Roger Tory Peterson was an influential American artist with his depictions of birds. Image provided by Darla McCammon.

By DeeAnna Muraski
and Darla McCammon
Guest Columnists

WARSAW — Continuing with our top American Artist series, we come to an artist famous for his depictions of the natural world, especially his scrutiny and books all about birds.

Roger Tory Peterson was born in 1908 in the industrial area of Jamestown, N.Y. Unfortunately, his immigrant grandfather died of appendicitis, after which Peterson’s father, Charles, went off, like his Swedish father, to work in the mills. Peterson’s father soon rejected this type of work and tried to make a career as a traveling salesman. He married Henrietta Badar, also an immigrant, and they moved to Jamestown, where their son, Roger, was to get his introduction and an education in sketching birds.

His teacher, interestingly named Miss Hornbeck, encouraged this talent throughout high school. After graduating, Roger attended seminars on art techniques and worked on the side. He needed to be able to afford more extensive education with classes at the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design and the Bronx County Bird Club. By 1934, his first “A Field Guide to the Birds” was published with bird “plates” that identify the birds. All his hard work paid off when, shockingly, the book sold out 2,000 copies within one week. This amazing success prompted six more editions. An illustration of a bird allows birders, and novices, to see emphasized field marks not readily identified in a photograph.

Because of his first book’s success, Peterson began publishing articles and books on birds. During this period, he also married three times, the first marriage only briefly. His second wife bore him two sons and assisted with research for his guidebooks. His last marriage was to Virginia Westervelt, who also contributed to the organization and research for his field guides as they became more and more popular with bird lovers. She created the extensive and detailed “Range Maps,” which indicated which parts of the country and world you could find particular species.

Not content anymore to just draw and sketch the birds, he also began writing, researching and contributing, much to the gratification of bird watchers. He developed the extremely successful “Peterson Identification System” and was recognized for his work and the clarity of the field marks in his work. Peterson’s unique identification system helped point out bird eye rings, wing bars, tarsus, scapulars, distinctive breast markings, etc.

Peterson went on to win innumerable awards and accolades. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, N.Y., is named in his honor. In 2000, the American Birding Association established the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding. A biography titled “Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson” by Elizabeth J Rosenthal was published in 2008. Many publications such as the Peterson Field Guides’ book “Western Birds” (photo provided) have won awards.

Paul R. Ehrlich, in “The Birder’s Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds,” Fireside, 1988, said of Peterson: “In this century, no one has done more to promote an interest in living creatures than Roger Tory Peterson, the inventor of the modern field guide.”

Events

It’s the last chance to view work by Steve Hoffman at Warsaw City Hall. Also visit Lakeland Art Gallery in Warsaw for its current exhibitors. Both exhibits are free to view. Would you like your work on exhibit? Contact Darla McCammon at (574) 527-4044

Darla McCammon is an artist, columnist and author, and DeeAnna Muraski is executive director of Operation Read USA Inc. For information, call (574) 527-4044 or send an email to [email protected].