Sally Hoyt Spofford ( Sarah Elizabeth Foresman; April 11, 1914 – October 26, 2002) was an American ornithologist who was long associated with the

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

. In retirement, she was involved in conservation and birding in Arizona, known as the "doyenne of southern Arizona's birding community". She authored some 50 articles on bird behavior and co-authored the books ''Enjoying Birds in Upstate New York'' (1963) with O. S. Pettingill Jr. and ''Enjoying Birds Around New York City'' (1966) with Pettingill and R.S. Arbib Jr. She was a member 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 ...

from 1940 onward. Born Sarah Elizabeth Foresman in

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,754. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populati ...

, she received a BA degree from Wilson College in 1935 and her MS degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1936. In 1948, she received her PhD in ornithology from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where she met and married fellow ornithologist John Southgate Hoyt. Her husband died in 1951, and, from 1955 to 1969, Hoyt worked in various administrative positions at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, being called the ''de facto'' manager. In 1964 she married ornithologist Walter R. Spofford, a specialist on raptors. Sally and Walter made several research trips, including Africa and Alaska, and after retiring from Cornell the two moved to

Portal, Arizona Portal is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It lies south-southeast of San Simon and at the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. Often called the Yosemite of Arizona, th ...

, where their ranch became a popular wildlife watching area, featured in several bird-watching guides and attracting up to 6,000 visitors annually. She had no children by either marriage. Walter died in 1995, and Sally died in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

in 2002, aged 88. The two are buried in a small cemetery near

Paradise, Arizona Paradise is a small ghost town located in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in 1901 in what was then the Arizona Territory. Paradise is also the setting for the first two Postal (franchise ...

References

External links

Sally Hoyt Spofford Papers, 1923–1982
at

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over eight million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical ti ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spofford, Sally Hoyt 1914 births 2002 deaths American ornithologists People from Williamsport, Pennsylvania Wilson College (Pennsylvania) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Cornell University alumni People from Cochise County, Arizona American women ornithologists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American zoologists