Leila Gay Forbes Clark (1887-1964) was an entomologist and librarian at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. She was the second woman to direct the Smithsonian's library. Prior to her work at the Smithsonian, she worked as a librarian at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, and the

US Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

. She joined the Smithsonian in 1929 and spent the rest of her career there becoming director in 1942. During her tenure she oversaw the merger of the main Smithsonian Library with the U.S. National Museum Library which resulted in the centralized

Smithsonian Libraries Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

system currently in place. She and her husband went on frequent butterfly expeditions and coauthored ''The Butterflies of Virginia'' in 1951. A new form of golden banded-skipper, ''Autochton cellus leilae'', was named for her by her husband.

Personal life

Clark was born in

Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administrative divisions of New York#Villa ...

to Henry Prentiss Forbes and Harriet E. Wood. She received a B.S. from

Saint Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 18 ...

in 1908. She married

Austin Hobart Clark Austin Hobart Clark (December 17, 1880 in Wellesley, Massachusetts – October 28, 1954 in Washington, D.C.) was an American zoologist who studied oceanography, marine biology, ornithology and entomology. Personal life The son of Theodore ...

on September 23, 1933.

References

1887 births 1964 deaths American women entomologists Librarians from New York (state) American lepidopterists Smithsonian Institution people 20th-century American women librarians 20th-century American librarians 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American women scientists {{US-entomologist-stub