William Healey Dall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Healey Dall
W.H. Dall
Born	William Healey Cranch Dall (1845-08-21)21 August 1845 Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Died	March 27, 1927(1927-03-27) (aged 81) Washington, D.C., United States of America
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	English High School of Boston, Harvard College
Known for	Exploration of Alaska, malacology, founding the National Geographic Society
Spouse(s)	Annette Whitney (married 1880)
Children	Charles Whitney Dall, Marcus Healey Dall, Marian Dall
Parent(s)	Charles Henry Appleton Dall, Caroline Healey Dall
Awards	Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, Honorary A.M. from Wesleyan University, Honorary L.L.D. from George Washington University, Gold Medal from Wagner Free Institute of Science, member of National Academy of Sciences, Foreign fellow of the Geological Society of London
Scientific career
Fields	Malacologist, Naturalist, Anthropologist, Biologist, Explorer, Cartographer, Paleontologist
Institutions	Western Union, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, United States Geological Survey
Influences	Louis Agassiz, Augustus Addison Gould, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Jeffries Wyman, Robert Kennicott
Influenced	Paul Bartsch, Henry Augustus Pilsbry, Caesar Rudolf Boettger, R. Tucker Abbott
Author abbrev. (zoology)	Dall

William Healey Dall (born August 21, 1845 – died March 27, 1927) was an American scientist. He was a naturalist, which means he studied nature. He was especially famous for studying mollusks, which are soft-bodied animals like snails and clams.

Dall was one of the first scientists to explore the inside of Alaska. He described many mollusks found in the Pacific Northwest of America. For many years, he was the top expert in America on living and fossil mollusks. Besides mollusks, Dall also studied birds, other animals, people, the ocean, and ancient life forms. He also took weather measurements in Alaska for the Smithsonian Institution.

Who Was William Healey Dall?

His Early Life and Education

William Healey Dall was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Charles Henry Appleton Dall, was a minister who moved to India in 1855. William's mother, Caroline Wells Healey, stayed in Massachusetts. She was a teacher and worked for social change, including women's rights.

In 1862, William's father introduced him to scientists at Harvard University. William became very interested in mollusks. In 1863, after high school, he became a student of Louis Agassiz at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Agassiz encouraged Dall's interest in malacology, which was a new field of study. Dall also studied anatomy and medicine.

First Adventures and Discoveries

Dall took a job in Chicago where he met the famous naturalist Robert Kennicott. In 1865, a big trip called the Western Union Telegraph Expedition was planned. Its goal was to find a way to build a telegraph line from North America to Russia through the Bering Sea. Kennicott was chosen as the main scientist, and he picked Dall as his assistant. Dall was chosen because he knew a lot about small animals without backbones and fish.

They sailed on a ship called the Nightingale. Dall explored the coast of Siberia and made stops in Alaska, which was still owned by Russia then.

Exploring Alaska's Wilderness

In 1866, Dall continued his journey in Siberia. He learned that Kennicott had died in Alaska. Dall decided to finish Kennicott's work on the Yukon River. He stayed on the Yukon through the winter, even paying for his own expenses until 1868.

In 1867, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia. Alaska was mostly unexplored, with many plants and animals waiting to be found. Dall took on the job of surveying and studying this new land.

Back at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., Dall organized the thousands of specimens he had collected. In 1870, he wrote a book called Alaska and Its Resources. It described the Yukon River, Alaska's land, its resources, and the people living there. Also in 1870, Dall started working for the United States Coast Survey.

Dall went on several more trips to Alaska between 1871 and 1874. His main job was to map the coast, but he also collected many specimens. In 1871–72, he mapped the Aleutian Islands. In 1874, he visited Lituya Bay, comparing it to Yosemite Valley in California.

He sent his collections of mollusks, starfish, and fossils to Louis Agassiz at Harvard. Plants went to Asa Gray at Harvard. Old tools and cultural items went to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1877–1878, he worked on the "Blake expeditions" along the East Coast of the United States.

In 1878, Dall traveled to Europe for a science meeting in Dublin. He also visited mollusk collections and met other scientists.

Later Career and Contributions

Dall married Annette Whitney in 1880. They went to Alaska for their honeymoon. After arriving in Sitka, his wife returned home. Dall began his last survey season there.

In 1884, Dall left the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. He had already written over 400 scientific papers. In 1885, he joined the new United States Geological Survey. He became a paleontologist, studying ancient life forms. He also became an honorary curator at the U.S. National Museum, studying both modern and fossil mollusks. He kept this job until he died.

For the U.S. Geological Survey, Dall traveled to study geology and fossils. He visited the Northwest many times, and also Florida and Georgia.

In 1899, Dall joined the Harriman Alaska expedition. This trip included other famous scientists like glacier expert John Muir. They sailed along the coast of Alaska, visiting fjords, the Aleutian Islands, and the Bering Strait. Many new types of animals and plants were found. Dall was the main expert on Alaska. Other scientists were amazed by how much he knew about biology and the cultures of the native Alaskan peoples. He wrote chapters for the expedition's reports, including one on the exploration of Alaska and another on land and freshwater mollusks.

He also spent time at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, looking at their shell collection.

Honors and Recognition

William Healey Dall was a member of many U.S. scientific groups. He was a founder of the National Geographic Society. In 1897, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He was also a foreign member of the Geological Society of London. He received several honorary degrees from universities.

Mount Dall, a tall peak in the Alaska Range, was named after him in 1902. It is now in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Animals Named After William Healey Dall

Many animals have been named in honor of William Healey Dall because of his important work.

• Brachiopods:
  • Dallina

• Mollusks:
  • Conus dalli
  • Dalliella
  • Haliotis dalli
  • Rissoina dalli
  • Caecum dalli
  • Notoplax dalli
  • Knefastia dalli
  • Cirsotrema dalli
  • Hanleya dalli
  • Propeamussium dalli

• Fish:
  • Sebastes dallii

• Mammals:
  • Dall's sheep, Ovis dalli
  • Dall's porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli
  • Ursus arctos Dalli (a type of brown bear)

Images for kids

• 

  Village on the lower Yukon during fishing season, June 1868, from an original sketch by Dall

• 

  Dall's 1875 map showing the distribution of native tribes in Alaska

• 

  Dall about 1888

See also

In Spanish: William Healey Dall para niños