Reginald Van Trump Truitt (August 12, 1890 – April 11, 1991) was an American zoologist, Army officer, and college

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player and coach. He spent his professional career studying the oyster habitat in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. Truitt founded the

Chesapeake Biological Laboratory The Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) is a marine science laboratory on the Chesapeake Bay in Solomons, Maryland, and it is the oldest state-supported marine laboratory on the East Coast of the U.S. It was founded in 1925 in a small waterma ...

at what is now the

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) is a multi-university scientific Research institute, research center within the University System of Maryland dedicated to environmental science, estuarine studies, and Oceanog ...

. He also served as the first head lacrosse coach at his alma mater, the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

from 1919 to 1927. Truitt was inducted into the

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland, at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood c ...

in 1959.

Early life

Truitt was born on August 12, 1890, in

Snow Hill, Maryland Snow Hill is a town in and the county seat of Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,156 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Snow Hill was founded ...

.Reginald Truitt Papers
University of Maryland Libraries, retrieved July 9, 2010. He attended

Snow Hill High School Snow Hill High School (SHHS) is a four-year public high school in Snow Hill, Maryland, United States. It is one of four public high schools in Worcester County along with Pocomoke High School, Stephen Decatur High School, and the Worcester Tec ...

, from which he graduated in 1910. He then went on to college at the

Maryland Agricultural College The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Universi ...

(now the University of Maryland) in 1910. While there, he played

and competed in track, winning

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

in both sports in 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914. He served as the lacrosse team's captain and student coach as a senior in 1914. Truitt graduated from Maryland that year with a Bachelor of Science degree. Truitt served in the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He received a commission as a second lieutenant and served as a pilot in a pursuit squadron.

Professor and coach at Maryland

After the war, Truitt began teaching at the University of Maryland. In 1919, he served as a graduate assistant in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. Truitt taught as a zoology professor at Maryland from 1925 to 1941. Truitt received his PhD from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in Washington, D.C., in 1929. In 1930, Truitt married Mary Virginia née Harrington, daughter of former Maryland governor Emerson Harrington. The couple had two daughters: Virginia in 1931 and Gertrude (Trudy) in 1938, as well as a son, Emerson, who was born in 1933. Truitt was Maryland's first official lacrosse coach and served in that capacity from 1919 to 1927. In 1923, Truitt,

Curley Byrd Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and ...

, Burton Shipley, and

Geary Eppley Geary Francis "Swede" Eppley ( December 30, 1895 – June 10, 1978) was an American university administrator, professor, agronomist, military officer, athlete, and track and field coach. He served as the University of Maryland athletic director f ...

founded the M Club, an athletic alumni association, as a means to keep former

student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

s actively involved with the university. In 1924, Maryland elevated its team to the varsity level, and Truitt amassed a varsity record of 22–8–1. Truitt continued his post-graduate education at Maryland, where he wrote his master's thesis on the oyster industry. He received his Master of Science degree in 1921. After his coaching tenure, he remained active in the sport of lacrosse, and in the 1920s and 1930s, Truitt served as an official. He also wrote numerous lacrosse articles that were published in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

newspapers, and was responsible for organizing a tour of the United States by English collegiate teams from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Truitt held several offices with the

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

Founder of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory

Truitt's interests in the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay from an early age. Truitt's father held oyster leases in Maryland's coastal bays, and the young Truitt noted the declines in production from these leases. This motivated his interest in the biology of both crabs and oysters. While working for the US Fisheries Commission, Truitt started thinking about establishing his own base of operations. He evaluated potential sites in Virginia, and on Maryland's Eastern Shore, but finally settled on Solomons, MD home to an active crab processing facility, in part because the people of Solomons gave him a small building from which to base his operations. In 1925, Truitt founded the

on Solomons Island, as a joint collaboration between the Carnegie Institute in Washington, DC., Gaucher College, and St. Johns College. From its founding, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory offered summer programs for students, and provided research space for marine biologists. He served as the laboratory's first director, and remained in that post until his retirement in 1954. The Chesapeake Biological Laboratory is the founding laboratory of the

Truit spent three decades studying the habitat of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s,Christine Keiner, '' The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay since 1880''
pp. 115–117
University of Georgia Press, 2009, . and the

Maryland Department of Natural Resources The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is a government agency in the state of Maryland charged with maintaining natural resources including state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, wildlife, and recreation areas. I ...

later called him "the most respected and influential scientist of his era in the Bay region and a tireless advocate for scientific inquiry into the Chesapeake."Mitchell Tarnowski
A BRIEF HISTORY of OYSTER POPULATION SURVEYS in MARYLAND INCLUDING a SUMMARY of the 2002 SURVEY RESULTS
, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, retrieved July 9, 2010. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Truitt worked for the government researching underwater sound, for which he received a commendation from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. He was a partner in the George W. Truitt & Company oyster business in Snow Hill until 1943.

Later life and honors

In 1954, Truitt retired as the director of the

and director of the

's Department of Research and Education. He settled at Great Neck Farm in

Stevensville, Maryland Stevensville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, United States, and is the county's most populous place among both CDPs and municipalities. The community is the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The ...

. Truitt died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at the age of 100 on April 11, 1991, at Memorial Hospital in

Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,101 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 17,342 in 2022. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...

.Reginald Truitt
''The Baltimore Sun'', April 15, 1991. The

inducted Truitt as a player in 1959.Reginald V. Truitt
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, retrieved July 9, 2010. The

University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1982 by the M Club Foundation to honor student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who made significant contributions to athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park, U ...

inducted him in 1984. For his work in the Chesapeake, Truitt received the

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...

Award from the state of Maryland in 1981. In 1987, ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' ''Sunday Sun'' magazine included him in its "150 People Who Shaped the Way We Live" in its 150th anniversary issue. A research laboratory, built in 1973, on the

campus was named in his honor. The original building was demolished in 2016 and new laboratory was rededicated to R.V. Truitt in 2017.Truitt Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, retrieved April 23, 2020. After his death, the Truitt Memorial Fund was established to award scholarships for study in the marine sciences at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.

Published works

*''Kent Island: Maryland's Oldest Settlement'' (1965) *''High Winds, High Tides: A Chronicle of Maryland's Coastal Hurricanes'' (1968) *''Assateague... The "Place Across": A Saga of Assateague Island'' (1971) *''Worcester County, Maryland's Arcadia'' (1977)

References

External links

*
Reginald Truitt papers
at the

University of Maryland Libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truitt, R. V. 1890 births 1991 deaths American marine biologists 20th-century American zoologists American men centenarians Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse coaches Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse players American University alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I United States Army officers People from Stevensville, Maryland People from Snow Hill, Maryland Military personnel from Maryland Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland