Paul Allman Siple, Erie, Erie County

As I'm writing this, Pennsylvania is obscured by a heavy haze which makes breathing a touch difficult. The western Canadian wildfires have sent their smoke all the way across the continent, much like the California fires did last year. I'm sending my best wishes to everyone affected and I hope that they get things under control quickly.

My longtime readers know that I pay close attention to the weather. I don't have much choice, because I'm one of those 'walking barometer' people; changes in the barometric pressure have an impact on me, sometimes a pretty severe impact. (In fact, I just heard a roll of thunder which explains a few things.) Today, courtesy of my distant cousin Ron Bauerle, we'll be taking a look at the life and work of someone else who paid close attention to the weather for very different reasons. 

The marker stands on Front Street in front of the
Erie Maritime Museum. Image courtesy of Ron Bauerle.

Technically speaking, the story begins in Ohio, where our subject was born on December 18, 1908. His parents were Clyde Siple and the former Fannie Hope Allman, and they moved their family to Erie, Pennsylvania sometime during son Paul's childhood. In 1923, three years before graduating from high school, he became an Eagle Scout with an impressive 59 merit badges. This is important, because in 1928, the search was on for a Boy Scout to participate in a very unusual event.

Richard E. Byrd was a famous explorer, although his claim of being the first to reach the North Pole has been disputed. His claims of reaching the South Pole, however, are confirmed, and in 1928 he was gearing up for his first expedition to that frozen place. To interest young people in the field of arctic exploration, he decided to recruit one of the Boy Scouts to accompany him. Out of all the possible options in the United States, it was 19-year-old Paul Allman Siple who was selected to sail with Byrd on his flagship, the City of New York, and join the team that made its way to the South Pole. In fact, Byrd made a total of five expeditions to the South Pole, and Siple is one of the only people to have accompanied him on all five trips. Clearly this young man impressed his mentor.

Siple was, according to New York Times correspondent Russell Owen, six feet tall and weighed more than 200 pounds. He was described by Owen as possessing an amiable and mild temperament. "He worked hard, kept his mouth shut, listened without comment to the ribaldry that went on about him, and never took part in it. He had the poise of a much older and experienced man." In other words, he really was a Boy Scout, and his compatriots admired him as a fine example of the organization. He was also described by other observers as "energetic" and possessing "splendid leadership qualifications."

Paul Siple in October 1932, by
Ed Palumbo for the World Telegram.
Public domain image
courtesy of Wikipedia.

When he wasn't hanging out with celebrated explorers, Siple was doing more mundane things, like getting a college education. He attended Allegheny College in Meadville, where he was a member of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity, and went on to get a Ph.D. at Clark University in Massachusetts, earning the degree with a dissertation about "Adaptations of the Explorer to the Climate of Antarctic." He also got married, to Ruth Johannesmeyer, on December 19, 1936. They had met in the registrar's office at Allegheny College, and he gallantly offered her a ride home on a rainy night. They became the parents of three daughters - Ann, Jane, and Mary. Ruth was a great supporter of her husband's work and even typed his thesis for him. She herself also served in the Antarctican Society for over 40 years, holding many executive roles.

The bulk of Siple's career was spent in the Army Scientific Office. In addition to the five Byrd expeditions, he participated in Operation Highjump (1946-1947) and Operation Deep Freeze (1955-1956). He was instrumental in developing cold weather gear for soldiers in the Korean War, and then later became the first scientific leader at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station when it opened in 1956, spending an entire winter at the South Pole. (No thanks.)

It was during the third Byrd expedition, more properly identified as the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-1941), that Siple performed some important experiments, alongside Charles Passel. Together they did the research and work which would lead to the creation of the wind chill index, which measures how cold weather feels as opposed to the actual measured temperature of the air. As anyone who has been through a rough winter knows, just because the thermometer says it's above freezing doesn't mean that you don't feel like you're freezing! Wind chill is calculated based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin, caused by wind and cold; the stronger and more bitter the wind, the faster it pulls heat from the body and the faster a person can freeze. The original index, formulated by Siple and Passel, used the cooling rate of water for its basis. This was revised in 2001 thanks to tests performed on actual human subjects, but it was Siple and Passel's work which paved the way.

Siple's final assignment was to serve as the United States science attaché (that is, a sort of ambassador who focuses on science and technology) to Australia and New Zealand, a position he held from 1963 to 1966. Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke there in 1966 and returned home to retirement. He died in Arlington, Virginia on November 25, 1968, and is buried at the National Memorial Park in Fairfax County. Ruth never remarried, but continued working with the Antarctic Society as newsletter editor and even honorary president; she died in 2004 and is buried beside her husband. They are survived by their three daughters, many grandchildren, and many more great-grandchildren.

Siple's honors both during and after his lifetime were considerable. The Boy Scouts presented him with the Silver Buffalo Award in 1947 and the Order of the Arrow Award for distinguished service in 1958. He also received a number of medals, including the Hubbard Medal from the National Geographic Society, the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal, and the Hans Egede Medal from the Royal Danish Geographical Society. Five different locations in the Antarctic are named after him - Siple Coast, Siple Island, Siple Ridge, Siple Station, and Mount Siple. And in 2007, his hometown honored him with this PHMC marker at the Erie Maritime Museum.

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Sources and Further Reading:

Siple, Paul. A Boy Scout With Byrd (1931), Exploring At Home (1932), Scout to Explorer: Back With Byrd in the Antarctic (1936), and 90 Degrees South (1959).

Biography of Paul Allman Siple at South-Pole.com

Paul Allman Siple at FindAGrave.com

Paul Allman Siple at the Historical Marker Database

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.