tite DUBON BULLE PIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
Piel NeOr SALUD UBON SO 6 LE TY 
2001 NoRTH CLARK STREET, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
Number 53 March, 1945 
A History of the 
Chicago Ornithological Society 
By Dr. R. M. STRONG 
IN THE SPRING of the years 1904 to 1914, I conducted a course in ornithology 
at the University of Chicago, and I had a similar course in the first half of 
the summer quarter during those years. The class was divided into sections 
of ten students for field work, and each section was headed by an assistant 
or myself. We rotated in leading the sections. 
These assistants were all graduate students in the University of Chicago 
and they, of course, had to be able to identify birds at sight in the field. 
The Department of Zoology did not have enough graduate students with 
this ability, and it was necessary to draw upon other departments. The 
size of the class was limited, and each session, by the number of suitable 
assistants available. It was difficult to discover such talent in a large body 
of students, and they were usually not available for more than two or 
three years. 
It occurred to me that an ornithological society would help in this 
problem. It also seemed logical that a great city like Chicago should have 
an ornithological society for exchange of views and information as well as 
for promotion of ornithological work in the Chicago region. 
There were two Fellows of the American Ornithologist’s Union living 
in Chicago at the time. One of them, Mr. Ruthven Deane, was a genial 
and cultured business man who was probably happier in ornithological 
activities than at his office.. The other was Mr. Charles B. Cory, sportsman, 
naturalist, golfer of international fame, and curator of ornithology at Field 
Museum from 1898 to 1920. 
I had conferences with these two gentlemen about the idea of establish- 
ing a Chicago Ornithological Society. Mr. Deane was cordial as always, 
but he predicted that the society would not last six months, citing the short 
life of a similar enterprise, the Ridgway Ornithological Club of Chicago, 
which was founded in the early eighties and published a bulletin. Though 
thus pessimistic, Mr. Deane was the speaker at the second meeting, and he 
was for years a prominent and interesting member. His resonant voice, 
excellent diction, and long experience were greatly appreciated at meetings. 
Mr. Cory, on the other hand, was frankly hostile to the enterprise. He 
stated that he had in mind organizing sometime a vertebrate zoology society, 
a plan which he never carried out. 
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