Albert S. Bickmore

Albert Smith Bickmore was born on March 1, 1839, and passed away on August 12, 1914. He was an American naturalist. This means he studied plants, animals, and nature.

Bickmore helped create the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He was one of the museum’s founders. His work helped make the museum a special place for learning about the natural world.

Childhood

Albert Bickmore was born on March 1, 1839, in a small town called St. George near Martinsville harbor in Maine. He grew up near the beach and a forest, which gave him a strong love for nature. As a child, he liked collecting shells and sea urchins, learning about plants and animals, and skating on a pond in the winter.

His community was centered around the church and school. Books were rare, but he loved a book called "Goldsmith's Natural History, Abridged," with simple drawings of animals. When he was 8, he traveled to France with his parents and sister.

Education

Albert Bickmore went to prep school in New London, New Hampshire and then studied at Dartmouth College. His favorite subjects were chemistry, geology, and mineralogy. His teachers noticed his love for natural history and gave him a letter to meet a famous professor at Harvard named Louis Agassiz.

After graduating in 1860, Bickmore became one of Agassiz’s special students. He worked at Agassiz’s Museum of Comparative Zoology to help pay for his studies. During this time, Bickmore started dreaming of creating a Museum of Natural History in New York City. He believed New York should have a grand museum like the ones in Europe because New York was an important city in America. When the Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII, visited Cambridge, MA in 1861, Bickmore talked about his museum idea with Dr. Henry Acland from the University of Oxford. Dr. Acland’s support made Bickmore even more determined to build the museum.

Civil War military service

In 1862, Albert Bickmore joined the 44th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. He served under Colonel Francis L. Lee and Major General John G. Foster. The regiment went to New Bern, NC and faced the Confederate Army. Bickmore was not hurt. After the battle, he asked to keep weather records at a hospital near Cape Lookout. Later, he returned home to continue his studies at Harvard.

Book written

Albert S. Bickmore wrote a book called "Travels in the East Indian Archipelago" in 1868. He began his journey to collect shells mentioned in an old book. His trip through the East Indian Archipelago took place from April 1865 to May 1866. He arrived in Batavia on April 30, 1865, on a ship named Memnon from Boston.