Alexander Wetmore- Monthly Bird List, July 1900

When you were young, what did you do on your summer vacation? If you were future Secretary of the Smithsonian Alexander Wetmore, you'd be bird watching. Wetmore, who grew up to become an ornithologist and curator, kept this set of notes about bird migration in his hometown of North Freedom, Wisconsin in July of 1900, at just fourteen years old. Wetmore recorded the common names and ages of the species he observed, watching the sky from a local plum orchard and marsh. Tracking the migration of birds was something that Wetmore would continue doing during his long and illustrious scientific career! Join us in transcribing this set of migration notes and make a young Wetmore's scientific exploration available for generations of new researchers.