Person

Baker, A. B. (Arthur Benoni), 1858-1930

1858-1930

Arthur Benoni Baker was born on July 28, 1858, in Otisco, New York.

He was an American zoologist. As a young man, he worked at Ward's Natural Science Establishment in Rochester, New York. In 1910, soon after the establishment of the National Zoo in Washington, he entered its service, and, except for six months in 1915 when he oversaw the Boston Zoological Garden, he remained there until his death. Mr. Baker specialized in mammalogy but had a vast knowledge of birds and reptiles. He served as an assistant director of the National Zoological Park. In 1899, he went on a collecting expedition to Puerto Rico and contributed to the report on the natural history specimens collected for the Smithsonian Institution Annual Report, 1899. He wrote "A Notable Success in the Breeding of Black Bears" (1904) and was an important factor in the development of the National Zoological Park. In 1909, he made a special trip to Nairobi, Kenya, and brought home a collection of animals presented to the Zoo. Mr. Baker was a member of the Cosmos Club and the Society of Mammalogists. In 1912, he published the book "Further Notes on the Breeding of the American Black Bear in Captivity" (1912).

In 1888, he married Dr. May Davis (1865–1955). He died of pneumonia on February 8, 1930, in Washington, D.C.