Clinton Gilbert Abbott Explained

Clinton Gilbert Abbott
Birth Date:April 17, 1881
Birth Place:Liverpool, England
Death Place:San Diego, California
Nationality:American
Fields:Ornithology, Mammalogy, Natural History
Workplaces:San Diego Natural History Museum
Alma Mater:Columbia University
Cornell University

Clinton Gilbert Abbott (1881  - 1946) was an American ornithologist, naturalist, and Director of the San Diego Natural History Museum from 1922 to 1946. Abbott supervised the construction of the museum's current building in Balboa Park, expanded research field trips and expeditions, and participated in important conservation efforts in southern California and the Baja California region.[1] [2] He was instrumental in the preservation of the southern California desert area that became Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.[3] [4]

Biography

The son of American citizens, Clinton Gilbert Abbott was born in Liverpool, England, on April 17, 1881, to Grace Van Dusen and Lewis Lowe Abbott.[5] Abbott's older brother was the writer and freethinker Leonard Dalton Abbott. Abbott received an A.B. degree from Columbia University in 1903 and pursued graduate studies at Cornell University.[6] He married Dorothy Clarke in 1915.[7] From 1910 to 1914, Abbott was vice-president of the Linnaean Society of New York, and from 1918 to 1921 worked as secretary and editor for the New York State Conservation Commission.

In 1921, Abbott took charge of public education programs at the San Diego Natural History Museum, becoming director of the museum in 1922. He served as the President of the San Diego Natural History Society from 1923 to 1925. Abbott was director of the museum from 1922 to 1946.[8]

Under Abbott's leadership, the museum expanded its research and conservation work, education, and public programming, and in 1932, the museum moved into its current building, designed by noted San Diego architect William Templeton Johnson.[9] In 1927, Abbott proposed the creation of a conservation area in the Borrego Palm Canyon and Thousand Palms Canyon areas east of San Diego; in 1933, Borego[10] Palms Desert State Park was created, a 185,000-acre beginning for what would become the 600,000 acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.[11]

Abbott was a member of the American Ornithologists Union, the Western Society of Naturalists, the Cooper Ornithological Society, the National Audubon Society, the International Committee for Wildlife Protection, the American Society of Mammalogists, and many other professional societies.[12]

Abbott died in San Diego, California, on March 5, 1946.[13] [14]

Legacy

Abbott is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of gecko, Coleonyx variegatus abbotti.[15]

Publications available online

Selected bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Strawther. Larry. 1926-1943 – After the Sugar – The Los Alamitos Sugar Factory and Dr. Ross. The Los Alamitos-Rossmoor-Seal Beach History Project. 2015-10-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927205545/http://localsports.biz/history/2011/05/18/1897-1945-the-los-alamitos-sugar-factory-from-the-clarks-to-dr-ross/. 2015-09-27. dead.
  2. Web site: Sea Lion Devastation (1937+) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160415210047/http://www.sdnhm.org/about-us/history/sea-lion-devastation/ . sdnhm.org . McCue . Seanacchie . 2006 . 15 April 2016 . 11 October 2016.
  3. Lindsay. Diana. History in the California Desert: The Creation of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park--Largest in the United States. Journal of San Diego History. Fall 1973. 19. 4. 2015-10-17. 2016-04-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20160403064637/https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73fall/anza.htm. dead.
  4. Book: Lindsay. Diana. Lindsay. Lowell. Anza-Borrego Desert Region: A Guide to the State Park and Adjacent Areas of the Western Colorado Desert. 2010. Wilderness Press. 978-0-89997-590-0. 63. 5th.
  5. Book: Bennett. Edward B.. Record of Class Meetings and the Biographical History of the Class of 1866, Yale College. 1891. Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co.. Hartford, CT. 10.
  6. Web site: Columbia College A.B. Theses Collection, 1878-1905 Columbia University Archives Columbia University Libraries Finding Aids . 2022-04-12 . findingaids.library.columbia.edu.
  7. Book: Leonard. John W.. Marquis. Albert Nelson. Who's Who in America. 1916. Marquis Who's Who. 4.
  8. Web site: Clinton Gilbert Abbott (1881-1946). 24 June 2016 . sdnhm.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20160624032750/http://www.sdnhm.org/about-us/history/abbott/ . 11 October 2016.
  9. Schaffer. Sarah J.. A Civic Architect for San Diego. Journal of San Diego History. Summer 1999. 45. 3.
  10. The double-r spelling was made official by a decision of the United States Board of Geographical Names in 1950. See Brigandi.
  11. Brigandi. Phil. A Place Called Borego. Journal of San Diego History. Winter 1997. 43. 1.
  12. Palmer. T. S.. Obituaries. Auk. July 1, 1947. 64. 3. 501–506. 10.2307/4080436. 4080436.
  13. Notes and News. Condor. July 1946. 48. 4. 183. 10.2307/1363973. 1363973.
  14. News: Abbott, Museum Director, Dies. San Diego Union. March 6, 1946.
  15. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Abbott, C.G.", p. 1).

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