EMERSON, W. Otto
EMERSON, William Otto (1856-1940), American ornithologist and artist, a founder of the Cooper Ornithological Club in 1893, and club president. William Otto Emerson was born near Chicago in Union, Illinois on March 2, 1856. He came with his family overland to California in 1870. After a few years in Placerville, he moved to San Francisco where he studied with Virgil Williams at the School of Design. Following the trend for serious art students of this period, he continued at Académie Julian in Paris under Bouguereau and Lefebvre. While there, he appears to have spent an extended period in Holland and brought back several paintings of his visit. During the latter part of his life Emerson lived in the San Francisco Bay area cities of Oakland and Hayward. He was a highly skilled painter of California landscapes, still lifes, Dutch and French scenes. As well as a painter, he was also a noted ornithologist; his collection of 6,000 species of western birds was donated to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Member: SFAA; American Artists Ass’n of Paris. Exhibited: California Midwinter Int'l Expo, 1894. Works held: California State Library.
Emerson died in Hayward, California on December 24, 1940.
Emerson collected on:
- Farallon Islands (1881, 1883, 1884, 1885 [June 14-July2], 1887 [May 2-June 2], 1903)
CONDOR 1(2): W. EMERSON, PROMINENT ORNITHOLOGIST, 1899
- 1904. Emerson, W. Otto The Farallone Islands Revisited, 1887-1903 The Condor 6(3):61-68, May-June 1904
SWARTH, HARRY THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 1893-1928, A HISTORY, 1929
Island Collections~
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | July 15, 1881 | USNM- | Uria aalge | Eggs/Nests |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | DMNS | June 23, 1883 | DMNS-eggs/nests 7 | Fratercula cirrhata | Eggs/Nests |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | UF | June 17, 1884 | UF-58497 | Fratercula cirrhata | Eggs/Nests |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 17, 1885 | WFVZ-132274 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 21, 1885 | WFVZ-46355 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 21, 1885 | WFVZ-46356 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 23, 1885 | WFVZ-58498 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 23, 1885 | WFVZ-76084 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | June 23, 1885 | WFVZ-78498 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 3, 1887 | WFVZ-76081 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 5, 1887 | WFVZ-76106 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | May 6, 1887 | CAS-22139 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | DMNS | May 11, 1887 | DMNS-3499 | Fratercula cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 15, 1887 | WFVZ-76105 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 15, 1887 | WFVZ-76107 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | May 16, 1887 | USNM-B25781 | Fratercula cirrhata | Birds |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | May 16, 1887 | USNM-B25782 | Fratercula cirrhata | Birds |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 17, 1887 | WFVZ-76108 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 19, 1887 | WFVZ-76110 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 19, 1887 | WFVZ-76111 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | UF | May 22, 1887 | UF-94103 | Fratercula cirrhata | Eggs/Nests |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 22, 1887 | WFVZ-76109 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 22, 1887 | WFVZ-76112 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 22, 1887 | WFVZ-76103 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | May 23, 1887 | CAS-22138 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | May 23, 1887 | CAS-22170 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | May 24, 1887 | USNM-B23728 | Fratercula cirrhata | Birds |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | May 24, 1887 | USNM-B24403 | Fratercula cirrhata | Birds |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | NMNH | May 24, 1887 | USNM-B24404 | Fratercula cirrhata | Birds |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | OMNH | May 28, 1887 | OMNH-618 | Fratercula cirrhata | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | WFVZ | May 28, 1887 | WFVZ-76104 | Fratercula [Lunda] cirrhata | Eggs |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | June 4, 1903 | CAS-22140 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | June 4, 1903 | CAS-22141 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
| Farallon Islands | W. Otto Emerson | CAS | June 4, 1903 | CAS-22142 | Oceanodroma homochroa | Eggs |
