Young Naturalists Society

The Young Naturalists Society was an organization of scientifically inclined youth in Seattle, Washington that existed from 1879 to 1904 and was instrumental in the founding of the Washington State Museum (now known as the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture).

Founding

The Young Naturalists Society was founded in December 1879 by a group of four Seattle high school students: Edmond S. Meany, J. O. Young, P. Brooks Randolph, and Charles Denny. Denny's father, city founder Arthur Denny, was a regent of the Territorial University of Washington and arranged for the group to meet on campus. The Young Naturalists adopted a constitution and bylaws, and the official name "Young Naturalists Society," in 1880. As the founding members graduated high school and matriculated to the university, the membership of the Young Naturalists expanded to include university students.^[1]

The Young Naturalists Society clubhouse in Seattle, pictured probably in the late 1800s.

Growth

In 1882 Orson Johnson was retained as a biology instructor at the University of Washington. Under his direction, the Young Naturalists began amassing a sizable collection of zoological and geological specimens, which were stored in a backroom of the Denny home.^[2] A permanent structure to house the growing collection was built on the Territorial University's campus in 1886, with the club soliciting donations to fund its construction. Many specimens in the collection were regularly borrowed by university faculty to assist in instruction.^[3]

In the 1890s Edmond Meany returned to teach history at the university. He led a revitalization of the group that he had helped found a decade before, bringing in new members, including women. By this point the society's collection had grown to include more than 60,000 specimens.^[4]

Disbandment

The University of Washington moved its campus from downtown Seattle to its present location in 1895. The portion of the Young Naturalists collection that had been used in university instruction was relocated to the university's Denny Hall while the remainder stayed in the Young Naturalists clubhouse downtown. In 1899 the Washington State Legislature designated the portion of Denny Hall used to house the collection as the Washington State Museum.^[5] In 1904 the Young Naturalists voted to donate the rest of their collection to the Washington State Museum and disband.^[1]

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