Owen Frederick Bryant (1882-1958)

Biographical Sketch, by Sharon Landwehr, Archives Volunteer

Owen Bryant was born in Brookline Massachusetts on Feb 14,1882. He was a graduate of Harvard College, class of 1904, with an A.B. degree. Although he attended Harvard Medical School between the years 1904-1908 and in 1911 as a special student in bacteriology, he did not choose that profession. Instead, farming seed grains (Alberta, Canada), oil speculation (Alberta, Canada) and entomology held his attention. During his school days summers were spent on entomological collecting trips to Bermuda (1904-1905), Northern Newfoundland (1906), Labrador (1908), and Java (1909-1910). A self proclaimed "bug hunter", future collecting trips visited the Arctic (1931) and the Mackenzie Delta, Nuvik, Canada (1932).

In 1932 Owen Bryant married Lucy Helen McBride. They had one daughter, Lou McBride Bryant. Residences included Banff, Alberta, Canada (1929-1936), Tucson, Arizona (1939) Steamboat Springs, Colorado (1942-1949) and Montara, California (1952-1958), where he died leaving his entire estate to California Academy of Sciences.

As a Patron of the California Academy of Sciences (1946), Owen Bryant donated 15,000 identified & mounted weevils to the entomology department. He was also a Life Member and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, member of the Geographical Society of America, and honorary life member of the Boston Society of Natural History.

Sources Consulted:

Owen Frederick Bryant Manuscript Collection

California Academy of Sciences Index for the Manuscript Collection

Index cards for California Academy of Sciences Staff and Members

Annual Report 1946

Academy Newsletters

California Academy of Sciences Archives Biographical Binders