Marine Biological Hall Of Distinction: Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry
This article is a part of our collection known as the Marine Hall Of Distinction. It is a different series from our main monthly series & has no connection to the main monthly series. In this special collection, we will discuss marine biologists who we feel have served marine biology & oceanography the most. We do this in order to commemorate these marine biologists & to show gratitude for everything they have contributed to our oceans. This collection has no relation to the main monthly series. This series is published on the 25th of every month, shortly after our article on the oceanic environment of a certain region on the 20th. Today’s marine biologist is Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry. Doctor Samuel Stillman Berry is an American Malacologist, Horticulturist, Zoologist, Teuthologist, & Marine Biologist. Berry was born in the year 1887, in Maine. From a young age, he was fascinated with scientific discovery. This is illustrated in that in 1903, at the age of sixteen, he repeatedly wrote to the Division of Mollusks in the Smithsonian Archives. In these letters, he would request various publications. Throughout his life, he published an astounding 209 articles, & described approximately 401 species of molluscs. The only official position he held throughout his career, was as a Librarian & Research Assistant at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, located in La Jolla, California. Aside from this, he was an independent academic. The majority of these articles were published independently, making this feat all the more remarkable. In this article, we will discuss the Early Life & Education of Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry, The Career & Later Life Of Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry, & The Awards, Honourables, & Achievements of Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry. With that being said, let us delve into this malacologist.
The Early Life & Education Of Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry
Samuel Stillman Berry was born on March 16th, 1887, in the town of Unity, Maine. He was born to settlers Ralph, & Evelyn Crie Berry. He spent much of his youth moving between Minneapolis, Phoenix, Pasadena, Oakland, San Francisco, & Winnecooke. His constant movement was due to his mother attempting to find an area that would be best for his fragile health. At the age of 10, he moved with his parents, along with 2 cousins, to Redlands, California. He would go on to become a permanent citizen of California, though he would maintain close connections with his extended family. As explained in the introduction, as a young man, he became interested in the pursuit of scientific discovery. He began collecting books about marine biology & horticulture, & would go on to amass a private research library of over 40,000 titles. He published his first article in the year 1906, titled “Note on a New Variety of Cerithidea sacrata Gld.” in the Nautilus. That same year, he entered Stanford University for a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology. He graduated from Stanford University in the year 1909, & would quickly pursue a master's degree at Harvard University. He graduated with his master's degree shortly after, in 1910 In 1911, his father would unfortunately pass away. For this reason, he began looking after Winnecooke Ranch. In the same year, he was elected to the board of directors of the ranch. pursued his Doctorate from Stanford University once more, & graduated in 1913.
The Career & Later Life Of Dr. Samuel Stillman Berry
In January of 1913, he became employed at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. His position was as a Librarian & as a research assistant. He was recommended for employment here by the institute's director, William Emerson Ritter, by his advisor at Stanford, Charles Henry Gilbert. At the institute, he mainly worked on organizing scientific papers, & not much scientific work directly. During his time at the institute, & part of the time prior, Berry became interested in Horticulture. His primary focus was on the hybridization of irises & daffodils, though he was known to have grown peonies, pansies, gladioli, & a few different kinds of small trees at his private residence. The majority of this was in an effort to develop varieties of these plants that would fare well in the natural California climate. At the institute, Berry was not satisfied & combined with his desire to return to Redlands, he decided to stop working as a librarian in 1916, & instead switched his duties to a Non-Resident Research Zoologist. In this role, he studied the institutions' cephalopod collection, & produced a collection of reports on them. In the year 1917, he was elected president of the company holding Winnecooke Ranch, & would keep this title until his unfortunate passing. He would stop his duties at the institute in the year 1918, & become completely independent. Over the rest of his life, he would publish approximately 209 articles, primarily on chitons, cephalopods, & snails. Additionally, he published an unknown amount of horticultural articles, & reviews on horticultural books. During the Great Depression, he would start a horticultural business, & supply new as well as rare varieties of plants to customers. He would stop his horticultural business in the Late 1940s, & transition it back to a pastime. The majority of his malacological articles were first published in his journal, Leaflets on Malacology. He started Leaflets On Malacology in the year 1946, & ran it until 1969. He would publish approximately 26 editions of it. In order to properly recognize all of his contributions to the field of malacology & teuthology, Berry was elected as the only Honorary Life President of the American Malacological Union, the lifetime President of the American Association For the Advancement of Science, & the only Honorary Member of the Cephalopod International Advisory Council. Berry would unfortunately pass away in the year 1984, at the age of 97. His contributions to the field of malacology will not be forgotten.
The Awards, Honourables, Achievements, & Accomplishments Of Samuel Stillman Berry
1. He has named approximately 409 species of cephalopod.
2. He amassed a total of 40,000 books in his private research library.
3. He published 209 articles throughout his life.
Directories / Credits
Citation No. 1: “Record Unit 7335”, Written by Unknown, & Published at an Unknown Date. Published By the Smithsonian Institute Archives. Retrieval Date: January 20th, 2024.
Citation No. 2: “Berry, Samuel Stillman (P.hd) Photographs”, Written By Unknown & Published at an Unknown Date. Published by Conchology. Retrieval Date: January 20th, 2024.
Citation No. 3: “Samuel Stillman Berry (1887-1984)”, Written By Unknown & Published at an Unknown Date. Published By Bionity. Retrieval Date: January 20th, 2024.
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