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Ridgway Brothers - Explorers, Scientists, and Illustrators

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Traversing the Fortieth Parallel: The Experiences and Letters of Robert Ridgway, Teenage Ornithologist

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Title	Traversing the Fortieth Parallel: The Experiences and Letters of Robert Ridgway, Teenage Ornithologist
Description	M.A. thesis by Matthew C. Godfrey submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Utah State University, 1997. Typewritten, 165 single-sided pages.
Abstract	From 1867 to 1869, Robert Ridgway, a sixteen-year-old youth from Mount Carmel, Illinois, accompanied the United States Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel as a zoologist. Ridgway, an amateur ornithologist, traveled to California, Nevada, and Utah, collecting bird specimens and ornithological data for the Smithsonian Institution. While on the survey, Ridgway frequently wrote home and described his activities and feelings to his family. In turn his mother often wrote him telling him of the family's successes, failures, and sicknesses. For historians, these letters have significance. First, since little, if any, documentation exists from teenagers between the ages of sixteen and eighteen in the American West, Ridgway's letters help fill a void of primary source material. More important, however, are the glimpses Ridgway's letters give into the makeup of American science in the nineteenth century. During the 1860s, science, especially ornithology, was in midst of a transformation from avocation to vocation. Ridgway's letters provide rich insights into this transformation, including how his discoveries in the West shattered contemporary ornithological information. Additionally, because Ridgway later became one of America's most well-known ornithologists, his letters give an intimate account of the training of a budding scientist. This thesis contains thirty-five of Ridgway's and his mother's letters, as well as additional missives from Spencer Baird, assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to put these letters in their context, as well as to provide biographical information about Ridgway and the Fortieth Parallel Survey, there is also an introduction describing in fuller detail the significance of the letters outlined above. Ridgway expressed concern during the survey that his letters would be of interest to his family. Whether or not they were, they provide interesting and significant data to historians today.
Subject	Ridgway, Robert, 1850-1929 -- Correspondence Ornithologists -- Biography United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel (1867-1881) West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
Genre	Theses
Creator	Godfrey, Matthew C.
Date	1997
Search Date	1997
Time Period	1990-1999 20th century
Language	eng;
Source	Godfrey, Matthew C. Traversing the Fortieth Parallel: the experiences and letters of Robert Ridgway, teenage ornithologist. Thesis (M.A.)--Utah State University, Dept. of History, 1997.
Contributing Institution	Utah State University
Physical Collection	Utah State University Library, Special Collections and Archives, USU Theses and Dissertations
USU Call Number	Public use copy in microfiche, filed by author. Archival copy in Special Collections and Archives.
Collection Inventory	http://uda-db.orbiscascade.org/findaid/ark:/80444/xv13992
Rights	Digitized for this collection with permission from author, Matthew C. Godfrey. Reproduction of this digitized version for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is prohibited unless written permission is obtained directly from author.
Digital Collection	Ridgway Brothers - Explorers, Scientists, and Illustrators
Digital Publisher	Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library
Date Digital	2006-07
Type	Text
Format	image/jpeg
Conversion Specifications	Scanned by Utah State University Library using EverSmart Jazz+ CreoScitex scanner, title page 8-bit RGB; text pages Grayscale, at 400 dpi. Archival file is uncompressed TIFF; display file is JPEG. OCR text and display pdf generated using CONTENTdm OCR Extension. If pdf does not display correctly, try switching to a different browser.

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