Philip W. Tompkins (1873-1972) - Chemical Engineer, Photographer

Biographical Sketch, by Sharon Landwehr, Archives Volunteer

Philip Tompkins was born in San Anselmo, California. He graduated from the University of California in 1894. An analytical chemist and chemical engineer, he was a founder of the San Francisco chemical firm of Curtis and Tompkins where he continued to work until two years before his death (on 6 December 1972 in San Anselmo, California.)

An avid photographer, he explored Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. Tompkins aided in discovering and recording the "Lost Valley of the Goblins" in Utah (1949). His article, "Goblin Valley, Recent History and Need for Protection" accompanied by many of his photographs of the area appeared in National Parks Magazine (October-December 1954). As an expression of appreciation to the Botany Department of the California Academy of Sciences, and a memorial to Alice Eastwood, he funded the Tompkins, Tehipite Botanical Expedition of the Sierra Nevada, California. An account of this journey was published in Leaflets of Western Botany by John Thomas Howell (1958). Tompkins also assisted in the publication of A Flora of Lassen Volcanic National Park, California (1961).

Tompkins was a California Academy of Sciences member (1930) and Academy lecturer (1953 "Sections of South-Central Utah", 1955 "Southern Utah Scenes"). His extensive collection of slides, photographs, and negatives were donated to the Academy Library (1957, 1963).

Sources Consulted:

CAS Archives Biographical Binders

California Academy of Sciences Index for the Manuscript Collection

California Academy of Sciences Manuscript Collection

Leaflets of Western Botany, vol. IX, No. 12

National Parks Magazine, vol. 28, No. 119

Pacific Discovery, March-April 1953 .