe also became an authority on North Americanlichens,co-authoring afield guidewith his wife.[3]
Howe's academic pursuits led him to theSorbonne(a name commonly used to refer to the historicUniversity of Parisin Paris), where he obtained aDocteur de l'Universitédegree in natural science. This achievement was based on his extensive work on lichens, completed during asabbaticalfrom July 1911 to September 1912.[3]In this excursion, Howe and his wide took a boat toNewfoundlandand collected lichens there for month, before sailing for England.[6]Between 1911 and 1914 he edited theexsiccataseriesLichenes Novae Angliae.[7]Howe's interest inentomology,particularlydragonflies,was sparked around 1913, following a discovery on the Middlesex School grounds. His entomological research continued during a second sabbatical at Harvard University's Entomological Laboratory from 1921 to 1923.[3]By 1926 he had published more than 300 pages of research in scientific journals, with a particular emphasis on lichens and dragonflies.[6]
A dispute over naming an undescribed dragonfly species between Howe and Edward Bruce Williamson, a dragonfly authority, highlights the complexities and tensions within the scientific community regarding naming rights and historical correctness. Despite Howe's assertion that the new species had already been named in the literature, albeit notformally described,Williamson proceeded to describe and name the species asWilliamsonia fletcheri(the ebony boghaunter). The saga, revealed through archived correspondence, involved other prominent odonatologists and exposed the personality clashes and competing interests among specialists in the field. Williamson eventually prevailed, so now the species has the name he proposed, and the author citation "Williamson".[3]
In his later years, Howe founded theBelmont Hill Schooland served as its firstheadmaster.He emphasized the importance ofathleticsin education and had scholarly publications to that effect.[8]In the "Story of Belmont Hill", he is described as "a man of broad experience, unbounded energy, vigorous imagination, sound judgement, and a man who genuinely liked people—boys, teachers, parents and anyone who had anything to do with the school". In this book, a colleague answers the question: "What was Dr. Howe like?"
He was not very tall, about five feet eight, broad-shouldered, and well coordinated – a good athletic type for his size and weight. He had been quite bald since his college years, so that you noticed his ears. What really drew your attention, however, were his eyes as he looked at you through his gold-rimmed glasses – a glance that was at once keen but friendly. As he sat at his desk, clad in his sportscoat,knickerbockersand golf stockings of the period, he would rub his mustache as he listened patiently or spoke – always in moderate tones – with boy or master.[9]
Howe's life came to an abrupt end due to aheart attackon January 28, 1932, at the age of 56. In his obituary, theBoston Society of Natural Historylauded him as a respected teacher and naturalist.[3]
The lichenVermilacinia howeiwas named in his honor in 1996, for his contributions to lichenology and to acknowledge his efforts in providing images of thetype specimensin his revision of the genusRamalina.[10]
Selected publications
edit- Howe, R. H. Jr. (1896).Every Bird: A Guide to the Identification of the Birds of Woodland, Beach and Ocean.Boston, MA: Bradlee Whidden.
- ——————— (1906). "Lichens of Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire".The American Naturalist.40(477): 661–665.doi:10.1086/278666.JSTOR2454851.
- ——————— (1912). "A Monograph of the North American Usneaceae".Missouri Botanical Garden Annual Report.1912:133–146.doi:10.2307/2400036.JSTOR2400036.
- ——————— (1914).A Monograph of the Usneaceae of the United States and Canada. 2 parts.Memoirs of the Thoreau Museum of Natural History. Vol. 25. Concord, MA: Thoreau Museum of Natural History.
- ——————— (1921)."The distribution of New England Odonata".Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.36(2): 105–133.
- ——————— (1925). "Athletic influence".In The Education of the Modern Boy.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp. 139–196.
Further reading
edit- Howe, R.H. Jr. (1926). "Reginald Heber Howe. Harvard Class of 1901 25th reunion".Harvard Alumni Bulletin.28:333–335.
- Johnson, C.W. (1932). "Reginald Heber Howe. Portrait, list of major publications".Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Natural History.63:29–30.
- Howe, R.O. (1998).Memories of My Father and the First Ten Years of the Belmont Hill School. 75th Anniversary of the Belmont Hills School.Belmont, MA: Belmont Hill School.
References
edit- ^"R.Howe – Reginald Heber Howe (1875–1932)".International Plant Names Index.RetrievedFebruary 2,2024.
- ^Grummann, Vitus (1974).Biographisch-bibliographisches Handbuch der Lichenologie[Biographical-bibliographical Handbook of Lichenology] (in German). Lehre: J. Cramer. p. 191.ISBN978-3-7682-0907-6.OCLC1375447.
- ^abcdefghiWhite, Harold B. III; O'Brien, Mark F. (2017). "Naming an undescribed dragonfly: Williamson's Williamsonia and the travails of R. Heber Howe Jr".Northeastern Naturalist.24(m14): 1–43.doi:10.1656/045.024.m1401.
- ^Jacobs, Harriet Ann (2008). Yellin, Jean Fagan (ed.).The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers.Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 871.ISBN978-0-8078-3131-1.
- ^Duncan 1985,p. 8.
- ^abDuncan 1985,p. 7.
- ^"Lichenes Novae Angliae: IndExs ExsiccataID=110610127".IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae.Botanische Staatssammlung München.RetrievedAugust 9,2024.
- ^Duncan 1985,pp. 24–25.
- ^Duncan 1985,p. 33.
- ^Spjut, Richard W. (1996).NieblaandVermilacinia(Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California.Sida. Botanical Miscellany. Vol. 14. Botanical Research Institute of Texas.ISBN978-1-889878-28-7.
Works cited
edit- Duncan, Roger F. (1985).The Story of Belmont Hill School, 1923–1983.Belmont, MA: Belmont Hill School.