Florence M. Bailey – Diary 1887

What kind of passion drives a person to pioneering efforts over and over again? Florence M. Bailey (1863-1948) might be a good example. Devoted to the study and protection of birds, she started the Smith College Audubon Society while at the college. By the time she was twenty-two, she had become the first female associate member of the Ornithologists Union (1885). An amateur ornithologist, she would go on to even more firsts, always advocating for the use of binoculars, not shotguns, to observe birds. Please help us transcribe Florence's 1887 diary and get a glimpse into her life two years after becoming a member of the Ornithologists Union. See other transcribed journals to get a sense of her handwriting, or explore her personal papers held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Born in Locust Grove, New York during the Civil War, Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948), devoted her life to the study and protection of birds. From her work in ornithology she authored over ten books, including several field guides to birds, and close to one hundred articles. Though interested in birds as a child, she gained recognition as a naturalist while at Smith College. Disgusted by the use of feathers and whole birds in fashion, she started the Smith College Audubon Society. Her later accomplishments include establishing the Washington, D.C., Audubon Society and becoming the first female associate member of the Ornithologists Union (1885). Within that organization she was the both the first female fellow (1929) and the first female recipient of the Brewster Medal (1931). In 1908 a kind of California Mountain Chickadee was named Parus gambeli baileyae in her honor. Bailey's relations with prominent scientists augmented her own distinguished career. C. Hart Merriam, her brother, was the first chief of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, as well as a co-founder of the National Geographic Society. His work also led to Florence's introduction, and subsequent marriage, to fellow Bureau naturalist, Vernon Bailey. From their travels to the Western United States the Bailey's produced several works on the distinctive, and largely unexplored, flora and fauna in that region. As an amateur ornithologist Florence Bailey was at the forefront of the movement to use binoculars, rather than shotguns, to observe birds. She died in Washington, D.C., on September 22, 1948.