Alfred Marshall Bailey (February 18, 1894 – February 25, 1978) was an American

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

who was associated with the

Denver Museum of Natural History The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help mus ...

(now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science) in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

for most of his working life.

Early years

Bailey was born in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

, where he went to school and then attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. While a student there he participated in a three-month scientific expedition to

Laysan Laysan (; ) is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, located northwest of Honolulu. It has one land mass of , about in size. It is an atoll of sorts, although the land completely surrounds Laysan Lake, some above sea level, that has a sa ...

, one of the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands also known as the Leeward Hawaiian Islands, are a series of islands and atolls located northwest of Kauai and Niihau, Niihau in the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian island chain. Politically, these islands are part of ...

Career

After graduation in 1916, Bailey served as curator of birds and mammals at the

Louisiana State Museum The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of histori ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

(1916–1919). From 1919 to 1921 he was involved in surveying south-eastern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

for the Bureau of Biological Survey (later to become the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

), followed by a curatorial stint at the Denver Museum (1921–1926). From 1926 to 1927 he was on the staff of the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

in Chicago, during which period he took part in an expedition to the

Semien Mountains The Simien Mountains (Amharic: ስሜን ተራራ or Səmen; also spelled Semain, Simeon and Semien), in northern Ethiopia, north east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site (since 1978) a ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. From 1927 to 1936 he was Director of the

Chicago Academy of Sciences Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los ...

Denver Museum

Bailey returned to the Denver Museum as Director in 1936, a position he served in for over thirty years, eventually retiring in 1969 at the age of 75. He was a proponent of fieldwork, over the years leading or taking part in several further expeditions to various parts of the world, including the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

islands, and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a physiographic region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46th parallel south, 46° and 60th parallel south, 60° south of t ...

Campbell Island. He was also a

popularizer of science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

and a skilled photographer, producing the Denver "Museum Pictorial" series of booklets, and contributing articles to magazines such as ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' and ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

''.

Honours

Formal recognition of Bailey's achievements include: * 1941 –

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ship of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

* 1944 –

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

* 1954 –

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

of Public Service,

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

* 1961 – Malcolm Glenn Wyer Award for distinguished service in adult education * 1967 – Regis College Civis Princeps Award Bailey died in Denver at the age of 84. He is honoured in the scientific name of the

Sierra Madre sparrow The Sierra Madre sparrow (''Xenospiza baileyi''), also known as Bailey's sparrow, is an endangered, range-restricted, enigmatic American sparrow. It is endemic to Mexico and is threatened with extinction through habitat loss. Etymology The genu ...

(''Xenospiza baileyi''), collected by him in Mexico and described by

Outram Bangs Outram Bangs (January 12, 1863 – September 22, 1932) was an American zoologist. Biography Bangs was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, as the second son of Edward and Annie Outram (Hodgkinson) Bangs. He studied at Harvard from 1880 to 1884, a ...

in 1931, as well as in the name of Bailey's shrew (''Crocidura baileyi'') of which he collected the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

in Ethiopia, to which it is endemic. He is commemorated in the name of the Denver Museum's Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives and also the Alfred M. Bailey Bird Nesting Area in

Summit County, Colorado Summit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 31,055. The county seat and largest town is Breckenridge, Colorado, Breckenridge. Summit County comprises the ...

Publications

Among some 200 publications authored or coauthored by Bailey are: * * 1948 – ''Birds of arctic Alaska''. Popular Series 8, Colorado Museum of Natural History * 1950 – ''Nature photography with miniature cameras''. Museum Pictorial 1, Denver Museum of Natural History. * 1952 – ''Laysan and black-footed albatrosses''. Museum Pictorial 6, Denver Museum of Natural History. * 1953 – ''The Red Crossbills of Colorado''. Museum Pictorial 9, Denver Museum of Natural History. (With R. J. Niedrach and A. Lang Baily). * 1954 – ''Canton Island''. Museum Pictorial 10, Denver Museum of Natural History. (With R. C. Murphy and R. J. Niedrach). * 1955 – ''Birds of New Zealand''. Museum Pictorial 11, Denver Museum of Natural History. * 1956 – ''Birds of Midway and Laysan Island''. Museum Pictorial 12, Denver Museum of Natural History * 1962 – ''Subantarctic Campbell Island''. Proceedings 10, Denver Museum of Natural History. (With J. H. Sorensen). * 1965 – ''Birds of Colorado''. (2 vols). Denver Museum of Natural History. (With R. J. Niedrach). * 1971 – ''Field Work of a Museum Naturalist: 1919–1922, Alaska-Southeast, Alaska-Far North''. Museum Pictorial 22, Denver Museum of Natural History

References

External links

* The
Alfred M. Bailey Papers
are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Alfred Marshall 1894 births 1978 deaths American ornithologists Directors of museums in the United States American ornithological writers American male non-fiction writers Zoological collectors Writers from Denver Writers from Iowa City, Iowa Norwich University alumni 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American male writers University of Iowa alumni