MEADOWS, Don Charles
MEADOWS, Don Charles (1897-1994), book-collector, butterfly collector, teacher, historian, and naturalist who took a great interest in California's Channel Islands. He received is M.S. degree in entomology at Berkeley in 1931. As an avocational lepidopterist and teacher of biology at Long Beach High School, he conceived the idea of doing a biological survey of Santa Catalina Island in the 1930s, an idea he presented to fellow lepidoptrist, John A. Comstock, Director of Science at the Los Angeles County Museum.
Meadows and his wife, Frances, moved to Avalon where they built a house, and where their son, Donald, was born. During their seven years at Avalon, Meadows published several papers on the biology and history of the island. From 1939 through 1941 he was field supervisor for the Los Angeles County Museum Channel Islands Biological Survey.
His notes and papers are located at University of California Irvine; the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Channel Islands Archives.
Meadows visited the California Channel Islands:
- Anacapa Island (1940)
- San Clemente Island (1939)
- San Miguel Island (1939)
- San Nicolas Island (1939)
- Santa Barbara Island (1939)
- Santa Catalina Island ( )
- Santa Cruz Island (1939)
- Santa Rosa Island (1939)
- 1928. Meadows, Don. Bird Notes from Santa Catalina Island The Condor 30(4):250-251, 1928
- 1929. Meadows, Don Notes on the avifauna of Santa Catalina Island The Condor 31(1):129-130, May 1929
- 1930. Meadows, Don. Bird Notes from Santa Catalina Island The Condor 32(4):211-212, 1930
- 1934. Meadows, Don. Additional Notes from Santa Catalina Island The Condor 36(1):40, 1934
- 1936. Meadows, Don. An Annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Santa Catalina Island, California. Part I: Rhopalocera. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 35(3):175-180
- 1936. Meadows, Don. An Annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Santa Catalina Island, California Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 37(3):133-136
- 1939. Meadows, Don Progress Report of the Los Angeles Museum—Channel Islands Biological Survey. San Clemente Island Expedition, April 1-8, 1939 Ms. on file, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, 1939
- [copy in SCIF archives]
- 1942. Meadows, Don Contributions from the Los Angeles Museum Channel Islands Biological Survey. 25. A New Phalaenid Moth from the Channel Islands Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 41:81-82, May-August 1942. (Part 2). Stapled wraps.
- [original in SCIF archives]
- 1955. Meadows, Don. The American Occupation of La Paz Early California Travel Series 31. Los Angeles: Glen Dawson, 1955
- [original in SCIF archives]
- 1982. Meadows, Don. A Gathering of Tributes to Don Meadows A Keepsake offered by the Friends of the Library, University of California, Irvine, 1982.
Island Collections~
Santa Catalina Island
10/1/1929 LACM entomology
5/27/1932 LACM entomology
5/3/1933 LACM entomology
4/9/1933 LACM entomology
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | |
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | CAS | October 17, 1927 | CAS-63078 | Lampropeltis getulus californiae | Herps |
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | MVZ | October 17, 1927 | MVZ-63079 | Uta stansburiana | Herps |
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | MVZ | October 17, 1927 | MVZ-63080 | Thamnophis hammondii | Herps |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | MVZ | April 10 17, 1938 | WFVZ-105505 | Vermivora celata | Eggs |
| ~ trip ~ | ||||||
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | MVZ | December 9, 1932 | MVZ-54549 | Peromyscus maniculatus catalinae | Mammals |
| Santa Catalina Island | D. C. Meadows | MVZ | December 9, 1932 | MVZ-54550 | Peromyscus maniculatus catalinae | Mammals |
San Clemente Island
4/4/1939 LACM entomology
In the News~
June 4, 1925 [LAT]: “An ancient Indian graveyard, antedating the California Mission Period, has been discovered near Purisima Mission in the Santa Ynez Valley above here, according to Don Meadows and Ray Gruwell of Orange, research workers who have just returned from exploring the antiquated burying grounds…”
July 5, 1925 [LAT/SB]: “An ancient Indian graveyard believed to antedate the California Mission Period, was discovered recently near Purisima Mission by Don Meadows and Ray Gruwell, Orange California research workers… According to Meadows, they dug through three different layers of graves, each from three to four feet in depth…”
July 22, 1939 [SBNP]: “Scientists sail for San Nicolas. The story of Juana María, the Indian woman who lived alone on San Nicolas Island for 18 years, is recalled with word that an expedition sailed from San Pedro yesterday for the Santa Barbara Channel to seek the home of the ‘female Robinson Crusoe of the Pacific.’ The story of Juana María is one of the most curious in all the history of this region. When the Indians were removed from the island to the mainland following an epidemic in 1835, Juana María was left behind. The story has it that she left the boat to find her baby and the boat sailed without her. The baby died, but Juana María lived there alone for 18 years, catching fish and birds for her food. She was taken off the island by the late Captain Nidever of Santa Barbara, a sea otter hunter and trapper, who brought her to his Santa Barbara home, but she died soon after. The expedition is led by Arthur Woodward, director of history and anthropology at the Los Angeles museum, and includes Captain C. H. Groat, Don Meadows, Jack Von Bloeker, M. B. Dunkle, Lloyd Martin, George Kanakoff, Russell Spring and Jewel Lewis.”
