Roxie Laybourne and Carla Dove with Black Vulture

ID: SIA2014-07413

Creator: Unknown

Form/Genre: Classification

Date: October 1996

Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 04-086, Box 2, Folder 5

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Summary

Roxie Laybourne (left) and Carla Dove (right) behind a counter in the Bird Division of the National Museum of Natural History. Carla Dove is holding a study skin of a black vulture. Roxie holds a feather with forceps in her right hand. On the counter in front of them are boxes of feathers and bird remains, a letter, a black wing, and a stack of open envelopes.

Subject

  • Laybourne, Roxie C. 1910-2003
  • Dove, Carla J
  • National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Division of Birds

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

  • With Smithsonian Secretary Alexander Wetmore's encouragement, Laybourne accepted a short-term appointment in 1944 in the Bird Division at the National Museum of Natural History, working with taxidermist Watson Perrygo and curator Herbert Friedmann. Known as the "Feather Lady," Laybourne pioneered the field of forensic ornithology at the Smithsonian Institution by studying the detailed microscopic structure of plumaceous (downy) feather barbules and creating a technique of identifying species of birds from fragmentary feather samples. Her methods revolutionized aviation safety by creating a technique of identifying birds involved in aircraft bird strikes. That work led to the development of the first laboratory in the world dedicated solely to feather identification. The methods she developed are now routinely applied to studies of prey remains, evidence from criminal cases, and anthropological artifacts.
  • For more images of Roxie Laybourne, see SIA2009-2205, SIA2010-0575, SIA2010-0580, SIA2010-0639, SIA2014-07398, SIA2014-07403, SIA2014-07404, SIA2014-07405, SIA2014-07406, SIA2014-07407, SIA2014-07411, SIA2014-07413, SIA2014-07417, SIA2014-07421, SIA2014-07431, SIA2014-07434, SIA2014-07441, SIA2014-07442, and SIA2014-07448.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 04-086, Box 2, Folder 5

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

October 1996

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Women
  • Zoology
  • Birds
  • Employees
  • Biology
  • Anatomy
  • Feathers
  • Animals
  • Aircraft bird strikes
  • Forensic sciences
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Personnel management
  • Collection and preservation
  • Ornithologists
  • Ornithology
  • Birds--Anatomy
  • Smithsonian Institution--Employees
  • Zoological specimens--Collection and preservation

Form/Genre

  • Classification
  • Photographic print
  • Group, candid

ID Number

SIA2014-07413

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Color; Size: 6w x 4h; Type of Image: Group, candid; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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