29 Facts About Witmer Stone

Witmer Stone was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist.

Witmer Stone worked for over 51 years in the Ornithology Department at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and served in multiple roles including as Director from 1925 to 1928.

Witmer Stone served as editor of the American Ornithologists' Union's periodical The Auk from 1912 to 1936 and as president of the organization from 1920 to 1923.

Witmer Stone was a member of multiple scientific societies and president of the American Society of Mammalogists and the Pennsylvania Audubon Society.

Witmer Stone published several books and hundreds of articles on birds, flora, and mammals with a focus on Eastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey.

Witmer Stone was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1939.

Witmer Stone was raised in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia which bordered wooded areas and the Wingohocking Creek.

The academy established an ornithology department in 1891, the same year that Witmer Stone completed an AM degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

Witmer Stone married Lillie May Lafferty on August 1,1904; they had no children.

Witmer Stone worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 51 years.

Witmer Stone inherited an ornithological specimens collection that had not been cared for properly since the death of John Cassin in 1869.

Witmer Stone led efforts to salvage the ornithological collections and others.

Witmer Stone participated in hundreds of academy sponsored field expeditions to the Pine Barrens and coastal regions of New Jersey.

Witmer Stone participated in field expeditions to various locations including Arizona, Bermuda, Kentucky, Maryland, Mexico, Minnesota, and South Carolina.

Witmer Stone was an original member of the Philadelphia Botanical Club.

Witmer Stone's focus was ornithology, but Stone had a good knowledge of crustaceans, insects, mollusks, reptiles and the local flora.

Witmer Stone's research culminated in his publication of The Plants of Southern New Jersey in 1911.

Witmer Stone was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in 1890.

Witmer Stone founded the DVOC publication Cassinia and published multiple scientific papers, club activities and memorials.

Witmer Stone authored the DVOC's The Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, published in 1894 and Bird Studies at Old Cape in 1937.

Witmer Stone wrote The Birds of New Jersey, Their Nests and Eggs, published in 1909 and hundreds of other ornithological papers.

Witmer Stone was elected an Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1885; a Fellow in 1892; and a member of the council in 1898.

Witmer Stone chaired the committee which produced the 4th edition of the AOU checklist, published in 1931.

Witmer Stone was an honorary member of many ornithological and scientific societies including the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Cooper Ornithological Club, and the Zoological Society of Philadelphia.

Witmer Stone was awarded the Otto Hermann Medal of the Hungarian Ornithological Society in 1931 and was a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the Advisory Committee of the National Audubon Society, and the American Philosophical Society.

Witmer Stone was president of the Pennsylvania Audubon Society and of the American Society of Mammologists.

Witmer Stone's most enduring legacy is his Bird Studies at Old Cape May 1,400 two-volume sets were originally published by the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in 1937.

Witmer Stone died on May 23,1939, and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Witmer Stone was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1939.