Dr. Albert W. Herre was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1868, and grew up in central Illinois. During his early years he was a newspaper reporter for the Illinois State Register, then he went on to become the Assistant Superintendent of schools in Springfield until 1900. In 1891, Herre married Clara Mendonsa with whom he had five children: Inez, Dorothy, Albert, Helen, and Marion. Clara died of pneumonia in 1905 and, in 1907, Herre met and married Lizzie Bailey, a young widow with two children of her own.
During this time, Herre’s growing passion for biology inspired him to earn a Bachelor’s degree (1903), a Master’s degree (1906), and a Doctorate (1908) from Stanford, while also teaching biology at San Jose High School. He continued to teach until 1920, the last five years of which he served as head of the Science Department at Western Washington University (then called Western Washington Normal School).
In 1920, thanks to a growing reputation as a talented ichthyologist, Dr. Herre was appointed Chief of the Department of Fisheries of the Philippine Bureau of Science. While based in Manila, he published a wide number of surveys and papers, and also traveled to the surrounding areas including Japan and Borneo.
In 1929, Dr. Herre moved back to the United States to take the post of Curator of the Zoology Museum at Stanford University, where he remained for the next eighteen years. During his time as curator he also became a member of the Crane Pacific expedition, and traveled extensively around Haiti, Fiji, Panama, and New Guinea. In 1948, Dr. Herre was asked by the Director of the School of Fisheries at the University of Washington to make a collection of Philippine fishes. As part of this project, Dr. Herre managed to secure over 800 species, and was later offered a position in the Department of Fisheries at UW from 1948 to 1957. Dr. Herre continued to teach until 1920, the last five years of which he served as head of the Science Department at Western Washington University (then called Western Washington Normal School).
During the course of his life, Dr. Herre was the author of more than 205 papers, books, and article on fishes and fisheries. He was also the author of around 70 papers on lichens and other botanical subjects. In addition he has published numerous travel articles, poems, stories, educational papers, and miscellaneous sketches and essays.
Albert Herre died in Santa Cruz, CA, in 1962.
Correspondence (1886-1997) consists of letters written by various Herre family members over a period of 91 years. The majority of the correspondence is from Albert Herre to his family during his journeys in the Philippines, but also includes correspondence from Albert’s first wife Clara Mendonsa, his second wife Lizzie Bailey, as well as personal and professional correspondence.
Family Mementos (1908-1987) include various documents and items that were considered important and kept by the Herre family. This includes billfolds, ID cards, diplomas, family trees, address books, and items from the memorial services of Albert and Lizzie Herre.
Newspaper Clippings (circa 1926-1962) consist of newspaper clippings about Albert Herre’s life and extensive career, Lizzie Herre, and miscellaneous stories of interest.
Photographs (circa 1897-1982) includes photos of various Herre family members, photos from Albert Herre’s journeys throughout the South Pacific, Galapagos, and Haiti, and photos from Pompeii. The photos from the Philippines contain images of landscapes, animals, plants, and native peoples.
Sound Recordings (circa 1950-1963) include recordings from interviews with Albert and Lizzie Herre, conversations with Albert’s daughter Helen and Mr. Crabtree, recordings of social gatherings, recordings created by Albert’s daughter Inez, and a large number of undated recordings with no identifying information.
Writings and Publications (1902-1970) consist of published and unpublished works by Albert Herre and others. Works by Albert Herre include manuscripts, scientific articles, notes, journals, and short essays. Also included in this series are works created by Albert Herre’s wife and brother, biographical works written about Albert, and published items collected by Albert.
The Albert W. Herre Papers are organized according to the following series arrangement:
The collection is open to the public.
Material in the collection may be subject to copyright restrictions.
Albert W. Herre Papers, Special Collections, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103.
The collection was donated by Kathleen Zuidmeer in November 2000.
The original order of the documents in this collection were difficult to ascertain due to reorganization activities that were started before the collection was acquired. Because of this, the order of this collection was in part imposed by the archivist.
To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and
teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see
our
Additional papers of Albert W. Herre are housed at the University of Washington.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.