John Nathan Cobb (February 20, 1868 – January 13, 1930) was an American author, naturalist, conservationist, canneryman, and educator. He attained a high position in academia without the benefit of a college education. 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. He took photographs during his extensive travels documenting scenes and people. In 1919, Cobb was appointed the founding director of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington (UW), the first such college established in the United States.
Early life and education
John Nathan Cobb was born in Oxford, New Jersey, on February 20, 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. He attended public schools and discontinued his education at an early age to go to work.
Early career
His family moved in the 1880s to Pennsylvania and records indicate that in 1884, at the age of 16 years, he was working for a Pennsylvania newspaper, the Carbondale Reader. 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. In 1898, he married Harriet Collin Bidwell (1869‒1941), a cousin, with whom he had a daughter, Genevieve Catherine Cobb (1900‒1977) who graduated in zoology from the University of Washington and, after receiving a degree in librarianship at the UW, became a librarian at Princeton University and remained there until her retirement.
In 1895, Cobb successfully passed a civil service examination for the U.S. Government, qualifying him for a position as stenographer and typist at a salary of $720 per year. He accepted a position in Washington, D.C., on 1 July 1895 with the U.S. Fish Commission, where he was appointed clerk in the Division of Statistics. He was promoted to "Field Agent" on February 11, 1896, at a salary of $1,000 per annum and was responsible for collecting commercial fishery statistics. Thus, Cobb began a career in fisheries that was to last until his death 35 years later and one that led to his recognition as an "expert" in fisheries statistics.
Cobb's position with the Fish Commission demanded considerable travel, as he was required to proceed throughout the eastern seaboard to collect statistics on the commercial catch of fish and shell fish. For example, from 1896 to 1897 Cobb visited Jacksonville, Florida; Havre de Grace, Maryland; Key West, Florida; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Key West again; and Cape Vincent, New York. After most of these trips he returned to the USFC headquarters in Washington, D.C. This pattern of frequent travel continued through 1900. Cobb's first publication for the Fish Commission, on the fisheries of Lake Ontario, was issued in 1898.
Alaska
In 1904, Cobb began to lobby the Bureau of Fisheries for a position in Alaska as a Field Agent in that territory. Cobb obtained the desired position in February 1905 and his appointment as "Assistant Agent" paid $200 per month. Still based in Washington, D.C., Cobb traveled to Alaska each summer to observe the commercial salmon fisheries and to collect catch statistics. He was apparently a conscientious worker and was known for his aggressive enforcement of fishery regulations.
Cobb wrote books and reports about fisheries. These included annual reports from 1905 to 1910 on the fisheries of Alaska and a book on Alaska salmon. He produced about 18 scientific publications and books during his tenure with the Fish Commission from 1895 to 1911.
Private sector By early 1911, Cobb was eager for a transfer from Washington, D.C., to the west coast. In March of that year he wrote to George Mead Bowers (1863‒1925), Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, asking to be transferred to Seattle. His request was denied, so Cobb turned to the private sector for employment. On March 5, 1912, Cobb wrote again to Commissioner Bowers, this time tendering his resignation. Cobb thus left the employ of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to pursue greener paths. He never worked for the Bureau again, but he was always interested in returning if an attractive position became available.
Into the commercial world
In the spring of 1912, Cobb joined the Union Fish Company in San Francisco in a management position at a considerable increase in salary. The company fished for Pacific cod in Alaska, and Cobb traveled north on the company boats, the Union Jack in 1912 and the Sequoia in 1913, operating out of Sand Point and Unga, Alaska. Cobb's experience with the Union Fish Company was not satisfactory, as he apparently was not granted the freedom to manage as he had hoped, and he left the company on good terms in November 1913.
Cobb sought to improve his position, as he continually did, and in November 1913 the commercial fishing trade magazine Pacific Fisherman, based in Seattle, hired him, although at a significantly lower salary than that paid by the Union Fish Company. In his letter of acceptance, Cobb agreed to move to Seattle about 15 November 1913 and to accept a salary of $40 a week "for the present." His salary at the Union Fish Company was $200 a month. This monthly publication was the preeminent voice for the fishing industry of the west coast. He was hired as the editor of the journal and his particular experience in fisheries for the Bureau of Fisheries and the Union Fish Company brought rare skills to the magazine. The owner of the periodical, Leigh Miller Freeman (1875‒1955), became a power in the commercial fisheries industry and in fisheries conservation efforts. The Pacific Fisherman was a large format magazine devoted to all aspects of the fishing industry on the west coast. It paid particular attention to fishing developments in Alaska, and Cobb's experience in that territory was likely valuable to the magazine.
Cobb remained with the magazine for four years. During this period, he established himself as an informed observer of the commercial fishing and fisheries scenes. As editor, Cobb most likely had wide latitude over what was published in the journal. He wrote articles that appeared in the journal under his byline, such as "Utilizing waste products in the salmon industry" and "New methods in Pacific coast fisheries." Cobb also wrote for the scientific world, publishing in professional journals. An example of the latter includes "Pacific halibut fishery declining", published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. During his years with the periodical he published one book Pacific Cod Fisheries, a revised edition of which was issued in 1927, and in 1917 he published a revised version of his book, Pacific Salmon Fisheries.
In Seattle in 1914, Cobb also helped found the Pacific Fisheries Society. Patterned after the American Fisheries Society, the new organization was directed toward the interests of fisheries workers, mainly scientific but also for members of the commercial industry of the U.S. west coast. Active membership in this new organization enabled Cobb to meet and to socialize with the leading men in both the scientific and commercial aspects of the Pacific coast fisheries. He longed, however, for a return to the Bureau of Fisheries. But a position with the latter agency was not forthcoming, so in 1917 he joined the Alaska Packers Association (APA) of San Francisco, California, at a salary nearly twice what he was receiving from the Pacific Fisherman. The Association was the largest and most influential commercial fishing enterprise in Alaska. At that time the APA operated the most fishing boats, employed the most workers, and canned the most salmon of any Alaska cannery. His move to the APA seemed part of his continuous desire to improve his status, economic and otherwise.
During the salmon fishing season in Alaska in the summers of 1917 and 1918, Cobb traveled north to visit the various APA concerns. His work involved inspecting the working and sanitary conditions in the canneries. Because of his previous work in Alaska with the Bureau of Fisheries, Cobb was familiar with most of the APA packing operations there. He was apparently satisfied with his work with the APA, but he again sought another position of advancement. Cobb's experience in the fisheries of Alaska, his former position at the Pacific Fisherman, and his involvement with the Pacific Fisheries Society placed him at the forefront of a burgeoning movement to establish a "school of fisheries" at the University of Washington. He was not an unwitting observer of this movement. Indeed, he kept his name always fresh to the University administration and the result was that Cobb resigned from the APA in January 1919 to accept the founding directorship of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington. This new position would serve him well and allow him to use his diverse talents in the fisheries field.
College of Fisheries
The origin of the idea of a fisheries school at the University of Washington is unknown, but Miller Freeman, owner of Pacific Fisherman magazine and Cobb's one-time supervisor, likely played a vital role in the establishment of this new College. In his memoirs, Freeman wrote that he used the editorial pages of Pacific Fisherman to advocate the establishment of a school of fisheries at the University of Washington as early as 1914. Hugh McCormick Smith (1865‒1941), Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, was also an active supporter of the proposed school.
At the University of Washington, planning for a school of fisheries continued at a more rapid pace. In October 1918, UW President Henry Suzzallo (1875‒1933) wrote Cobb that through Miller Freeman he had heard that Cobb "might like to participate in the organization of such a school as a member of this faculty." Suzzallo was most concerned about the salary Cobb would require, noting that "Until this year our maximum salary has been $3,000." Cobb responded to Suzzallo on December 26, 1918, with his application for the position of director, and he noted that he had merely a common school education. He listed some 35 publications on fisheries topics in his application. Suzzallo answered Cobb on January 4, 1919, appointing him Professor of Fisheries, administrative head of the Department of Fisheries, and Director of the College of Fisheries, at a salary of $4,000 per year. Cobb's initial appointment was for a four-year period. Two weeks later, on 17 January 1919, Suzzallo recommended to the Board of Regents that a College of Fisheries be established at the University of Washington. The Board agreed and the establishment of the College was authorized. This event was duly reported in the Pacific Fisherman.
Cobb began the new College on a fast track. In an announcement for the College of Fisheries issued in early 1919, he wrote that so much interest was generated by the announcement of the establishment of the College that "Professor Cobb, the Director, is open [sic] it for the coming spring quarter, March 31st, instead of waiting until the beginning of the fall quarter as originally planned." The announcement indicated the College would offer a four-year course of instruction in Fish Culture and Fisheries Technology, and briefly described the potential job market for graduates. The announcement further stated that the College would, so far as possible, "assist students in securing employment during summer vacations" in various aspects of the fishing industry, hatcheries, and elsewhere.