Robert Thomas "R. T." Moore (June 24, 1882 – October 30, 1958) was an American businessman, ornithologist, philanthropist, and founder and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards. In his obituary, Lionel Stevenson wrote, "Robert Thomas Moore was an exceptional amalgam of the poet, the scientist, and the man of affairs."

Biography

Moore was born in

Haddonfield, New Jersey Haddonfield is a borough (New Jersey), borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,550, an increase of 957 (+8.3%) from the ...

, on June 24, 1882, the son of Henry D. Moore, a wealthy

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

businessman. Moore earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1904 and an master of arts degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1905 in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. Moore's father was from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, and owned a family vacation camp at Big Benson. Moore purchased land on Borestone Mountain in Maine and began the Borestone Mountain Fox Company. The company ran several fur farms that raised

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

es for their pelts, which were used for fur garments. In 1921, the Borestone Mountain farm was referred to as "the leading urranch in North America". In the 1920s, Moore opened the Borestone Mountain Ranch, which was a fur farm near

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the Western United States, western United States, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, California. It is a snow and rain-fed lake, having no other m ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. In addition to his business activities, Moore was an active ornithologist, who published about 60

scientific papers Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the Natural science, natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research an ...

. From 1911 to 1916, Moore edited '' Cassinia'', which is the journal of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. Moore moved to California around 1929, and became an associate of the Department of Zoology at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. In 1933, he hired Chester C. Lamb to help build his collection of birds; Lamb worked with Moore on the project for 22 years, collecting about 40,000 bird and mammal specimens in Mexico from 1933 until 1955. Herbert Friedmann has written that Moore's "great achievement was his forming of the Moore collection, containing about 65,000 birds, over 80% of which are from Mexico, and 1,000 mammals, now housed in a building given by him to

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

in Los Angeles, with an endowment for its maintenance and for furthering studies on American birds, particularly those of Mexico and adjacent areas." The Moore Laboratory of Zoology at Occidental College is still in operation half a century following Moore's death; the present director is Dr. John E. McCormack. Friedmann also particularly notes Moore's discovery of two new bird species and a genus; Moore is credited at the

Integrated Taxonomic Information System The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

with the discoveries of five bird species (the tufted jay, masked mountain-tanager, maroon-fronted parrot, short-crested coquette, and Balsas screech-owl) and 30 subspecies. Moore was first to climb the Ecuadorian

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

Sangay Sangay (also known as Macas, Sanagay, or Sangai) is an Volcano#Active, active stratovolcano in central Ecuador. It exhibits mostly Strombolian eruption, strombolian activity. Geologically, Sangay marks the southern boundary of the Northern Volc ...

in 1929. From 1934 to 1938, Moore chaired the Galápagos Commission of Ecuador, which has worked to conserve the natural history of the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

. In 1940, he was elected a Fellow of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

. In 1946, Moore established the Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards. In 1949, he published an anthology of poems selected from those published in 1948 by English-language magazines around the world; the authors of several of these poems were awarded cash prizes by a panel of noted poets working as volunteer judges. The prizes and publication of the anthology were continued annually through 1977, well past Moore's death in 1958. Moore had established a

charitable foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

to underwrite the expenses of administering the prizes and publishing the anthology. Moore died at his home in Flintridge, California on October 30, 1958. Upon his death, he bequeathed the land he owned on Borestone Mountain to the

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

; the Audubon holdings were later enlarged by additional gifts from Moore's son and daughter and from others to its present size of . In 2000, ownership of the sanctuary was transferred to the Maine Audubon Society; the sanctuary is open to hikers, and incorporates the Robert Thomas Moore Nature Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Robert Thomas American ornithologists University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard University alumni People from Haddonfield, New Jersey 1882 births 1958 deaths Businesspeople from Camden County, New Jersey 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American businesspeople