# Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Reginald_Heber_Howe%2C_Jr. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Reginald_Heber_Howe%2C_Jr..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber_Howe%2C_Jr. > Source revision: 1342296618 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American naturalist and school teacher (1875–1932)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Use American English|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. | image = Dr. Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. - LCCN2014714309 (cropped).jpg | caption = | alt = Head shot of Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|4|10|df=y}} | birth_place = [Quincy, Massachusetts](/source/Quincy%2C_Massachusetts) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|1|28|1875|4|10|df=y}} | death_place = | resting_place = | fields = | workplaces = [Middlesex School](/source/Middlesex_School); [Belmont Hill School](/source/Belmont_Hill_School) | alma_mater = [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) | author_abbrev_bot = R.Howe{{cite web |url=https://www.ipni.org/a/4161-1 |title=R.Howe – Reginald Heber Howe (1875–1932) |publisher=[International Plant Names Index](/source/International_Plant_Names_Index) |access-date=2 February 2024}} }} '''Reginald Heber Howe, Jr.''' (April 10, 1875 – 28 January 1932) was an American [naturalist](/source/naturalist) and [preparatory school](/source/college-preparatory_school) science teacher. His research specialized in the [lichen](/source/lichen)s, birds, and [dragonflies](/source/dragonflies). He founded the [Belmont Hill School](/source/Belmont_Hill_School) and served as its first [headmaster](/source/headmaster). ==Life and career== Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., born on April 10, 1875, in [Quincy, Massachusetts](/source/Quincy%2C_Massachusetts), was the second child of a prominent [Episcopalian](/source/Episcopalian) minister of the same name. Reginald Heber Howe senior (1846–1924) became the [rector](/source/Rector_(ecclesiastical)) of the [Church of Our Saviour](/source/Church_of_Our_Saviour%2C_Brookline) in [Brookline](/source/Brookline%2C_Massachusetts) in 1877. The early life of Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., was predominantly spent in the [Longwood area](/source/Longwood_Historic_District_(Massachusetts)) of Brookline, known for its grand [mansion](/source/mansion)s. Howe completed his education at the [Noble and Greenough Preparatory School](/source/Noble_and_Greenough_School) in Boston and later worked for three years at the [Plymouth Cordage Company](/source/Plymouth_Cordage_Company) to fund his college education. He enrolled at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) in 1897, graduating from the [Lawrence Scientific School](/source/Lawrence_Scientific_School) in 1901. During his academic years, Howe demonstrated a prolific interest in the [natural science](/source/natural_science)s, publishing several articles. His early works included studies on North American [wood frog](/source/wood_frog)s, subspecies of birds, a mammal species, and the breeding behavior of the [American robin](/source/American_robin) in eastern Massachusetts. Additionally, Howe authored or co-authored four books on [ornithology](/source/ornithology), and had a deep interest in [biogeography](/source/biogeography). Following his graduation in 1901, Howe began a teaching career at [Middlesex School](/source/Middlesex_School) in [Concord, Massachusetts](/source/Concord%2C_Massachusetts), a newly established [preparatory school](/source/College-preparatory_school) for boys. Over the next two decades, he contributed significantly to the school, teaching science, and coaching [crew](/source/rowing). In 1921, he coached the [freshman](/source/freshman) rowing team; this went so well that he was asked to coach both the freshman and [varsity](/source/varsity_team) crews the following year.{{sfn|Duncan|1985|page=8}} He founded the [Thoreau Museum of Natural History](/source/Thoreau_Museum_of_Natural_History). During this period, Howe also became an authority on North American [lichen](/source/lichen)s, co-authoring a [field guide](/source/field_guide) with his wife. Howe's academic pursuits led him to the [Sorbonne](/source/Sorbonne_(building)) (a name commonly used to refer to the historic [University of Paris](/source/University_of_Paris) in Paris), where he obtained a {{ill|Docteur de l'Université|fr|doctorat}} degree in natural science. This achievement was based on his extensive work on lichens, completed during a [sabbatical](/source/sabbatical) from July 1911 to September 1912. In this excursion, Howe and his wide took a boat to [Newfoundland](/source/Newfoundland) and collected lichens there for month, before sailing for England.{{sfn|Duncan|1985|page=7}} Between 1911 and 1916 he edited the [exsiccata](/source/exsiccata) series ''Lichenes Novae Angliae''.{{cite web |title=Lichenes Novae Angliae: IndExs ExsiccataID=110610127 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=110610127 |access-date=9 August 2024}} Howe's interest in [entomology](/source/entomology), particularly [dragonflies](/source/dragonflies), was sparked around 1913, following a discovery on the Middlesex School grounds. His entomological research continued during a second sabbatical at Harvard University's Entomological Laboratory from 1921 to 1923. By 1926 he had published more than 300 pages of research in scientific journals, with a particular emphasis on lichens and dragonflies.{{sfn|Duncan|1985|page=7}} A dispute over naming an undescribed dragonfly species between Howe and Edward Bruce Williamson, a dragonfly authority, highlights the complexities and tensions within the scientific community regarding naming rights and historical correctness. Despite Howe's assertion that the new species had already been named in the literature, albeit not [formally described](/source/species_description), Williamson proceeded to describe and name the species as ''[Williamsonia fletcheri](/source/Williamsonia_fletcheri)'' (the ebony boghaunter). The saga, revealed through archived correspondence, involved other prominent odonatologists and exposed the personality clashes and competing interests among specialists in the field. Williamson eventually prevailed, so now the species has the name he proposed, and the author citation "Williamson". In his later years, Howe founded the [Belmont Hill School](/source/Belmont_Hill_School) and served as its first [headmaster](/source/headmaster). He emphasized the importance of [athletics](/source/Sport_of_athletics) in education and had scholarly publications to that effect.{{sfn|Duncan|1985|pages=24–25}} In the "Story of Belmont Hill", he is described as "a man of broad experience, unbounded energy, vigorous imagination, sound judgement, and a man who genuinely liked people—boys, teachers, parents and anyone who had anything to do with the school". In this book, a colleague answers the question: "What was Dr. Howe like?" {{blockquote|He was not very tall, about five feet eight, broad-shouldered, and well coordinated – a good athletic type for his size and weight. He had been quite bald since his college years, so that you noticed his ears. What really drew your attention, however, were his eyes as he looked at you through his gold-rimmed glasses – a glance that was at once keen but friendly. As he sat at his desk, clad in his sportscoat, [knickerbockers](/source/Knickerbockers_(clothing)) and golf stockings of the period, he would rub his mustache as he listened patiently or spoke – always in moderate tones – with boy or master.{{sfn|Duncan|1985|page=33}}}} Howe's life came to an abrupt end due to a [heart attack](/source/heart_attack) on January 28, 1932, at the age of 56. In his obituary, the [Boston Society of Natural History](/source/Boston_Society_of_Natural_History) lauded him as a respected teacher and naturalist. The lichen ''[Vermilacinia howei](/source/Vermilacinia_howei)'' was named in his honor in 1996, for his contributions to lichenology and to acknowledge his efforts in providing images of the [type specimens](/source/type_(biology)) in his revision of the genus ''[Ramalina](/source/Ramalina)''. ==Selected publications== * {{cite book |last=Howe |first=R. H. Jr. |year=1896 |title=Every Bird: A Guide to the Identification of the Birds of Woodland, Beach and Ocean |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Bradlee Whidden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-ZPAAAAYAAJ}} * {{cite journal |author-mask=7 |last=Howe |first=R.H. Jr |year=1906 |title=Lichens of Mount Monadnock, New Hampshire |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=40 |issue=477 |pages=661–665 |doi=10.1086/278666 |jstor=2454851}} * {{cite journal |author-mask=7 |last=Howe |first=R.H. Jr. |year=1912 |title=A Monograph of the North American Usneaceae |journal=Missouri Botanical Garden Annual Report |volume=1912 |pages=133–146 |doi=10.2307/2400036 |jstor=2400036}} * {{cite book |author-mask=7 |last=Howe |first=R.H. Jr. |year=1914 |title=A Monograph of the Usneaceae of the United States and Canada. 2 parts |series=Memoirs of the Thoreau Museum of Natural History |volume=25 |publisher=Thoreau Museum of Natural History |location=Concord, MA}} * {{cite journal |author-mask=7 |last=Howe |first=R.H. Jr. |year=1921 |title=The distribution of New England Odonata|journal=Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=105–133 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58069813}} * {{cite book |author-mask=7 |last1=Howe |first1=R.H. Jr. |year=1925 |chapter=Athletic influence |pages=139–196 |title=In The Education of the Modern Boy |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co. |location=Boston, MA}} ==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last=Howe |first=R.H. Jr. |year=1926 |title=Reginald Heber Howe. Harvard Class of 1901 25th reunion |journal=Harvard Alumni Bulletin |volume=28 |pages=333–335}} * {{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=C.W. |year=1932 |title=Reginald Heber Howe. Portrait, list of major publications |journal=Bulletin of the Boston Museum of Natural History |volume=63 |pages=29–30}} * {{cite book |last=Howe |first=R.O. |year=1998 |title=Memories of My Father and the First Ten Years of the Belmont Hill School. 75th Anniversary of the Belmont Hills School |publisher=Belmont Hill School |location=Belmont, MA}} ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs= {{cite book |last=Grummann |first=Vitus |title=Biographisch-bibliographisches Handbuch der Lichenologie |trans-title=Biographical-bibliographical Handbook of Lichenology |publisher=J. Cramer |location=Lehre |year=1974 |isbn=978-3-7682-0907-6 |oclc=1375447 |language=de |page=191}} {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Harriet Ann |title=The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers |editor-last1=Yellin |editor-first1=Jean Fagan |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8078-3131-1 |page=871}} {{cite book |last1=Spjut |first1=Richard W. |year=1996 |title=''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California |series=Sida. Botanical Miscellany |volume=14 |publisher=Botanical Research Institute of Texas |isbn=978-1-889878-28-7}} {{cite journal |last1=White |first1=Harold B. III |last2=O'Brien |first2=Mark F. |title=Naming an undescribed dragonfly: Williamson's Williamsonia and the travails of R. Heber Howe Jr. |journal=Northeastern Naturalist |volume=24 |issue=m14 |year=2017 |doi=10.1656/045.024.m1401 |pages=1–43}} }} ===Works cited=== * {{cite book |last=Duncan |first=Roger F. |year=1985 |title=The Story of Belmont Hill School, 1923–1983 |publisher=Belmont Hill School |location=Belmont, MA |pages= |url=https://issuu.com/belmonthill/docs/thestoryofbelmonthill_1983_compressed}} {{Harvard Crimson men's rowing coach navbox}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Howe Jr., Reginald Heber}} Category:1875 births Category:1932 deaths Category:American naturalists Category:People from Quincy, Massachusetts Category:Schoolteachers from Massachusetts Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American ornithologists Category:American entomologists Category:American lichenologists Category:Harvard Crimson rowing coaches --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Reginald Heber Howe, Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber_Howe%2C_Jr.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber_Howe%2C_Jr.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.