INTRODUCTION
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.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. Box 1 of 4
Box 2 of 4
Box 3 of 4
Box 4 of 4
Contact us at osiaref@si.edu
Revised: December 20, 2002 HISTORICAL NOTE
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
These papers consist of Florence Merriam Bailey's diaries, 1874, 1887, as well
as additional journals kept on trips to Bermuda, 1890, California, 1907 and
Maine 1911. Other materials include expense account books; articles and news
clippings concerning and written by Bailey; a scrapbook; childhood writings;
college papers and memorabilia; manuscripts of papers on birds; reading lists;
one letter; and photographs of family and various landscapes. Also included
are oversized photographs of a relative's golden wedding celebration.
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