Frederic Ward Putnam

Frederic Ward Putnam
Frederic Ward Putnam
Born	April 16, 1839 Salem, Massachusetts
Died	August 14, 1914(1914-08-14) (aged 75) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Fields	biologist and anthropology
Institutions	Harvard University
Doctoral advisor	Louis Agassiz

Frederic Ward Putnam (April 16, 1839 – August 14, 1915 was an American anthropologist.

Putnam was born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Ebenezer (1797–1876) and Elizabeth (Appleton) Putnam. After leaving college, Ebenezer had for a short time engaged in fitting young men for college, but soon went into business in Cincinnati as a commission merchant, a line in which he was successful. Recalled to Salem by his father's death in 1826, Ebenezer married there and devoted himself to the study and cultivation of plants and fruits, and involved himself in the Democratic Party in his county. Although frequently offered office, Ebenezer never accepted, except to serve as alderman in the so-called “model-government” of Salem when that town was first chartered as a city, and as postmaster of Salem.

Frederic's early studies were at private schools, and with his father at home. He became curator of ornithology at the Essex Institute in Salem in 1856. That year he published List of the Birds of Essex County. A visit of Louis Agassiz to Salem, who appreciated his abilities, resulted in his taking his college studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, where he was a student of Agassiz at the Museum of Comparative Zoology which was also part of Harvard. However, he broke with Agassiz over the theory of evolution and led his fellow students in an academic revolt. Putnam graduated from Harvard in 1862, and his early work was as a naturalist done with fellow students he had first met while studying under Agassiz, Edward Sylvester Morse, A. S. Packard and Alpheus Hyatt. These four were later the founders of the American Naturalist in 1867. Putnam originated The Naturalist's Directory in 1865.