Member

Alfred was the son of Darius Carpenter and Katerine Elinor Howell. He was born in Catonsville, Maryland, on July 28, 1886. In 1908, he studied at the Sheffield Science School at Yale. On April 14, 1914, he married Margaret Gray Sherk. They raised four children: Elinor Gray, Margaret Travers, John Brazier, and Jane. Alfred specialized in anatomy and began his career working on special investigations in geographic variation and comparative anatomy of mammals. He spent time with the U.S. Biological Survey in 1908 and worked as a scientific assistant there from 1923 to 1927. In 1926, he became a collaborator with the U.S. National Museum. Johns Hopkins Medical School hired him from 1928 to 1932 to lecture on comparative anatomy, and in 1932 he became an associate professor of anatomy, staying there until 1943. Organizations to which Alfred belonged to and held positions within include: the American Ornithologists’ Union; the Cooper Ornithologists’ Club of which he was secretary in 1913, trustee in 1920, and vice president in 1921; the American Society of Mammalogists, of which he was corresponding secretary from 1925 to 1931, editor from 1936 to 1938, vice president from 1938 to 1942, and president from 1942 to 1944; the American Association of Anatomists, the Council for Conservation of Whales of which he was executive secretary; the American Academy for the Advancement of Science as a fellow; International Office for Protection of Nature, of which he was a corresponding member; and the Saint Elmo club. Alfred wrote four books and about 180 published contributions about mammals, birds, and anatomy. He was elected to membership in the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 1925 and terminated his membership in 1935. Alfred died on December 23, 1961.