Blackwelder, Richard

By all accounts, Richard Blackwelder played a fundamental role in the SSZ s first decade. He deserves credit not only for running the society as a going concern but also for being a driving force behind many SSZ activities. He was involved in the launch of the News Letter, then Systematic Zoology. He created the society s book exhibit and represented the SSZ in many settings. Formally, he served as secretary, 1949 to 1960, then president in 1961. Blackwelder poured his heart into the SSZ. 

Second, this paper separates the launch of the SSZ from the founding narrative presented by Richard Blackweider. Blackweider came to SSZ business relatively late in the organizing process. While he played a key role in subsequent activity, Blackwelder s account of the launch was second-hand. In retelling that narrative, Blackweider was heavily influenced by his own construction of the state of systematics in 1940s America. This emphasized rivalry and polarity. It set the SSZ into competition with evolutionary taxonomists and tied its success to that competition. Rather than complain about authenticity, the purpose of this analysis has been to contextualize Blackwelder s founding narrative. This origins myth says much about the man who promoted it, and this paper is similar to other studies of the role... 

Blackwelder, R.E., Tolkien Portraiture (compiled by Richard E. Blackwelder, assisted by John Rateliff, Christine Scull, Charles E. Noad), Cape Girardeau, MO, 1993. 

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