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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Conservation History Women in Conservation Volume IV, No. 1 (2020)
The mission of the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service is working
with others to conserve, protect,
and enhance fish, wildlife,
plants, and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the
American people.
Stay connected with us:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History
National Conservation Training Center
@USFWS History
CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020
Contents
ii From the Historian
Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Historian and 37 Lucille Stickel: Pioneer Woman in
Conservation Research
Founder, Conservation History Matthew C. Perry, Heritage Committee Member, Retired,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
iii Maria
Whose Stories Are We Missing?
E. Parisi, Conservation History Editor, Heritage
41 TRoger
he Legacy and Lessons of Celia Hunter
and Partnerships Branch, National Conservation Kaye, Wilderness Coordinator, Alaska Region,
Training Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1 Women’s History Is Women’s Right
Catherine Woodward, Biologist, National Conservation 45 “Unremarkable,” Helen Fenske’s Unlikely Legacy
Marilyn Kitchell and Jonathan Rosenberg, Great Swamp
Training Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
5 Saving Birds over Tea,
Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna B. Hall 49 Sylvia Earle: A Hero for the Planet
Pete Leary, National Wildlife Refuge System,
Paul Tritaik, Heritage Committee Member, South U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Atlantic-Gulf and Mississippi Basin Regions,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
53 Mollie Beattie: The Service’s First Female Director
Dan Ashe, Association of Zoos and Aquariums
9 Through the Opera Glass, Florence Merriam Bailey
Paul Tritaik, Heritage Committee Member, South
Atlantic-Gulf and Mississippi Basin Regions, 57 Our Beliefs Matter: The Mamie Parker Journey
Mamie Parker, Former Northeast Service Regional Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation
13 Evelene Spencer: “Fish Evangelist”
April Gregory, National Fish and Aquatic Conservation 61 Crystal Leonetti's Story: Healing the Agency
from the Inside Out
Archives, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Kathleen McCoy, Independent Journalist
17 The Tie that Binds: How the Suffrage Fight Helped
Rosalie Edge Advance Conservation
Departments
Dyana Z. Furmansky, Author and Journalist
64 Retiree News
Jerry Grover, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Retirees
21 Witness to Wilderness: The Legacy of Mardy Murie
Steven Chase, Director, National Conservation
Association Board Member Emeritus and Heritage
Committee At-Large Retiree
Training Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
65 From the Archives
29 The Service Gave the World Rachel Carson
Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H., Rachel Carson Council
Carson National Fish Hatchery Personnel, National Fish and
Aquatic Conservation Archives, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
33 Fran Hamerstrom: An Unconventional Life
and Career in Conservation 66 Oral History Program
Elizabeth (Betty) Losey (excerpts)
Stanley A. Temple, Beers-Bascom Professor Emeritus
in Conservation, University of Wisconsin-Madison
and Senior Fellow, Aldo Leopold Foundation 69 The Gallery
Women tagging fish at the Bozeman Fish Technology Center,
circa 1960
35 Brina Kessell: Pioneering Alaskan Ornithologist
Stanley A. Temple, Beers-Bascom Professor Emeritus
in Conservation, University of Wisconsin-Madison 70 Reflection—A
Conservation
Personal History of Women in
and Senior Fellow, Aldo Leopold Foundation Gretchen Newberry, Midwest Fisheries Center,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY i
From the Historian
Welcome to the second annual issue
of Conservation History, this time
resources. Finally, I hope you enjoy
the exciting new artwork provid-
“For most of
dedicated to those extraordinary
women who built our environmental
ed by our National Conservation
Training Center graphic designer
history, Anonymous
movement, but are all too often left Kristin Simanek. In spite of being a was a woman.”
out of conservation history. This history journal, we hope to continue
issue recalls the forgotten, famous to experiment with new graphics,
and infamous women who were new columns and new ways of tell- — Virginia Woolf
wildlife warriors as fierce and effec-
tive as their male counterparts, if
ing old stories. So, with this context
in mind, I hope you enjoy this issue
(1882-1941)
not as recognized. Our editor, Maria and the subsequent ones that will
Parisi, has devoted many hours of be available annually, until we run
womanpower to create and shape out of new histories (and herstories)
this collection, which we hope will to tell.
bring to light some less remembered
conservation heroes. From the Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and
famous pioneers like Rachel Carson Wildlife Historian and Founder
to the equally pioneering Elizabeth of Conservation History.
Losey and Evelene Spencer, this
issue captures the women environ-
mental advocates, scientists, writers
and leaders who bequeathed us our
present wildlife legacy. Rachel Carson
This issue of Conservation History
also marks an advance from quan-
tity to quality in this living journal.
When our current editor took over,
we had published a Conservation
History issue every 5 years, a woe- Mark with conservation woman?
fully slow publication schedule that
did little to diminish the backlog of
history worth sharing. The initial
goal of publishing an issue a year
was met with this issue, thanks
to unusual adherence to deadlines
by contributors and impressive
diligence of the editor. This issue
also marks the first peer-reviewed
issue of Conservation History.
Peer-review is the gold standard
for scientific and historical journals,
and we are proud to add this layer
of veracity to this issue—and every
issue to follow. In addition, this issue
has reached out to a wide-range of
historians, conservationists, writers,
heads of conservation non-govern-
mental organizations, and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service employees
(both active and retired) to present
a depth of experiences and breadth
of perspectives as befits a topic as
important as our nation’s natural
ii CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020
Whose Stories Are We Missing?
That’s where I left off in my editor’s As you read this journal, you’ll see
note from the 2019 journal. After the recognition these pioneering
noting the accomplishments of six women achieved. You may also no-
white men we credit for shaping tice the many nicknames and labels
the conservation work we do today, describing them—iconoclast, Fish
we decided to feature women in the Evangelist, hellcat, seer, mentor,
2020 journal. We identified women force of nature, Her Deepness,
who worked for the U.S. Fish and pioneer, peacemaker. And how about
Wildlife Service (Service) or who these? Grandmother of the Conser-
influenced the work we do. We begin vation Movement, First Lady of the
in the late 1800s and continue to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or, as
today’s conservation heroes. In the one man greeted the Service’s first
first essay, Catherine Woodward female director, little lady. If John
weaves together themes that con- Muir had grandchildren, would we
nect these pioneers over this time in have called him the Grandfather of
conservation history. the Conservation Movement? I do
not doubt these names stem from
Thanks to great interest in this well-meaning intent, and yet, how
year’s theme, we’ve found ways to often do we remember successful
expand the work. Kristin Simanek men as fathers or brothers or sons?
(Design and Publishing Branch) First Lady, Dr. Lucille Stickel? By
created the artwork that graces the definition, First Lady is the spouse
cover and introduces the feature of a head of state, and not the one
essays. From the beginning, we in charge. Little Lady? To Director
designed her work to fit on banners Mollie Beattie’s credit, she won over Louella Cable.
Courtesy Archives and Special Collections,
we’re hanging on lampposts around some of her male colleagues. University of South Dakota
the National Conservation Training
Center (NCTC) campus. We also Barriers for women, people of color,
Our First Female Scientist
want to tell the stories of many and others outside the dominant
more women in conservation history, culture remain. I hope you’ll enjoy
beyond the Service, and beyond learning about these outstanding While preparing this journal, we learned
U.S. borders, and so we are creat- women, and while we have work to about Dr. Louella E. Cable, our first
ing a poster with an accompanying do, the Service has changed. Indeed, known female scientist. In 1927, the
handout to distribute to anyone as this goes to print, Aurelia Skip- U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, one of our
interested, even schools. The poster with is the Service’s first Afri- predecessors, hired Cable as an aquatic
features the images of 15 women can-American female director. biologist. Cable was an accomplished
and lists another 40 women along researcher, author and illustrator. She
a timeline, from 1647 to 2016. The So, now, whose stories are we was among the first to rear fish in a lab,
handout showcases the contributions missing? The theme for the 2021 and she identified unknown larval stages
of all the women noted. In the long journal is our agency’s sesquicen-
of fish species. Her doctoral research
run, we’d like to create an interac- tennial anniversary. The Service’s
tive online resource, where you can origins began February 9, 1871, focused on aging lake trout via their
dig deeper to learn more about these when Congress established the U.S. scales, which aided in lake trout resto-
women. In the meantime, NCTC Commission of Fish and Fisheries. ration. Cable’s goby is even named after
is planning its first virtual lecture Going forward, we will continue to this pioneer among female scientists.
and interview with Dyana Fur- share our history and heritage, and She retired from the Service in 1970.
mansky, Rosalie Edge’s biographer, we will seek perspectives outside
this year—100 years after Edge, the dominant culture and tell stories A more in-depth essay about Cable will
suffragist turned conservationist, not often told. appear in America’s Bountiful Waters:
successfully lobbied for the 19th 150 Years of Fisheries Conservation
amendment, granting women the Maria E. Parisi, Conservation
History Editor, Heritage and and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
right to vote.
Partnerships Branch, National in 2021.
Conservation Training Center,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY iii
Rachel Carson CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020
“Women’s History Is Women’s Right”
Catherine Woodward, Biologist,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
We have been celebrating women’s
Feature essays in the journal are in chronological history in the United States for the
order by birth year. whole month of March since 1987.
Prior to that, we celebrated women’s
history for the week of March 2-8,
since President Carter signed the
Minna B. Hall 1851-1941 proclamation in 1980. “Women’s
history is women’s right—an
Harriet Lawrence Hemenway 1858-1960 essential, indispensable heritage
from which we can draw pride,
comfort, courage, and long range
Florence Merriam Bailey 1863-1948 vision,” Gerda Lerner said as she sat
beside the President on proclama-
Evelene Spencer 1868-1935 tion day. Before this, there was just
1 day a year to recognize women and
their history, starting in 1909.
Rosalie Barrow Edge 1877-1962
In this year’s journal, we focus on
Mardy Murie 1902-2003 women in conservation history; we
raise the voices of remarkable
women to commemorate the past,
Rachel Carson 1907-1964 inform the present, and inspire the
future. We hope to raise awareness
Frances Hamerstrom 1907-1998 about their contributions to conser-
vation through these stories.
Lucille Farrier Stickel 1915-2007 To be a woman in the early days of
documented conservation history,
you had to have grit and gumption
Celia Hunter 1919-2001 to influence others, especially living
in a man’s world. From the 1890s to
Helen C. Fenske 1922-2007 1920s, there was mass dissatisfac-
tion with corruption, inefficiencies
and traditional politics, which led to
Brina Cattell Kessel 1925-2016 the Progressive Era. This was a
time of many reforms, including
Louella Cable 1927-1970 women’s right to vote. Environmen-
tal issues at that time involved the
plume trade, where hunters and
Sylvia Earle 1935- sportsmen slaughtered birds for
their feathers and put many species
Mollie H. Beattie 1947-1996 on the brink of extinction. The
pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichlo-
roethane (DDT), used in World War
Mamie Parker 1957- II to control malaria and other
diseases, caused thinning of egg-
Crystal Leonetti 1976- shells and harmed wildlife when
used domestically in postwar
America. The fight for stronger
legislation to protect wildlife and
natural areas, both land and sea,
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 1
was not possible without women’s Leopold. These women saved the graduate from the University of
voices rising up against powerful birds for future generations to Alaska. She married Olaus Murie,
organizations led by men. enjoy. Hemenway, Hall, Bailey, and who was working for the Bureau of
Hamerstrom should be honored Biological Survey. That same year,
The women we feature in this with high regard for their contribu- Murie joined him on a 550-mile,
journal were trailblazers; they tions to the field of ornithology. 8-month expedition to study caribou
became role models for future in Alaska’s Brooks Range. Not
generations. Most of them had Rosalie Edge grew up privileged in many women would be willing to
status, education and resources to a prominent family; she was a honeymoon, as she did, on such a
leverage for their cause. They were suffragist, turned bird watcher, long trek in the vast wilderness. She
feisty and intelligent, willing to turned conservationist who estab- was a strong advocate for Alaska’s
stand up for their beliefs, often at lished the Emergency Conservation wild places. The Muries’ studies in
personal cost. They were visionar- Committee and founded the world’s Alaska supported the efforts to
ies, and they each left a legacy. first preserve for birds of prey, establish Arctic National Wildlife
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Refuge in 1960. Mardy played an
During the time of the feather Pennsylvania. The conservation important role in protecting wilder-
trade, Harriet Hemenway and movement had never seen such a ness in Alaska and around the
Minna Hall were two socialites who tenacious agent of change. Edge nation and is rightfully lauded for
made a world of difference. By attacked both the Audubon Society her efforts.
meeting over tea, they strategized and the Bureau of Biological Survey
to end the deadly feather trade. for not living up to their wildlife Brina Kessel was one of the first
They began inviting other women of conservation missions; instead, they scientists to complete extensive
status, who wore feathered hats, for were killing species deemed research on the birds of Alaska. She
tea resulting in 900 people boycot- “non-beneficial.” In spite of fierce was a graduate student Aldo
ting feather fashion. At a time when opposition, Edge eventually perse- Leopold, like Fran Hamerstrom,
women could not vote, Hemenway vered in protecting raptors and who was the first woman to earn a
and Hall, along with other promi- other endangered birds. graduate degree in wildlife manage-
nent men and women, started a bird ment. Kessel grew up with a family
club that pressed for stronger Edge was also an early voice against that loved wildlife. As with many
legislation protecting birds. The the use of DDT and its harm to other female field biologists of the
Audubon movement expanded to birds in 1948, 14 years before Rachel time, she experienced sexism: she
the national level, and the U.S. Carson wrote Silent Spring and could not conduct research on
Congress passed the Lacey Act and warned the public about the dan- certain parts of Alaska, because
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, gers of pesticides. Much of the women were not allowed on petro-
prohibiting harm to a migratory evidence Edge and others used leum sites. However, she persisted
bird or any of its parts. The initial came from Lucille Stickel, a pioneer- in her research and found ways to
actions of Hemenway and Hall ing toxicologist at the Patuxent continue her work with the Univer-
protected birds and illegalized the Research Refuge. Stickel was a sity of Alaska. Celia Hunter’s
feather trade. wildlife research biologist with a unique career included being a pilot
thirst for knowledge. There was during World War II and creating
Appreciate birds by observing them little information about the harmful Alaska’s first ecotourism company.
through an opera glass, not through effects of pesticides on wildlife, and Hunter told stories and educated
the barrel of a rifle, thought Flor- in 1946, Stickel published her first people about Alaskan conservation
ence Bailey. She showed the world it contaminant paper reporting the and wilderness as she gained
is not necessary to kill an animal to results of DDT. She and her col- support of her community in
study it. Bailey enjoyed watching leagues provided the evidentiary establishing the Arctic Refuge.
birds, studying their behaviors and support for Carson’s Silent Spring. Through her career, Hunter showed
leading others on bird walks. She Through the work of Edge, Stickel intelligence and effectiveness as she
was an educated writer who encour- and Carson, the newly established began at a grassroots level and
aged women to study science and Environmental Protection Agency rallied big crowds to protect these
who recognized female scientists of banned DDT in 1972, and the public threatened lands. Murie, Kessel and
the day. She trained teachers in field learned nature is vulnerable to Hunter all made significant impacts
and lab ornithology. Another human intervention. through their adventurous and
privileged woman who spent her unique careers protecting Alaska’s
career around studying birds was Protecting our country’s last wilderness.
Frances Hamerstrom. She men- frontier, an unspoiled remote
tored thousands of students in wilderness, were the legacies of Many women profiled in this issue
ornithology throughout her career; Margaret Murie, Brina Kessel and were impressive pioneers spear-
many of whom became conserva- Celia Hunter. Trained in a wide vari- heading movements and pushing the
tionists and ornithologists. She was ety of fields, these women conserva- conservation movement into new
a student of Aldo Leopold, the tionists were pilots, writers, scien- directions such as: Helen Fenske,
founder of wildlife management, and tific researchers and educators. All Crystal Leonetti, Evelene Spencer,
in 1940, she was the first woman to of them made their careers in Mollie Beattie and Sylvia Earle.
earn a master’s degree in this Alaska. Margaret “Mardy” Murie Helen Fenske’s story was a classic
emerging field—the only woman to moved to Alaska as a young girl, ‘David vs. Goliath’ story in winning
earn a graduate degree under becoming the first woman to her case against the powerful Port
2 CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020
Authority. Her advocacy helped can-American Regional Director
establish the Great Swamp National and the first female African-Ameri-
Wildlife Refuge and the Department can Assistant Director. Parker
of the Interior’s first Wilderness writes about the value of pushing
Area east of the Mississippi. Crystal ourselves to do what is right, not
Leonetti was the first Indigenous what is easy. In a time when we face
woman to serve as a Native liaison more challenges than ever, we need
for the Service. She introduced the to work together, honoring all
first Alaska Native Relations perspectives, to continue advancing
training to the U.S. Fish and conservation. We are making
Wildlife Service (Service), a crucial history today as this year marks the
tool for Service employees working first year the Service has a female
with tribal nations on wildlife African-American director, Aurelia
management in Alaska. Another Skipwith. Catherine Woodward.
first was celebrity chef Evelene Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
Spencer, hired by the Bureau of This issue of Conservation History
Fisheries to help promote eating shares the stories of a fine group of each of these women inspire us in
fish. She popularized the idea of fish women, each with their own mean- our careers to be better stewards of
as fighting food, to save other foods ingful legacy. They shaped regula- our fish, wildlife, plants, and their
for men fighting in World War II. tions to protect birds and create a habitats.
Spencer wrote a popular cookbook, cleaner environment, established
which still sells today and which protected areas of land and water, Reference
benefitted the fishing industry at shattered the glass ceiling in field
the time. Another front runner, biology, and created space in today’s Zorthian, J. (2018, March 1).
Mollie Beattie, was the first woman conservation movement for women This is How March Became Women’s
to lead the Service. She changed to take a seat at the table. Through History Month. Time,
many things for the Service, includ- countless awards, and public lands https://time.com/4238999/wom-
ing policy for the Endangered bearing their names, they made ens-history-month-history/
Species Act and the framework for history and left legacies. There is a
the National Wildlife Refuge lot we can learn from their charac- ■
System—distinguishing purpose ter, persistence and work ethic. May
and use on the refuges when it
comes to hunting, fishing, trapping Extracting glochidia from a Plain pocketbook mussel using the syringe
and more. Beattie left the organiza- method. Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
tion better than she found it, while,
too, serving as a role model for
other women in an agency with
predominantly male employees.
Sylvia Earle opened up the world of
marine conservation as an early
woman oceanographer. She illumi-
nated the underwater world for the
public and fiercely advocated for
protecting the health of the ocean.
Earle faced many challenges, such
as applying for positions not open to
women. Unable to live and work
aboard an underwater exploration
vessel with men, she led an expedi-
tion with all women, and it changed
her life. Due to Earle’s work, the
Service manages more land and
water mass than any other agency,
with more than 150 million terres-
trial acres and 760 million acres of
submerged lands and waters,
primarily in the 5 Marine National
Monuments.
Mamie Parker spoke words of
wisdom when she said, “We are
stronger because we had to be.” She
started her career in the Service as
a biologist, and she rose in the ranks
to become the first female Afri-
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 3
Saving Birds Over Tea
Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna B. Hall
Paul Tritaik, Heritage Committee lives of birds. Indeed, by 1896, 5 Grinnell, editor of Forest and
Member, South Atlantic-Gulf and million birds across nearly 50 Stream, formed The Audubon
Mississippi Basin Regions, U.S. species were being killed annually Society of New York in 1886 and
Fish and Wildlife Service to supply the millinery trade. This published the first volumes of The
left fewer than 5,000 nesting egrets Audubon Magazine, it only lasted
On a January afternoon in 1896, in in the United States and resulted in until 1889 due to funding issues. The
the parlor of a Boston Victorian the extirpation of terns from New Massachusetts Audubon Society,
brownstone home, a Back Bay England states. however, has been the oldest
socialite read a disturbing article continually operating Audubon
about the slaughter of beautiful Harriet and Minna pulled out their Society in the United States.
egrets in Florida by plume hunters. lists of high society ladies who likely Harriet and Minna convinced
The article described in graphic owned feather hats and invited nationally recognized ornithologist
detail the resulting carnage of them to afternoon tea parties, and co-founder of the Nuttall
plucked, lifeless bodies of birds and where they served fine tea and Ornithological Club, William
their orphaned chicks left to starve, engaged in friendly conversation. Brewster, to become president, and
all in the name of high fashion. After countless afternoon tea Charles Minot to be chairman of the
Outraged, Mrs. Harriet Hemenway parties and gentle persuasion to board.
shared the article with her cousin eschew feather hats, Harriet and
across the street, Minna B. Hall. Minna successfully enlisted more The society’s ultimate purpose, as
Over tea, they ambitiously strate- than 900 women to boycott the stated by Minna Hall, was “to
gized how to end the cruel, multimil- buying and wearing of feather hats. discourage buying and wearing, for
lion-dollar plume trade that was ornamental purposes, the feathers
decimating whole populations of Harriet and Minna were astute of any wild bird, and to otherwise
wild birds. enough to recognize that change further the protection of our native
would require the participation of birds.” A major goal of the Massa-
Harriet Hemenway was no stranger influential men as well, especially chusetts Audubon Society was to
to controversy. She was considered considering that women had not yet influence other states to start
independent, energetic and a bit of secured the right to vote. Harriet Audubon societies, and indeed, by
an iconoclast. Harriet came from a enlisted the support of her husband, 1898, state-level Audubon societies
family of abolitionists, and she once Augustus Hemenway (1853-1931), had been established in 15 other
hosted a black man as a houseguest, an heir to a shipping fortune. Mr. states and the District of Columbia.
because he couldn’t get lodging Hemenway was also interested and The Massachusetts Audubon
anywhere else in Boston. That was active in protecting the environ- Society was a leader in the cam-
considered shocking for the time, ment, including helping to establish paign to end the commercial slaugh-
even though that man was Booker Boston’s municipal park system. ter of plume birds. In 1897, the orga-
T. Washington. The women also recruited promi- nization helped Massachusetts pass
nent, affluent families and reached a bill outlawing trade in wild-bird
Before reading that horrifying out to esteemed Boston scientists to feathers. It also worked to develop
article on plume hunting, both help the cause, including ornitholo- model bird legislation for other
Harriet and Minna were among the gist George Mackay and Harvard states to adopt and worked with the
many women who had succumbed to naturalists Charles S. Minot and U.S. Congress to pass the Lacey
the fashion of wearing feathers Outram Bangs. Act in 1900, which prohibited the
adorned on their hats. Once they interstate shipment of animals killed
learned that their fashion choices On February 10, 1896, Harriet and in violation of local state laws. The
required the killing of breeding Minna invited six other prominent Lacey Act was like the Audubon
birds for their nuptial plumes and men and women to Harriet’s home model laws that were recently
the subsequent abandonment of to organize a new bird club that enacted in multiple states. This
their young, Harriet and Minna not would work to protect birds. They landmark legislation was instrumen-
only pledged to never wear such decided to name this club the tal in curbing the illicit plume trade.
hats again, but to work on ending Massachusetts Audubon Society for
the practice altogether. This was a the Protection of Birds, after the The Massachusetts Audubon
monumental challenge as feathers great bird painter and in the Society leaders also recognized the
were more valuable than gold at the tradition of earlier English bird need to coordinate efforts among
time, placing a heavy price on the clubs. Although George Bird the various state Audubon Societ-
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 5ies. In 1900, they helped organize a take, capture, kill,” or “sell” a
conference of state Audubon migratory bird or any of its parts,
societies in Cambridge, Massachu- including nests, eggs and feathers.
setts and another conference in In 1920, the U.S. Supreme Court
New York, the following year, to rejected a challenge to the constitu-
coordinate efforts to protect wild tionality of the Migratory Bird
birds on a national level. By 1902, Treaty Act, ruling that it does not
with the prodding and funding of violate states’ rights.
the Massachusetts Audubon Soci-
ety, the National Committee of By 1920, no woman with any
Audubon Societies was established. sensibility would be seen on the
In 1905, this group of state Audubon streets of Boston wearing feathers,
societies formally incorporated as at least not without being admon-
the National Association of Audu- ished, or at least glared at, by one of
bon Societies, which later became her sisters. Indeed, the issue was
known as the National Audubon dead. The trade had been made
Society. This enabled the Audubon illegal, and feathers were soon out
Societies to fund Audubon wardens of fashion thanks to the initial Harriett Lawrence Hemenway por-
sworn to protect vulnerable bird actions of two very progressive and trait by John Singer Sargent, 1890.
rookeries and to advocate for brave women.
stronger bird protection laws.
■
The influence of the Massachusetts
Audubon Society reached the References
highest levels in 1902, when friend
of Charles Minot’s family and former
Brewster’s Nuttall Ornithological
Club member, Theodore Roosevelt,
became President of the United
States. President Theodore Roos-
evelt listened to the appeals of his
Audubon friends and launched the
protection of wetland rookeries by
executive order, starting at Pelican
Island in Florida, thereby establish-
ing the first national wildlife refuge.
Appeals to the White House didn’t
end with the Theodore Roosevelt
Administration. In 1909, when the
First Lady, Mrs. William Howard
Taft, had the audacity to appear at
the presidential inauguration with
feathers in her hat, Minna Hall
promptly wrote her a personal
letter of protest.
The Massachusetts Audubon
Society continued to press for
stronger legislation protecting
birds. In 1913, Congress passed the
Weeks-McLean Migratory Bird Act,
which banned the spring shooting of
game and insectivorous birds and
declared them to be under the
“custody and protection” of the
Federal government. In 1916, the
United States signed a treaty with
Great Britain (acting on behalf of
Canada), in which the two countries
agreed to stop all hunting of insec-
tivorous birds and to establish
specific hunting seasons for game
birds. In 1918, to implement the new Feathered hat.
treaty, Congress passed the Migra-
tory Bird Treaty Act, which official-
ly made it a crime to “pursue, hunt,
6 CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020Kelly, K. (2014). Harriet Lawrence
Hemenway (1858-1960): Saving
Birds One Hat at a Time. America
Comes Alive, April 8, 2014.
Leggett, K. (1995). “The Bird Ladies
of Boston.” The New York Times.
November 12, 1995, Section 7,
Page 36.
Mitchell, John H. (1996). The
Mothers of Conservation. Sanctu-
ary: The Journal of the Massachu-
setts Audubon Society, Centennial
Issue - January/February 1996, 1-20.
https://blogs.massaudubon.org/
yourgreatoutdoors/the-moth-
ers-of-conservation/
Packard, W. (1921). The Story of the
Audubon Society: Twenty-five Years
of Active and Effective Work for the
Preservation of Wild Birdlife.
Bulletin of the Massachusetts
Audubon Society for the Protection
of Birds. Boston, Massachusetts.
Souder, W. (2013). How Two Women
Ended the Deadly Feather Trade.
Smithsonian Magazine, March 2013.
Weeks, L. (2015). Hats Off To
Women Who Saved the Birds.
National Public Radio History
Department, July 15, 2015.
Feather Trade. Wildlife Journal
Junior. New Hampshire PBS, 2019.
Lady plume hat. Zhang, T. (2018). The Conflict of
Conservation, Fashion, and Indus-
try: Compromise between Environ-
mentalists, Women, and the Plume
Trade. National History Day.
Great egret nesting in a rookery in St. Augustine, Florida.
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 7Through the Opera Glass: Florence Merriam Bailey
Paul Tritaik, Heritage Committee When George Bird Grinnell started priate. What injustice! Here an
Member, South Atlantic-Gulf and the first Audubon Society of New innocent creature with an ol-
Mississippi Basin Regions, U.S. York in February 1886, one of the ive-green back and yellowish breast
Fish and Wildlife Service first to respond to his call to action has to go about all her days known
was Florence. In March 1886, as the black-throated blue warbler,
A young woman, while attending Florence organized the Smith just because that happens to
college, became one of the first College Audubon Society with a describe the dress of her spouse!”
leaders of the Audubon movement. classmate, Fanny Hardy, to bring
Florence Merriam grew up in attention to this slaughter. She Florence was also active in social
upstate New York and was nur- inspired a hundred students—a work. She helped educate and
tured in science and nature by her third of the student body—to support young employed women in
father (Clinton Levi Merriam), distribute 10,000 circulars and to Chicago and New York City, many
mother (Caroline Hart Merriam), write impassioned protests to the of whom were new European
and older brother (Clinton Hart newspaper. immigrants. While in New York
Merriam). Her father was a banker City, Florence contracted tuberculo-
and U.S. Congressman who was One of the ways Florence sought to sis and decided to travel west in
interested in science and corre- change attitudes about birds was to 1893 to convalesce. She hardly
sponded with John Muir. Her introduce students to the wonder rested though, attending 6 months
college-educated mother was the and beauty of birds by leading of lectures at Leland Stanford
daughter of a county judge and New groups on bird hikes. She even Junior University and traveling
York Assemblyman, who encour- attracted luminary naturalists like through California, Utah and
aged Florence to pursue higher John Burroughs to lead bird walks Arizona to observe birds. She
education. Her older brother, C. when he visited Smith College. “We compiled her notes into travelogues
Hart Merriam, would become the won’t say too much about the hats,” and bird field guides like My
first chief of the Bureau of Biological she wrote in Bird-Lore. “We’ll take Summer in a Mormon Village
Survey. Family friend, Ernest the girls afield, and let them get (1894), A-Birding on a Bronco
Thompson Seton, was also an early acquainted with the birds. Then of (1896), and Birds of Village and
influence on Florence. inborn necessity, they will wear Field: A Bird Book for Beginners
feathers never more.” (1898), a popular bird guide with
Florence attended Smith College in more than 200 drawings by Ernest
Northampton, Massachusetts, from Florence left Smith College in 1886 Thompson Seton, Louis Agassiz
1882 to 1886, and by that time had without receiving a degree, but she Fuertes and John L. Ridgway.
already demonstrated a unique was later in 1921 granted a B.A, as a
passion for bird study. Most natural- member of the Class of 1886. She Her health restored, Florence
ists at the time studied birds using continued to work for the Audubon moved to Washington, D.C., to live
their skins obtained by shooting Society and wrote articles on birds with her brother, C. Hart Merriam.
them or examining those stored in for The Audubon Magazine, includ- There she helped the Women’s
universities and museums. Florence, ing her popular “Fifty Common National Science Club get women to
however, preferred to study live Birds and How to Know Them.” In start branches throughout the
birds and was the first to advocate 1889, Florence compiled those country to promote female scien-
using binoculars to identify them articles into her first book, Birds tists. Florence also co-founded the
and study their behavior. through an Opera Glass. This was Audubon Society of the District of
considered the first field guide to Columbia with Mrs. John Dewhurst
Killing birds to study them seemed American birds by suggesting the Patten in 1897, 1 year after Massa-
unnecessary to Florence, but killing best way to view birds was through chusetts Audubon Society’s found-
birds to wear their feathers was the lenses of opera glasses (binocu- ing. Early leaders included Theo-
horrifying. Florence was disgusted lars), not shotgun sights. This book dore. S. Palmer and Robert
to see so many women wearing was published under her own name, Ridgway, and even President
feathers and even entire dead birds not a pen name, as was the custom Theodore Roosevelt became a
on their hats. An estimated 5 million for female authors at the time. In member and hosted meetings.
birds a year were being killed for describing a female warbler, she Florence was an active member of
fashion. In 1885, Florence began to wrote, “Like other ladies, the little its executive committee and led the
write articles on bird protection. feathered brides have to bear their annual spring bird class to provide
husbands’ names, however inappro- basic instruction in both field and
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 9laboratory ornithology to teachers. In 1928, Florence completed Birds Florence Merriam Bailey was
She was also active with the Com- of New Mexico, the first comprehen- memorialized in ornithology by Dr.
mittee on Bird Protection of the sive report on the birdlife of the Joseph Grinnell in 1908, when he
American Ornithologists’ Union and Southwest. In 1931, Florence named a subspecies of Mountain
helped advocate for bird protection received the William Brewster Chickadee from the higher moun-
laws, like the Lacy Act of 1900. Memorial Award of the American tains of southern California–Parus
Ornithologists’ Union for this work, gambeli baileyae (now Poecile
Florence’s move to Washington D.C. and 2 years later, the University of gambeli baileyae)–in her honor.
was fortuitous for personal reasons, New Mexico awarded her an
as well. Her brother introduced her honorary doctorate degree “in ■
to Biological Survey naturalist recognition of the educational and
Vernon Bailey. They married in scientific value of her work on Birds
December 1899 and began traveling of New Mexico.” The Biological
to explore the natural world. Vernon Survey published Vernon Bailey’s
began a series of field trips for the companion work, Mammals of New
Division of Biological Survey and Mexico, in 1931.
Florence frequently accompanied
him. Using a simple tent, the couple Florence authored 10 books and
went camping in Texas, California, published about 100 articles in
Arizona, New Mexico, North and ornithological journals, such as The
South Dakota, the Pacific North- Auk, Bird-Lore, and The Condor,
west and New England. Vernon and in popular periodicals like
collected and studied mammals, Forest and Stream, The Outlook,
birds, reptiles and plants, and Popular Science, The American
Florence documented her ornitho- Agriculturist, and The Chautau-
logical observations made on all quan. Florence was the first woman
these trips. Like her, Vernon was Associate Member of the American
opposed to killing animals and Ornithologists’ Union (1885), the
developed one of the first live first woman elected as a Fellow of
mammal traps, called Verbail, a the Union (1929), and the first
contraction of his own name. female recipient of the Brewster
Award (1931). In Arthur Cleveland
In 1902, Florence published the Bent’s Life Histories of North
Handbook of Birds of the Western American Birds, Florence was
United States, which was to serve among the authorities most fre-
as the companion volume to Frank quently quoted on bird habits and An illustration from Bailey’s Birds
M. Chapman’s Handbook of Birds of behavior. through an Opera Glass.
Eastern North America. It became See the entire book at
the standard work for half a century https://tinyurl.com/y7jbaxvf
and was highly proclaimed by such
eminent naturalists as Olaus J.
Murie.
10 CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020Florence Merriam Bailey feeding gulls. Oregon Historical Society Library
References Oehser, P.H. (1952). In memoriam:
Florence Merriam Bailey. The Auk
Cevasco, G.A., Harmond, R.P., & 69:19-26.
Mendelsohn, E.I. (2009). Modern
American Environmentalists: A Ruth, J.M. (2007). Florence Merriam
Biographical Encyclopedia. Balti- Bailey – Ornithologist. New Mexico
more: Johns Hopkins University Ornithological Society Bulletin, 35:
Press., doi:10.1353/book.3349 97-100.
Chapman, F.M. (1916). Florence St. Lawrence County, New York
Merriam Bailey. Bird-Lore, 18:142- Branch, American Association of
144. University Women. Women of
Courage, Florence Merriam Bailey:
Florence Merriam Bailey Papers, Pioneer Naturalist.
1865-1942. Smithsonian Institution
Archives, Washington, D.C. Wolfe, J. (2019). Overlooked No
More: Florence Merriam Bailey,
Kofalk, H. (1989). No Woman Who Defined Modern Bird-Watch-
Tenderfoot: Florence Merriam ing. The New York Times, July 17,
Bailey, Pioneer Naturalist. College 2019. Florence Merriam Bailey.
Station, TX: Texas A&M University
Press. Women in Nature - Florence
Merriam Bailey. Journal of the
Maynard, L. W. (1935). The Audu- Sierra College Natural History
bon Society of the District of Museum, (2015), vol. 6 no. 1.
Columbia. Records of the Columbia
Historical Society, Washington, D.C.
Historical Society of Washington,
D.C. 35/36: 98–108.
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 11Evelene Spencer: “Fish Evangelist”
April Gregory, National Fish and USBF appears in a paper published
Aquatic Conservation Archives, in the No. 44 issue of the Bureau
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and of Fisheries Economic Circular in
Heritage Committee Member 1919 with Evelyn listed as the au-
thor, entitled “Groupers, fishes you
The United States Bureau of should try, with recipes for them.”
Fisheries (USBF) once employed She was part of the USBF’s nation-
a celebrity chef—a chef to whom wide campaign to encourage people
people would flock to watch live to eat more fish to save other foods
demonstrations at large department for WWI efforts. Evelene traveled
stores. This was before the days of around the country giving cooking
television and before there were demonstrations and encouraging
countless cooking shows. Although people to eat other species besides
television was invented in 1927, it those that were widely accepted by
was not in most American homes developing recipes with substitu-
until the 1950s. This chef was em- tions such as devil fish for crab and
ployed during the roaring 20s, when squid for oyster. Saving red meat for
folks went to live plays, concerts the soldiers overseas became a na-
and shows. The USBF hired her to tional priority, and Evelene helped
promote eating fish, and she was to provide alternative recipes using
famous among housewives. Her offi- fish that were often overlooked as a
cial title was “Fish Cookery Expert food source.
for United States Bureau of Fisher- Fish Cookery book cover.
ies,” and she earned the nickname Evelene is most well known for her Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic
Conservation Archives/USFWS
“Fish Evangelist.” book, “Fish Cookery, Six Hundred
Recipes for the Preparation of Fish,
Evelene Armstrong was born in Shellfish and Other Aquatic Ani-
1868 in Toronto, Canada. In 1888, mals, Including Fish Soups, Salads
Evelene moved to the United and Entrees, with Accompanying
States, where she married Joseph Sauces, Seasonings, Dressings and
Spencer in Portland, Oregon. Forcemeats.” She co-authored the
Joseph was also from Canada, but book with John M. Cobb, the Direc-
details are scarce about why each tor of the College of Fisheries at
had moved to the United States. the University of Seattle. Published
They had two daughters - Adrienne in 1921, it is still available for sale
Spencer, born in 1890 and Evalyn online. The book is much more than
Spencer, born in 1893. According a listing of recipes. It includes math-
to the U.S. Census records, in 1910 ematical ratios for gauging cooking
Evelene was 42 years old and the times for the size and thickness of
manager of a restaurant. Her skills the fish. It has information on how
in the kitchen surely must have lent to tell how fresh a fish from the mar-
themselves to her employment as an ket is and how to fillet a fish. The
outreach specialist and cook by the introduction speaks to the culture of
USBF, where she worked for about eating across the States—how one
7 years. type of fish may be a highly prized
entrée in one area, while it is a trash
Evelene created quite the name fish in another part of the country—
for herself over the course of her which still holds true today.
Fish Cookery dedicaton page.
career. She was widely known and Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic
respected in not only the United Recipes in Fish Cookery range Conservation Archives/USFWS
States, but also Canada. Evelene from bass, shrimp, trout and salmon
worked for the USBF from at least to eel, shark, roe and turtle. The
1915 to 1922. An early reference to authors explain that they were
Evelyn Spencer working for the trying to educate people about un-
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 13conventional food sources that may names that appear as contributors
be widely available to them in their and co-authors to research papers,
areas, often times for a much more but they are few and far between,
economical price. A lasting trade- and we know little about them.
mark from the book that helped
propel Evelene to cooking stardom While Evelene Spencer did serve in
was her baking method, coined a traditional woman’s role as a cook,
the “Spencer Hot Oven Method,” she appears to have had great free-
which is a healthier method of oven dom in her career—making her own
frying of fish and chips than deep choices, scheduling her tours and
frying. The book was a success, becoming a well-respected expert
and Evelene traveled the country in the field by her peers and deci-
giving cooking demonstrations at sion-makers in both American and
department stores and answering Canadian governments. Despite her
questions. Her oldest daughter, role in the kitchen, Evelene was no
Adrienne, often accompanied and ordinary cook. Through experimen-
helped Evelene. By 1923, she had tation, she fine-tuned her cooking
moved back to Canada to work for methods via various comparative
the National Fish Company do- methods she tested. One such meth-
ing similar work—promoting the od was even named after her.
consumption of fish. Evelene also
became well known in Canada for I chose to highlight Evelene for her
her fishery-touting ways. successful career and her enduring
legacy and to bring awareness of
Evelene Spencer passed away in history repeating itself. The USBF
January of 1935 in Hamilton, Can- Recipes from Fish Cookery: Tuna tasked Evelene to promote eating
ada, at age 67, but she left a lasting Fish Pudding, Steamed or Baked. fish to save red meat for the soldiers.
mark on cooking. A section of her Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic Today, our agency is promoting
Conservation Archives/USFWS
obituary that ran in the Toronto eating invasive species to help save
paper reads, native species. Although during Ev-
For many years Mrs. Spencer Author’s note elene’s time Silver flying carp, for ex-
had rendered great service to the ample, had not yet been introduced
Department of Fisheries and the Looking back through our agency’s to the United States, she does have
Canadian fishery industry through early fisheries history proves it an entire section of carp recipes,
her lectures and demonstrations… to be predominately comprised of which I’m sure could be substituted
Her work proved of immense benefit male Caucasian employees, with for an invasive carp, proving once
to the fishing industry of the Domin- the notable exception of the iconic again, that recipes can be timeless.
ion in promoting the consumption Rachel Carson, who didn’t enter
of fish by Canadians. Mrs. Spencer the scene until the 1930s. Of the ■
was as well known in the United few women employed throughout
States as in Canada, and in the those early years, from 1871 for-
American Union she carried on ward, most worked in the accepted
campaigns to promote the consump- roles of secretary, egg picker, or as
tion of fish, which met with wide in Evelene Spencer’s case, cook. In
response. She was well known to the the early years, there are women’s
authorities at Washington, where
her work on behalf of the Govern-
ment was valued highly, and as a
result of which she was invited to do
similar work in the Dominion.
Evelene’s impact continues today.
The “Spencer Hot Oven Method”
is commonly used today, just under
a different name—roasting or bak-
ing—and is still popular for being
a healthier low-fat alternative to
frying.
The Department of Commerce used
this poster as part of its “Eat More
Fish” campaign to encourage Amer-
icans to eat a wide variety of fish.
Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic
Conservation Archives/USFWS
14Eat the Carp! poster: This 1911
Bureau of Fisheries poster promotes
carp as a delicious fish to eat. The
carp was introduced to American
waters in 1877 and spread quickly.
Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic
Conservation Archives/USFWS
References
Department of Commerce, Bureau
of Fisheries, Economic Circular
No. 44, Issued March 21, 1919,
“Groupers: Fishes You Should Try/
With recipes for cooking them.”
Text by H.F. Moore, Deputy Com-
missioner, Bureau of Fisheries.
Recipes by Miss Evelyn Spencer,
Bureau of Fisheries.
Ancestry.com. Newspapers.com
Obituary Index, 1800s-current
database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2019.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/
collections/61843/
Spencer, E, and Cobb, J.N. (1921).
Fish Cookery: Six hundred recipes
for the preparation of fish, shellfish
and other aquatic animals, including
fish soups, salads and entres, with
accompanying sauces, seasonings,
dressings and forcemeats. Boston:
Little, Brown, and Company.
Courtesy of the National Fish and Aquatic
Conservation Archives/USFWS
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 15The Tie that Binds: How the Suffrage Fight Helped
Rosalie Edge Advance Conservation
Dyana Z. Furmansky, Author Nature from the Conservationists. York Woman Suffrage Party as
and Journalist Another important element was secretary-treasurer and a pamphle-
provided by something I found teer. Edge, who had never been shy,
In an old suitcase that belonged to buried under the neat bundles of or un-opinionated, hit her stride as
the radical conservationist Rosalie envelopes. It was a white sash bor- a blistering soapbox speaker. She
Edge (1877-1962), I found dozens of dered in golden yellow stripes that walked miles going door to door,
intimate family letters written to are still rich in hue. The fighting leaving behind the latest incendiary
her and by her, over the course of words ‘Votes for Women’ call out NYWSP pamphlet that she, as a
her long life. As Edge’s biographer, I from the long white space between writer for the organization’s highly
read these letters searching for clues the stripes. Spotting her suffrag- persuasive ‘publicity council,’ had
into what might have thrust this ist sash among letters from loved penned.
snooty, middle-aged matron out of ones, I figured it had been a prized
the cloistered and cushioned world possession. Prior to joining the suffrage move-
of New York high society, into a field ment, she had “known nothing of
she knew nothing about: the pres- Edge wore this sash across her organization, publicity, policy or
ervation of hawks and eagles from white dress as she marched with politics,” she wrote. The NYWSP
mass slaughter, by bounty hunters thousands of like-uniformed suf- changed her. But shortly after
and anyone who believed it was fragists through the streets of New the suffrage movement came to a
their civic duty to exterminate them. York, demanding to be counted successful close, Edge drifted away
in the national plebiscite. After a from other women’s causes, and
Of course, Edge couldn’t have long and bitter fight, the suffrag- instead spent the next several years
known anything about raptor ists achieved their goal a century falling ardently in love with birds.
preservation; the ‘field’ didn’t yet ago, when three-quarters of the Central Park was where she went
exist. She created it in 1929, as states ratified the 19th Amendment to watch them, and started her first
founder and sole embodiment of the on August 18, 1920. “The right of bird list. Meanwhile, her organiza-
Emergency Conservation Commit- citizens of the United States to vote tional skills slumbered.
tee, through her pamphleteering, shall not be denied or abridged by
strident consciousness raising and the United States or by any state on The plight of eagles in particular
action. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary account of sex,” had finally become aroused her to her new cause, one
in Kempton, Pennsylvania, which the law of the land. that had few allies when she took
Edge established in 1935, can be it up, and none willing to go public.
considered the birthplace of the When I give presentations about Raptor conservation would consume
first major campaign to end the Edge, I often show her suffrage the rest of Edge’s life, and would
killing of predatory birds. Hawk sash. I say that this narrow strip of gain a new generation of adherents.
Mountain’s establishment is just cloth binds together two of the 20th Accustomed to the barrage of verbal
one of Edge’s “Committee’s” many century’s great progressive caus- abuse she had withstood while cam-
achievements. In the years during es—the women’s movement and the paigning for women’s voting rights,
which she was the nation’s preemi- environmental movement. Parading Edge was inured to the insults and
nent conservationist, she picked up with it emboldened the suffrag- condemnations of prominent bird
where the naturalist John Muir had ist Rosalie Edge to later become, conservation leaders, all of them
left off, and began what the marine as she was described in The New male, who opposed her efforts to
biologist Rachel Carson completed, Yorker, “the most honest, unselfish, save hawks and eagles. The Nation-
with Carson’s publication of Silent indomitable hellcat in the history of al Audubon Society, which to Edge
Spring in 1962. Rosalie Edge was so conservation.” was Bird Enemy Number One,
effective at preserving wild species castigated her as “a common scold;”
and their habitats, that in my book, In about 1913, when Edge joined at least one man on the board hissed
she deserves to be recognized as the New York state campaign for that she was that dread thing, “a
the very godmother of the modern women’s right to vote, the suffrage suffragist.”
environmental movement. battle was entering its last heat-
ed phase. After about 40 years of Nevertheless, Edge persevered.
The Edge letter collection informed comparatively mild activism, it had She had learned “to stand up at
an important part of the story I tell taken on a now-or-never intensity. meeting,” as she put it. She knew
in my book, Rosalie Edge, Hawk Edge rose swiftly in the ranks, how to call out her male betters
of Mercy: The Activist Who Saved serving Cary Chapman Catt’s New when they were wrong, which in the
2020 CONSERVATION HISTORY 17conduct of nature conservation of Edge recognized that what she
her time, meant refusing to recog- had learned as a suffragist honed
nize the need to save all wildlife. her passion and tenacity to wage
As her influence widened, Rosalie long-running conservation battles.
Edge became the bitterest foe of “These skills were taught under
organizations besides the Audubon the leadership and through the
Society. Her ladylike demeanor was friendship of such women as Cary
a bit of a ruse to disarm men. “Her Chapman Catt, May Garret Hay,
sword is a folding one,” wrote the Ruth Morgan, and others,” she de-
Christian Science Monitor. “It can clared. “Women for all time to come
fit into an evening bag, or even a must ever be grateful” to them, she
delicate glove.” wrote. And, it is thanks to the hell-
cat Rosalie Edge that conservation
If the Audubon Society was Enemy activists owe a debt of gratitude to
Number One, Enemy Number Two, them as well.
according to Edge, was a federal
agency called the Bureau of Biologi- ■
cal Survey. It was created in 1896 to
keep a census of the nation’s eco-
nomically beneficial wildlife; added
to this mission about 20 years later
was taxpayer-funded extermination
of wildlife deemed to be non-eco-
nomically beneficial, like predatory
species at the top of the food chain.
Owing in large part to the steady
stream of damning revelations at
the Bureau of Biological Survey
in her widely read pamphlets, the
Bureau was reorganized out of
existence in 1939. Certain functions
of the Survey were combined with
those considered salvageable in the
Bureau of Fisheries. The resulting
agency, ordered by Interior Secre-
tary Harold Ickes who was Edge’s
ally, is called the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service (Service).
Though Edge significantly helped
shape the new Service mission, she
still complained of its lack of urgency
in ending the wide-scale predator
poisoning programs, among oth-
er things. Dissatisfaction did not
prevent her from fervently pointing
out new problems. One arose in
1948, when a scientist informant
told Edge that certain golf courses
in Westchester County used the
pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichlo-
roethane (DDT). “The destruction of
birds is appalling,” she wrote to New
York’s Fish and Game Department.
An investigation by federal wildlife
agents confirmed her suspicions of
the cause. It was not until 1962 that
the accumulation of lethal evidence
against DDT made their way into
Rachel Carson’s powerful and elo-
quent call to action, Silent Spring.
18 CONSERVATION HISTORY 2020You can also read
