Peterson was born in Jamestown, New York, a small, industrial city in western New York, on August 28th 1908. His father, Charles Gustav Peterson, was an immigrant from Sweden who came to America as an infant. At the age of ten, Charles Peterson lost his father to appendicitis and was sent off to work in the mills. After leaving the mills, he earned his living as a traveling salesman. Roger's mother, Henrietta Badar, was an immigrant, at the age of four, of German and Polish extraction, who grew up in Rochester, New York. She went to a teachers' college, and was teaching in Elmira, New York, when she met Charles. The two married, and moved to Jamestown, where Charles took a job at a local furniture factory.<ref name="Roger Tory Peterson, A Biography">Template:Cite web</ref>
Peterson's middle name pays homage to his Uncle Tory, who resided in Oil City, Pennsylvania, located south of Jamestown. Peterson graduated from high school in 1925 and went to work in one of Jamestown's many furniture companies. During his high school years, one of his teachers, Miss Hornbeck, had encouraged his interest in sketching and painting birds and nature, while he waited to earn enough money to purchase a camera. Several months after graduating, he traveled to New York City to attend a meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, where he met distinguished figures such as the artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes and up-and-comers like Joseph Hickey.
Soon after, he moved to New York City and earned money by painting furniture, so that he could attend classes at the Art Students League in 1927–1929<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> and later at the National Academy of Design. He also managed to gain entrance to the eventually famous Bronx County Bird Club, though not himself from the Bronx. He hoped to attend Cornell University, but his family's finances were not sufficient for the cost of tuition. Instead, he managed to obtain a position as an art instructor at the Rivers School in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1934, his A Field Guide to the Birds was published. The initial run of 2,000 copies sold out within a week.
Peterson was married three times: briefly, to Mildred Washington, for 33 years to Barbara Coulter, with whom he had two sons, and for 20 years to Virginia Westervelt. His second and third wives contributed to the research and organization of his guides.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Virginia Marie Peterson developed the species range maps that were introduced in the fifth edition of A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Peterson's first work on birds was an article titled "Notes from Field and Study" published in the magazine Bird-Lore. In this piece, he recorded two anecdotal sight records from 1925: a Carolina wren and a titmouse.<ref name="Roger Tory Peterson, A Biography"/>
In 1934 he published the first edition of his popular Guide to the Birds,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> considered by some to be the first modern field guide. The first printing of 2‚000 copies sold out in one week and the book subsequently went through six editions. One of the inspirations for his field guide was a diagram of ducks, created by Ernest Thompson Seton in his book Two Little Savages (1903).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Paul R. Ehrlich, in The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds (Ehrlich et al 1988),<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> said of Peterson:
In this century, no one has done more to promote an interest in living creatures than Roger Tory Peterson, the inventor of the modern field guide.<ref name=":1" />
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute (RTPI) of Natural History in Jamestown, New York, launched in 1984, and ramped up its activity in 1986 with its hire of the first president, Dr. Harold D. Mahan.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite journal</ref> At that time, the institute's primary mission was described as being "to develop programs to increase the number of serious students of natural history".<ref name=":10" /> The institute's official ribbon-cutting and dedication took place in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The RTPI houses the largest collection of Peterson's work.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its present mission and vision is stated as being to challenge visitors "to confront environmental issues of regional, national and global concern" and to be "a living embodiment of the Peterson Field Guide".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Three biographies about Peterson have been written.<ref name=":3" /> The first, a 1977 authorized biography by John Devlin and Grace Naismith, received mixed reviews.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>Cantwell, Robert. For birdwatchers, the authorized biography of Roger Tory Peterson. Sports Illustrated. February 13, 1978. https://vault.si.com/vault/1978/02/13/booktalk-for-bird-watchers-the-authorized-biography-of-roger-tory-peterson</ref> Two new biographies were published around the centenary of Peterson's birth.<ref name=":3" /> Douglas Carlson's Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography<ref name=":8">Template:Cite book</ref> and Elizabeth Rosenthal's Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson (2008)<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref> were reviewed by Todd Engstrom in the journal of the American Ornithological Society, The Auk.<ref name=":3">Engstrom, Todd. "Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography & Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson" (review). 'The Auk', vol. 125, issue 4 (October 2008), pp. 991–993. Retrieved January 22, 2021.</ref> In 2020, Peterson's step-daughter from his third marriage, Linda Marie Westervelt, self-published Where Bluebirds Fly, a biographical memoir about the twenty year relationship between her mother, Virginia Marie Peterson and step-father.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
1980 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom<ref name=":4" /><ref name="NYTObit" />
1980 the Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology from the American Birding Association<ref name="ABA" /><ref name=":5" />
A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America (Houghton Mifflin‚ fifth edition. 2002, earlier editions 1934‚ 1939‚ 1941‚ 1947‚ 1980‚ 1994)
The Field Guide Art of Roger Tory Peterson (Easton Press, 1990. 2 volumes)
Peterson First Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America (Houghton Mifflin‚ 1986)
Peterson First Guide to Birds of North America (Houghton Mifflin‚ 1986)
The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio with Virginia Peterson (Abbeville Press‚ 1981)
Penguins (Houghton Mifflin‚ 1979)
Birds of America (National Audubon Society‚ 1978)
A Field Guide to Mexican Birds with Edward Chalif (Houghton Mifflin, 1973, Spanish translation‚ Editorial Diana‚ 1989)File:Roger Tory Peterson Institute.jpgRoger Tory Peterson Institute.
A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America (with Margaret McKenny). (Houghton Mifflin‚ 1968)
The World of Birds with James Fisher (Doubleday‚ 1964)
A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas and Adjacent States (Houghton Mifflin‚ 1960, revised 1963)
A Bird-Watcher's Anthology (Harcourt Brace‚ 1957)
Wild America with James Fisher (Houghton Mifflin, 1955)
A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe with Guy Mountfort, and P.A.D. Hollom (William Collins, 1954)
Carlson, Douglas. Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography (The University of Texas Press. 2007) Template:ISBN.
Devlin, John C. and Grace Naismith. The World of Roger Tory Peterson – An Authorized Biography. (New York Times Books. 1977) Template:ISBN
Ehrlich, Paul R., David S. Dobkin and Darryl Wheye. The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds (Fireside. 1988) Template:ISBN.
