| Charles Wallace Richmond | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 31, 1868 |
| Died | May 19, 1932 (aged 63) |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Ornithology |
| Institutions | United States National Museum |
Charles Wallace Richmond (December 31, 1868 - May 19, 1932) was an American ornithologist. He is best remembered for a compilation of the Latin names of birds that is called the Richmond Index.
He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was the eldest son of Edward Leslie and Josephine Ellen Richmond. His mother died when he was 12 and after that his father who was a railway mail clerk moved to Washington DC and joined the Government Printing House there. His father remarried and he had the additional duty of taking care of younger stepbrothers. During his early life he earned extra income for the family by leaving school and working as a page in the House of Representatives. At the age of 15 he got a position as a messenger in the Geological Survey. In 1897 he graduated after studied medicine in Georgetown University and in the next year he married Louise H. Seville.[1]
While still at Wisconsin he had collected the eggs of a Kingbird and when he moved to Washington he visited the Smithsonian Institution museum and seeing the large collection of nests and eggs decided that he would never produce such a collection himself and decided to hand over his own collections to the museum. This led him to meet Robert Ridgway. He subsequently met Ridgway often and this early influence was very strong. His work in the House of Representatives let him use the library there which had a good collection of books on birds.[1]
In 1888 Richmond took part in a United States Geological Survey expedition to Montana. After a collecting trip to Nicaragua he joined the staff of the United States National Museum in Washington DC.[1]
In 1893 he applied for a job at the National Museum and on July 1, 1894 he became an assistant on the Scientific Staff and reported to Ridgway. He later became the Curator.
From 1918 to 1983, the scientific name of the Northern cardinal, Richmondena cardinalis, was named in his honor.[2]
His card catalog of bird names was begun when he was 21 years old and he continued to work on it throughout his life.[1][3]