Aldrich was born on February 23, 1906, in
Providence, Rhode Island. He went to Providence public schools, and got a
BS degree in
biology from Brown University, in 1928. In 1923 in
Bird-Lore he published his first work "Mocking Bird in Rhode Island", which became very popular among
Rhode Islanders interested in bird-watching. While attending
Brown University, he joined a swimming team there, and set a record for the whole school on 200-yard
breaststroke. He was a nature counselor at
Camp Chewonki, in
Maine. After graduating from Brown University, he attended
Buffalo Museum of Science, which had just been built. There he served as an aide and assistant. While working there, he met
Roger Tory Peterson, then an
art student from
Jamestown,
New York. Aldrich got a biological assistant position in 1930, at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where he worked under supervision of
Harry Oberholser. He met his love, Louise Kendall, in
Cleveland, and went to
Niagara Falls in 1933. Aldrich did much field work in numerous states, including:
Michigan,
Ohio,
Wyoming, and
Ontario, Canada, which was under control of CMNH. He got multiple
skin cancers while working in the sun. Later on, attended
Western Reserve University, in which he earned an
MA degree in
biology, in 1937. During the same year, he also got a
PhD, from the same university. After the PhD, he was appointed as a
curator of
birds at a museum. In 1941, he became a PhD qualified biologist and joined
Fish and Wildlife Service, and next year was elected to the
Washington Biologists’ Field Club. Five years later, in 1947, he became a Chief of the
Section of Distribution and Migration of Birds. In 1951, under his supervision, both mammal and bird investigations were joined. His bird studies range from population to systematics, which was oriented toward better understanding of population segments and kinds. From 1959 to 1962 he was
President of WBFC, in which he stayed till he became an honorary member in 1982. He retired in 1972, but still continued to work for Fish and Wildlife Service as an
annuitant. A decade and 3 years later, his wife died from
diabetes. After her death, 3 years later, he moved to
Tucson,
Arizona, where he, his daughter Betsy, her 3 sons, and his other daughter Jane, who came from
California, lived. Aldrich died in Tucson from a
stroke on May 3, 1995. ==Memory==