Florence Augustus Merriam Bailey ( Eng . Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, August 8, 1863 - September 22, 1948) - American naturalist, ornithologist , writer and popularizer of science. Laid the beginning of the National Audubon Society , wrote the first of its kind reference book on the life of birds in natural habitat " Birds Through an Opera-Glass" [5] .
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Content
Biography
Florence was born on August 8, 1863. She had two brothers and a sister; Clinton Hart Merriam was the youngest of the brothers. Florence and her brother Hart were inspired to study the natural sciences and astronomy by their parents and their aunt, Helen Bagh. Because of this, they and their brother from an early age were carried away by ornithology [6] . Her father, who was interested in scientific issues, corresponded with the naturalist John Muir , and Ernest Seton-Thompson was a friend of the Merriam family [7] .
The health of Florence from early childhood was poor. But despite frequent illnesses, she attended a private school and was preparing for college. [6] In 1882 she entered Smith College, but as a “special student”, and upon graduation she received a certificate of education, but not a degree [6] . The degree was given to her much later, in 1921 [8] . Bailey also attended six courses at Stanford University in the winter of 1893-1894 [9] .
Bird Protection
When Florence was young, it was fashionable to decorate hats with feathers. In 1885, Bailey wrote articles in several newspapers in which she condemned this phenomenon [6] . The following year, together with her like-minded George Grinnell and fellow student Fanny Hardy Ekstorm , she organized the SCAS (Smith College Audubon Society) community, which marked the beginning of the National Audubon Society [5] . The SCAS invited naturalist John Burroughs to join them, and in 1886 they conducted the first of a series of naturalistic walks [5] .
When Bailey moved to Washington, she helped organize the Colombian Audubon Society, and from 1897 began to teach ornithology there. At the same time, she began to actively assist the Committee for the Protection of Birds and the Union of American Ornithologists [10] .
Bailey led an educational activity, telling about the value of birds and the need to protect them from extermination. She also continued to work to protect them. As a result of its activities, in 1900 the poaching law was tightened. This was the first step towards stopping the extermination of animals, especially among seabirds, such as pelicans [6] . In the end, an increase in bans, a change of fashion and an increase in the level of education led to the cessation of catching and killing birds for hats and clothing.
Ornithology
When Florence only began to be interested in ornithology, most bird research was based on the study of so-called collections (they consisted of scientific samples: stuffed animals, parts of the skeleton, etc.). However, Bailey was more interested in studying the life of birds and their behavior in the natural environment [6] . At 26, she published the first of its kind illustrated reference book Birds Through an Opera-Glass, compiling it from her notes written for the magazine published by the Addubon Society of Audubon Magazine. This book has described 70 common bird species [5] .
In 1889, Florence made the first trip to the western states of the United States. One of the goals of the trip was to restore health. Although she was never diagnosed, she most likely suffered from tuberculosis [11] . After this trip, she returned to the west of the country several times to study birds and nature, and as a result she wrote A-Birding on a Bronco. Upon returning home from the west, Bailey organized a branch of the Women's National Science Club in Washington [12] . After that, she wrote her second illustrated handbook Birds of Village and Field (it includes 150 species of birds), published in 1898. Like Birds Through an Opera-Glass, this handbook was intended for the general public [13] .
In the following years, Bailey traveled around the USA, continuing to study birds in the wild. She published several bright works in which the literary language was combined with science [7] .
Bailey became the first woman admitted to the American Ornithological Union (1885) [6] , as well as the first woman to receive the Brewster Medal (1931) [14] .
Featured Works
- Merriam, Florence A. Birds Through an Opera-Glass . - Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1890. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.60311 .
- Merriam, Florence A. My Summer in a Mormon Village . - Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1894.
- Merriam, Florence A. A-Birding on a Bronco . - Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1896. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.12539 .
- Merriam, Florence A. How Birds Affects Farm and Garden . - New York, NY: Forest and Stream Publishing, 1896. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.36220 .
- Merriam, Florence A. Birds of Village and Field: A Bird Book for Beginners . - Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1898. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.30028 .
- Bailey, Florence Merriam. Including the Great Plains, Pacific Slope, and Lower Rio Grande Valley . - Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1902. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.7872 .
- Bailey, Vernon. Wild Animals of Glacier National Park / Vernon Bailey, Florence Merriam Bailey. - Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1918. - DOI : 10.5962 / bhl.title.13645 . .
- Bailey, Florence Merriam. Birds of New Mexico . - Santa Fe, NM: New Mexico Dept. The Game Protective Association and the Bureau of Biological Survey, 1928.
- Bailey, Florence Merriam. Among the Birds in the Grand Canyon Country . - Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1939.
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 Ogilvie M. The Biographical Dictionary of Women in the Mid-20th Century - Routledge , 2003. - Vol. 1. - P. 69. - 798 p. - ISBN 978-1-135-96342-2
- ↑ 1 2 Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ Mormon Literature & Creative Arts
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Barrow, Mark V., 1960-. A passion for birds: American ornithology after Audubon . - Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. - x, 326 pages p. - ISBN 9780691044026 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kofalk, Harriet, 1937-. No woman tenderfoot: Florence Merriam Bailey, pioneer naturalist . - 1st ed. - College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1989. - xix, 225 pages p. - ISBN 0890963789 .
- ↑ 1 2 Oehser, Paul H. "In Memoriam: Florence Merriam Bailey" .
- ↑ Oehser, Paul H. Bailey, Florence Augusta Merriam ". In James, Edward T .; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S. Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary .. - Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
- ↑ Richard H. Cracroft and Neal E. Lambert. A Believing People.
- ↑ William Dutcher. Report of the AOU Committee on the North American Birds (Eng.) // The Auk. - 1898. - Vol. 15 , no. 1 . - pp . 81–114 . - ISSN 0004-8038 . - DOI : 10.2307 / 4068463 .
- ↑ Welker, Robert H. Bailey, Florence Augusta Merriam // Dictionary of American Biography. - New York, NY.
- ↑ Notable American women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary . - Cambridge, Mass .: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. - 1 online resource (3 volumes) p. - ISBN 1849722714 .
- ↑ Dunlap, Thomas R., 1943-. In the field, among the feathered: a history of birders & their guides . - New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. - 1 online resource (x, 241 pages, [12] pages of plates) p. - ISBN 9780199734597 .
- ↑ Palmer, TS The Forty-Ninth Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, October 19-22, 1931 // The Auk.