Archives West Finding Aid

Harry Wentworth Higman was born in Chicago September 11, 1883. He attended Dartmouth college as an undergraduate where was a member of Phi Delta Theta and served on the board of "The Dartmouth". He married Florence E. Jordan in St. Joseph, Michigan, June 12, 1909.

After graduation he moved to Washington State where he lived for the rest of his life. He engaged in business, first in Kittikas and Beverly but after 1920 in Seattle. He was president of the Crockett Company, general merchandise, from 1915 to 1949, and treasurer of A. F. Cox and Co. from 1920 to 1949, when he retired.

Higman's lifetime avocation had been the study of biology and ecology, and in retirement he gave all his attention to it. He was widely known in the Northwest for his knowledge of nature and the out-of-doors. He was a recognized authority on ferns and Alpine flora, and had a solid reputation as a skilled nature photographer. For several years he wrote a weekly nature article for the Seattle Times. He was a prominent and active member of ten or more biological and conservation societies, including the Seattle Audubon Society, of which he was president for two years, the Seattle Mountaineers, and the Northwest Bird and Mammal Society. In 1960 he received the Irving M. Clark Conservation Award from the North Cascades Conservation Council He was the co-author of two books: Pilchuck, the Life of a Mountain (1949), and Union Bay, the Life of a City Marsh (1951).

Higman was also a member of the Committee to Save Olympic National Park. His main role was to publicize and let people know the threats to national parks. He was a publisher of the Northwest, producing books such as "Union Bay". His goal was for people to understand threats made to parks.

He died in Seattle on April 9, 1969 after a long illness.

Sources: https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1969/6/1/deaths; collection materials