George Shiras III (January 1, 1859 – March 24, 1942) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Pennsylvania and nature photographer who pioneered the use of nighttime flash photography.
George Shiras III | |
|---|---|
 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 29th district | |
| In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | district created |
| Succeeded by | William Harrison Graham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 1, 1859 Allegheny, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 24, 1942 (aged 83) Marquette, Michigan |
| Political party | Independent Republican |
| Parent |
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| Education | Cornell University, Yale Law School |
| Occupation | photographer, lawyer |
Biography
editGeorge Shiras (son of George Shiras Jr.) was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He attended the public schools and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1881 and from the law department of Yale College in 1883.
He was admitted to the Connecticut and Pennsylvania bars in 1883 and commenced the practice of his profession in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1889 and 1890, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress in 1890.
Shiras was elected as an Independent Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress. He did not seek renomination in 1904.
He passed away in Marquette, Michigan on the March 24, 1942, and was interred at the Park Cemetery.
Photography
editBoth during and after his time in Congress, Shiras participated in biological research and photography, to the extent that National Geographic has described him as "the father of wildlife photography" for his early use of camera traps and flash photography.[1]
On February 14, 1906, Shiras was elected Associate Member of the Boone and Crockett Club, a conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887.[2] He was credited with the discovery of a moose subspecies in Yellowstone National Park, which was named Alces alces shirasi, Shiras's Moose.[3]
In 1935, Shiras published Hunting Wild Life with Camera and Flashlight: a Record of Sixty Five years' Visits to the Woods and Waters of North America, a two-volume set of over 960 of his wildlife photographs, including some of the earliest 'flash' photography.
Collections of his papers are held at the National Library of Medicine[4] and the Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives.[5]
References
edit- ^ Wender, Jessie (November 20, 2015). "Meet Grandfather Flash, the Pioneer of Wildlife Photography". National Geographic. Archived from the original on November 28, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
- ^ "Boone and Crockett Club Archives".
- ^ "Northern Michigan University" (PDF).
- ^ "George Shiras Papers 1897-1923". National Library of Medicine.
- ^ "George Shiras III papers". Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives.
Sources
edit- United States Congress. "George Shiras III (id: S000370)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- The Political Graveyard
- "Michigan Death Certificates, 1921-1952," database, FamilySearch
