The WFVZ was founded in 1956 by Ed Harrison, a Los Angeles businessman, wildlife photographer, and relentless collector of bird skins, eggs, nests, and natural history books. Born in Cody, Wyoming, in September 1914, Ed Harrison moved with his family to southern California when he was about 13 years old, living on land that his father purchased that today forms part of the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. In the early 1930s, Ed spent much of his time collecting birds’ eggs, nests, skins, and other natural history materials. He was especially passionate about birds, and through the mentorship of ornithologist, geologist, and friend J. R. “Bill” Pemberton, Ed collected many specimens for his own personal collection.
Some of Ed Harrison's associates: Frances Roberts, Bill Pemberton, and William Sheffler, served as founding Board Members.
The idea was to create a safe place for their own materials, and to create a national repository for egg and nest collections being “orphaned” by the death of contemporary collectors, or being deaccessioned by institutions no longer interested in curating eggs. In addition, Ed clearly saw the usefulness of eggs, nests, and bird skins to the conservation of bird species around the world, and thought that it would be a shame for science to lose such materials. Shortly after the WFVZ’s founding, Ed contributed approximately 11,000 egg sets, 2,000 nests, and 1,750 bird study skins from his personal collection of avian materials. After Sheffler’s death in 1968, an additional 4,000 egg sets and 300 nests were given to the Western Foundation by Sheffler’s relatives.
