Have you ever watched birds through a pair of binoculars? At the end of the nineteenth century, the study of birds typically focused on collected specimens. Naturalist Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948) was at the forefront of a movement to study living birds in the field. Having gained recognition as a naturalist while studying at Smith College, her passionate advocacy for the protection of birds was expressed in her articles and publications, her work to form local Audubon Societies, and her activity with the Committee on Bird Protection of the American Ornithologists Union.
Help us transcribe this field journal of her trip with her husband Vernon Bailey, a U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey naturalist, and others to California, Oregon and Washington in the fall of 1907 and see what captured the attention this remarkable naturalist.
Have you ever watched birds through a pair of binoculars? At the end of the nineteenth century, the study of birds typically focused on collected specimens. Naturalist Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948) was at the forefront of a movement to study living birds in the field. Having gained recognition as a naturalist while studying at Smith College, her passionate advocacy for the protection of birds was expressed in her articles and publications, her work to form local Audubon Societies, and her activity with the Committee on Bird Protection of the American Ornithologists Union.
Help us transcribe this field journal of her trip with her husband Vernon Bailey, a U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey naturalist, and others to California, Oregon and Washington in the fall of 1907 and see what captured the attention this remarkable naturalist.
Born during the Civil War, Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948) and her brother C. Hart Merriam were encouraged to study natural history from an early age by their parents. From her work in ornithology, Florence Bailey authored ten books and close to one hundred articles. In recognition of her work, the American Ornithologists Union made her their first female fellow (1929) and awarded her the Brewster Medal in 1931. Together with U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey naturalist and husband Vernon Bailey, she produced several works on the distinctive, and largely unexplored, flora and fauna in the Western United States.
