Cordelia J. Stanwood (1865 – 1958) was an American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, wildlife photographer, artisan, and writer. One of her primary achievements was the creation of Birdsacre Sanctuary, also known as the Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary. During the course of her ornithological career, she made scientific observations of the behavior of approximately 100 bird species, at a time when there had previously been few scientific studies of bird behavior. Prior to her career as an ornithological-photographer, Stanwood was a teacher and a school principal, teaching grammar and art. Her writings appeared in popular magazines and included 20 scholarly articles in ornithological journals.

Early life and education

Stanwood was the first of five children born to parents who were a wealthy merchant's daughter and a sea captain in Ellsworth, Maine. Her father was Roswell Leland Stanwood and her mother was Margaret Susan Stanwood (née Brown). Stanwood was named after her aunt Cordelia Johnson. At times, the family sailed with the father Roswell Leland Stanwood. Cordelia Stanwood was homeschooled until the age of 14, at which point she went to live with her aunt Cordelia Johnson, residing in Providence, Rhode Island. Stanwood often was known as "Cordie", a nickname she carried throughout her life. Growing up, her grandmother taught her various types of artisanship. In 1886, Stanwood graduated from an all-girls' high school in Providence. For the next year, she trained to become a teacher at the Providence Training School for Teachers, which was a normal school. She graduated in 1887, and her first teaching job was at Messer Street Training School. Stanwood desired to become a Critic Teacher at the school, to supervise the training of student teachers. To this end, Stanwood studied at the Martha's Vineyard Summer Arts Institute for a summer. This was where she first met Henry Bailey, a botanical artist who eventually became a mentor and friend. to Stanwood. Five years after being hired as a teacher, Bailey persuaded Stanwood to attend the Normal Arts School, later known as the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts. Stanwood was also a principal at this time. Unable to find employment in Boston following graduation, she returned to Providence, Rhode Island, to resume teaching. Through the year 1900, Stanwood taught elsewhere in schools in Massachusetts and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Stanwood passed several summers studying at the Martha's Vineyard Summer Arts Institute. Her experiences there re-kindled her interest in nature. She had opportunities to work with trained scientists, and she learned to combine the use of art and illustration in scientific observation, a skill that became instrumental in her career as an ornithologist. Stanwood deepened these skills in 1893 when she studied at the Massachusetts Normal Art School (later the Massachusetts College of Art)

Ornithology

At age 39, Stanwood had a "nervous breakdown", or neurasthenia, necessitating that she stop teaching,Richardson, Cynthia Watkins
"Picturing Nature: Education, Ornithology and Photography in the Life of Cordelia Stanwood: 1865-1958"
(2002), University of Maine. and was for several months at the

Adams-Nervine Asylum The Adams-Nervine Asylum was incorporated in 1877 and opened in 1880 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. The estate provided an attractive, picturesque setting, as it was situated on Centre Street, in the neighborhood of Bussy Park and the Arnold Arb ...

. One historian reported that reasons for her neurasthenia included professional and financial pressures. As she recovered, Stanwood returned to her family home in Ellsworth, Maine, without resuming her teaching career. As she was recovering from her illness, Stanwood began birdwatching. She photographed and wrote about various bird species, emphasizing behavior observations, of which little was previously known. As her scientific observations developed, Stanwood corresponded with leading naturalists of the time, including

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

and Frank Chapman. She published her findings in ornithological journals and various popular publications such as: "''The Boys Scouts’ Yearbook'', ''House Beautiful'', ''Farm Mechanics'', ''American Poultry Journal'', and ''Nature Magazine''." Although she was born into a home of financial means, Stanwood had little financial resources remaining at that stage of life. As she desired to be financially able to provide for herself, she thereby carried out various farm chores and selling her homemade crafts to earn an income. Her crafts included picture frames and woven products such as ornate baskets and rugs. Articles she wrote that were published in farming magazines and various popular magazines provided further income. Naturalist and writer

Marcia Bonta Marcia Myers Bonta (born 1940) is an American naturalist and writer, known for her extensive writings about Pennsylvanian flora and fauna. Biography Marcia Bonta was born on July 11, 1940, in Camden, New Jersey. She earned a BA degree from B ...

states in her biography of Stanwood: "Too proud to accept help from anyone, even her siblings, she was reduced in her old age to selling greeting cards from door to door."

A particular area of expertise for Stanwood was the Wood warbler of Maine, more properly known as the

Nashville warbler The Nashville warbler (''Leiothlypis ruficapilla'') is a small songbird in the New World warbler family, found in North and Central America. It breeds in parts of the northern and western United States and southern Canada, and migrates to winter ...

Wildlife photography

Stanwood documented many of her observations of bird behavior photographically. Initially, this was with a

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

box camera A box camera is a simple type of camera, the most common form being a cardboard or plastic box with a lens in one end and film at the other. They were sold in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The lenses are often singl ...

. In 1910, Stanwood published her first ornithological study entitled, "The Hermit Thrush: the Voice of the Northern Woods." Her photography career started in 1916, and the American Ornithologist's Union presented her portrait in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

in 1934. She later donated her photographs to the

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, an ...

and her notes to the Ellsworth Bird Club.

Death and legacy

Stanwood died of cancer at age 93 on November 20, 1958. She had been living in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

toward the end of her life. Stanwood's 200 acre (81 hectares)

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

in Ellsworth became the Birdsacre Sanctuary and is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. Stanwood's writings, photographs, and findings are archived at Birdsacre Sanctuary as well as such places as the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. She wrote a book entitled ''Firs and Feathers'' about the birds of Maine, although the manuscript was never published. Stanwood is reported to be the first female professional bird photographer, and 38 of her photographs were published in Edward Howe Forbush's book ''Birds of Massachusetts''.Forbush, Edward Howe, 1925–1929, ''The Birds of Massachusetts (and Other New England States)''. 3 vol. Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. She successfully lobbied the

Maine State Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

to ban the importation of bird feathers for women's hats. The first

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of Birdsacre Sanctuary, Chandler S. Richmond, wrote a biography of Stanwood. As part of her legacy, Stanwood had founded the Cordelia Bird Club and had created the Stanwood Wildlife Foundation. Building on these two legacies, Richmond established the Birdsacre Sanctuary which opened in 1959. While editor of the ornithological journal ''

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...

'',

Witmer Stone Witmer Stone (September 22, 1866 – May 24, 1939) was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist, and was considered one of the last of the “great naturalists.” Stone is remembered principally as an ornithologist. He was president ...

wrote in 1916 of Stanwood's investigations:

"Numerous sketches of birds and their nesting activities have appeared during the last few years from the pen of Miss Stanwood, all of them evidently based upon careful study and written in a style that is pleasing and yet serious enough to suit the importance of many of the facts that are recorded. These sketches can well be taken as models for others who have the time to make careful studies of the activities of birds' nests, and ability to set them down in bio-graphical sketches."

Representative publications

* Stanwood, Cordelia J
“A Collection of Masterpieces in the Public Library or the Public Schools.”
The Journal of Education, vol. 88, no. 21 (2207), 1918, p. 580. * Cordelia J. Stanwood
“A Hermit Thrush Study.”
The Wilson Bulletin, vol. 26, no. 4, 1914, pp. 180–86. * Cordelia J. Stanwood
“A Series of Nests of the Magnolia Warbler.”
The Auk, vol. 27, no. 4, 1910, pp. 384–89.

References