John Nathan Cobb : founding Director of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle

Marine Fisheries Review, Summer, 2003 by J. Richard Dunn

Introduction

John Nathan Cobb (1868-1930), author, naturalist, conservationist, and canneryman (Fig. 1), was one of the last of a breed of men who attained a high position in academia without the benefit of a college education. (1) In a career that began as a printer's aide for a newspaper, he worked as a stenographer and clerk, a newspaper reporter, a "Field Agent" for the U.S. Fish Commission (USFC) and its successor, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, as an editor for a commercial fishing trade magazine of the Pacific Northwest, and as a supervisor for companies in the commercial fishing industry. In 1919, Cobb was appointed the founding director of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington (U.W.), the first such college established in the United States.

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Thus, through self-education, hard work, and ambition, Cobb rose from unpretentious beginnings to become a dean in a major university. Cobb's career was testimony not only to the democratic ideals of the United States, but it also was evidence of his competence and an affirmation of the high level of esteem in which he was held by his peers. He excelled in knowledge of the commercial fisheries industry.

Cobb's tenure as director (later, dean) of the College of Fisheries from 1919 to 1930 must be considered successful, based upon the number of students enrolled in the College as well as in the records of attainment of its graduates. Cobb's approach to the educational focus of the College reflected his experience and mind-set, focusing on the practical applied aspects of the commercial fishing industry. Initially, this approach was also that favored by the University administration.

By the time of his death in 1930, however, it became apparent that his educational philosophy was out of date and was not accepted by the new University administration because of the College's failure to emphasize scholarly achievement. This was demonstrated by the rapid termination of the College by the U.W. administration upon Cobb's passing in 1930 (Stickney, 1989).

Cobb became a well-known "professional" naturalist of his day and his reputation was based on his keen knowledge of the commercial fisheries industry which was reflected in his many publications. He was a smiled compiler of fisheries catch statistics, and he produced well-received books on the fisheries of both Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., and Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus. Cobb's position as Dean of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington emphasized his role as a leading national expert on fisheries.

This account describes Cobb's career and his ascendancy in 1919 to the directorship of the newly founded College of Fisheries at the U.W. I first provide a sketch of his professional life as naturalist, author, and "canneryman," and then outline the "campaign" to establish a school of fisheries at the U.W. as well as Cobb's appointment to it as the founding director. Cobb's educational goals are presented, as are his nascent ventures into research on the passage of fish over high dams. I examine the success of the College during its first decade of existence and describe its demise upon Cobb's death. Briefly noted is the school's reemergence in late 1930 as a school dedicated to the newly developing profession of fisheries science.

This work is based primarily on the papers of John N. Cobb housed in the Manuscripts, Special Collections, and University Archives of the U.W. Libraries, relevant material in the archives of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, U.W., and Cobb's published and unpublished works. (2) A history of the School of Fisheries, published by Stickney (1989), provided a basic roadmap for a detailed inquiry of Cobb's career at the University of Washington. The College of Fisheries has undergone several name changes over the years. It was a College from 1919 to 1930, a Department of Fisheries from 1930 to 1934, a School of Fisheries from 1934 to 1958, a College of Fisheries, again, from 1958 to 1981, a School of Fisheries from 1981 to 2000, and in 2000 was renamed the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. A brief history of the School of Fisheries, based on Stickney's (1989) book, is posted on the School's web site. (3)

John N. Cobb, Author and Naturalist

John Nathan Cobb was born in Oxford, N.J., on 20 February 1868, the son of Samuel Spencer Cobb (1842-1921), a railroad engineer, and Louise Catherine Richard (1845?-1918), a native of Belfort, France. He was one of at least twelve children in the family (Fig. 2). (4) His vitae indicates that he attended "public schools" and discontinued his education at an early age to go to work.

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The family apparently moved in the 1880's to Pennsylvania, and records indicate that in 1884, at the age of 16 years, he was working for a Pennsylvania newspaper, the Carbondale Reader (Fig. 3). He rose to become an editor of that periodical. For the next 15 years or so, Cobb worked, apparently as a stenographer and typist, in a variety of positions for a railroad company, a law firm, a supply and machinery enterprise, and a brick manufacturing company.