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Archiver > WHITNEY > 2004-02 > 1075618876


From: Stu Parsons <>
Subject: Re: [WHITNEY-L] Josiah & William Dwight Whitney
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:01:16 -0800
References: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0401311131130.21571-100000@egor.unm.edu>


He should have bought land in the LA area rather than resigning from the Natioinal Academy.

Stu Parsons

karl h schwerin wrote:

> There was a query, months ago, about the resignation of the brothers
> Josiah Dwight Whitney and William Dwight Whitney from the National Academy
> of Sciences. After several inquiries and long delays, I finally have the
> answer, which I am forwarding to the list.
>
> Karl Schwerin SnailMail: Dept. of Anthropology
> Univ. of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131
> e-mail:
>
> Message
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Grodin, Susan
> To:
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 7:47 AM
> Subject: informatoin for you
>
> Dr. Schwerin -
> Dan Barbiero compiled the following information in response to your request.
> Again, thank you for your immeasurable patience.
> Cordially,
> Susan Grodin
>
> *************
>
> Dear Professor Schwerin,
>
> Thank you for your query regarding the resignations from the NAS of brothers J. D. Whitney and W. D. Whitney, which was passed over to us here at the NAS Archives this morning.
>
> J. D. Whitney resigned his membership in 1874, as a result of the Academy's refusal to adjudicate formal charges made against the scientific character of fellow Academy member Benjamin Silliman. The charges, drawn up by J. D. Whitney, were read by W. D. Whitney to a special meeting of the NAS Council at the Academy's 1873 Autumn Meeting. The disagreement between J. D. Whitney and Silliman dated back to 1864, when Whitney disputed Silliman's claims regarding the presence of petroleum and mineral oil sources in the Los Angeles area. The Academy Council in December 1874 tabled the matter, holding that the Academy's rules gave it no grounds for adjudicating a dispute that the Council held to be a merely personal one. J. D. Whitney resigned before the year was out, while W. D. Whitney, who consequently stopped attending Academy meetings, resigned formally in 1882.
>
> The above is a condensation of information found on pages 120-121 of Rexmond Cochrane's The National Academy of Sciences: The First Hundred Years 1863-1963. According to one of Cochrane's footnotes, additional information can be found in Edwin T. Brewster's Life and Letters of Josiah Dwight Whitney (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909).
>
> I hope this is helpful.
>
> Sincerely,
> Daniel Barbiero
> Archivist
> National Academies Archives

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