James Greenway
Encyclopedia
James Cowan Greenway was an American
ornithologist
. An eccentric, shy and sometimes reclusive man, his survey of extinct
and vanishing birds provided the base for much subsequent work on bird conservation
.
, the son of a wealthy physician
, and grew up on the family estate at Greenwich, Connecticut
. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy
, graduating in 1922, and Yale University
from which he obtained an Bachelor of Arts
degree in 1926. He then worked for a few years as a reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle
newspaper.
. The expedition was sponsored by the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
in Paris
, the British Natural History Museum
in London
, and the American Museum of Natural History
(AMNH) in New York City, and led by French ornithologist Jean Delacour. Greenway took part in the expedition from April to August 1929, after which he and Delacour left Madagascar for Delacour’s fifth expedition to Indochina
, where they collected zoological specimens in Tonkin
and Annam.
(MCZ) at Harvard University
as Assistant Curator of Birds until 1952 and then, succeeding James Lee Peters
, as Curator until 1960. During the 1930s he participated in several collecting expeditions to the Caribbean
, especially the Bahamas. In 1936, he and one of his brothers flew across the Bahamas from north to south, and were the first to land a plane on East Caicos
in the Turks and Caicos Islands; the school children were let out of school for the special occasion. Greenway also took part in Delacour’s seventh expedition to Indochina in 1938-1939.
During the Second World War Greenway served in the United States Navy
. He was commissioned
in 1941, becoming a Lieutenant
in 1943 and later a Lieutenant Commander
, while serving on aircraft carrier
s in the South West Pacific
, in the Solomon Islands
and on New Caledonia
.
Following the war, Greenway resumed his ornithological work at the MCZ. It was from there that he produced in 1958 his survey of extinct and near-extinct birds, a book that provided a great stimulus to bird conservation over the next few decades. He was also active in the American Committee for International Wildlife Protection and later in the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP).
from 1960/61 to 1970/71. In 1962 he became a research associate
in the Department of Ornithology there, a position he retained until his death. He began work on a list of the type specimens of birds held by the museum, a massive project not completed at the time of his death. He also instigated, part-financed and participated in a collecting expedition to New Caledonia
in 1978, when he was 75 years old.
Greenway was married to Mary Frances Oakes, who died about the same time that he did. Relatively few other ornithologists had met him in person because an aversion to large gatherings meant that he probably never attended a single professional meeting or congress in his life. His sometime friend and colleague François Vuilleumier wrote of him:
which details species at risk of extinction; along with Francis Harper
's Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World and Glover Morrill Allen
's Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere. Today these books are seen as the inspiration behind the IUCN Red List.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ornithologist
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
. An eccentric, shy and sometimes reclusive man, his survey of extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
and vanishing birds provided the base for much subsequent work on bird conservation
Bird conservation
Bird conservation is a field in the science of conservation biology related to threatened birds. Humans have had a profound effect on many bird species...
.
Early years
Greenway was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the son of a wealthy physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, and grew up on the family estate at Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, graduating in 1922, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
from which he obtained an Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1926. He then worked for a few years as a reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
newspaper.
Expeditions with Delacour
In 1929 Greenway became a partner in the Franco-Anglo-American Zoological Expedition to MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. The expedition was sponsored by the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the British Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
(AMNH) in New York City, and led by French ornithologist Jean Delacour. Greenway took part in the expedition from April to August 1929, after which he and Delacour left Madagascar for Delacour’s fifth expedition to Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, where they collected zoological specimens in Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
and Annam.
Museum of Comparative Zoology
In 1932 Greenway joined the Museum of Comparative ZoologyMuseum of Comparative Zoology
The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
(MCZ) at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as Assistant Curator of Birds until 1952 and then, succeeding James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters
James Lee Peters was an American ornithologist.Peters was Curator of Birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Harvard University...
, as Curator until 1960. During the 1930s he participated in several collecting expeditions to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, especially the Bahamas. In 1936, he and one of his brothers flew across the Bahamas from north to south, and were the first to land a plane on East Caicos
East Caicos
East Caicos is the fourth largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from Middle Caicos by Lorimer Creek, a narrow passage that can accommodate only small boats. To the south is South Caicos....
in the Turks and Caicos Islands; the school children were let out of school for the special occasion. Greenway also took part in Delacour’s seventh expedition to Indochina in 1938-1939.
During the Second World War Greenway served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. He was commissioned
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
in 1941, becoming a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1943 and later a Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
, while serving on aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s in the South West Pacific
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
and on New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
.
Following the war, Greenway resumed his ornithological work at the MCZ. It was from there that he produced in 1958 his survey of extinct and near-extinct birds, a book that provided a great stimulus to bird conservation over the next few decades. He was also active in the American Committee for International Wildlife Protection and later in the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP).
American Museum of Natural History
In 1960 Greenway left the MCZ for personal reasons, never to return there. Based back at his Greenwich estate, his subsequent ornithological work was carried out in association with the American Museum of Natural History, of which he was a trusteeTrustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
from 1960/61 to 1970/71. In 1962 he became a research associate
Research associate
The title of research associate is used to denote an academic research position at a university or similar institution. A research associate usually conducts research under the supervision of a principal investigator. In contrast to a research assistant or research officer, a research associate...
in the Department of Ornithology there, a position he retained until his death. He began work on a list of the type specimens of birds held by the museum, a massive project not completed at the time of his death. He also instigated, part-financed and participated in a collecting expedition to New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
in 1978, when he was 75 years old.
Greenway was married to Mary Frances Oakes, who died about the same time that he did. Relatively few other ornithologists had met him in person because an aversion to large gatherings meant that he probably never attended a single professional meeting or congress in his life. His sometime friend and colleague François Vuilleumier wrote of him:
”Shy and retiring he was, but his life and career, or at least what can be traced of them, were at times quite adventuresome. Jim Greenway was so reluctant to leave tracks behind him that, after his death, even his sons did not know important details of their father's academic career.”
”Jim Greenway was a profoundly eccentric man who was probably unable to tolerate others with a lesser streak of eccentricity than he had. He should be remembered especially as the person who was in charge of the very rich MCZ bird collection for many years, who helped avian conservation get a solid start, who wrote the classic Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World, who helped publish Peters' Check-list after Peters' death, and who assisted the Department of Ornithology at AMNH in many unrecorded but important ways.”
Publications
Although Greenway produced numerous scientific papers and collaborated in the preparation of other ornithological publications, the book Greenway is best known for is his 1958 work, Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World, which had a second edition published in 1967. Greenway had kept a file detailing extinct and at risk birds for years prior to the publication of the book and over several years created a draft book of the book in 1954, but took another four years to create the final version. This book was one of three published by the American Committee for International Wildlife Protection which were the precursors to the IUCN Red ListIUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
which details species at risk of extinction; along with Francis Harper
Francis Harper (biologist)
Francis Harper was an American naturalist. His research included studies of the Okefenokee Swamp and fieldwork in the north eastern United States and in northern Canada, and he also studied the 18th century American naturalists John and William Bartram...
's Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World and Glover Morrill Allen
Glover Morrill Allen
Glover Morrill Allen was an American zoologist.He was born at Walpole, New Hampshire, the son of Reverend Nathaniel Glover Allen and Harriet Ann Allen, and studied at Harvard University,...
's Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere. Today these books are seen as the inspiration behind the IUCN Red List.