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Collection Citation:
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Collection, Acc. 1992.0023, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
GENERAL FILES, 1902-1978 AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
Type:
Archival materials
Note:
This collection division consists of correspondence, announcements, circulars, publications, photographs, and related materials documenting the administration and
activities of ANS (before 1960, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia), 1902-1978. Included are records dealing with fund raising activities; publicity efforts;
educational programs; dinners and meetings; environmental issues; field activities; and Society management. Of special interest is correspondence of Society Presidents John
Warren Aldrich, Donald E. McHenry, and Edward F. Rivinus; correspondence of ANS Executive Director Gerald Schneider; materials documenting the C & O Canal hike of Supreme
Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1954; and records concerning activities commemorating the Society's seventy-fifth anniversary, 1972.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
This collection division consists of eight scrapbooks containing records documenting the organization and early history of the Audubon Society of the District of
Columbia (after 1960, the Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Inc.). The scrapbooks were compiled by the late Society member Joseph S. Wade. Records
include correspondence of Society members; minutes of the Society's organizational meeting, 18 May 1897; minutes of Executive Committee and Annual Meetings, 1897-1910; copies
of the Society's by-laws; announcements, circulars, and publications; newspaper clippings; original pencil drawings of birds by Robert Ridgway used for the Society's pin;
Annual Reports of the Society, 1897-1907; membership lists; and material concerning the Society's Bird Study Class and field outings.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
These records document the history, operation, and activities of the ANS (before 1960, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia). They also help to illustrate
the evolution of the local and national conservation movement; environmental legislation and issues supported by ANS; the development of environmental education; and the natural
history of Washington, D. C. and vicinity. The records include correspondence, scrapbooks, minutes, announcements, circulars, publications, reports, fiscal records, photographs,
newspaper clippings, field notes, manuscripts, tape recordings, phonograph records, drawings, and memorabilia.
Historical Note:
The Audubon Society of the District of Columbia was founded on 18 May 1897 "...for the protection and study of birds..." The original by-laws placed governing authority
for the Society in a fifteen member Executive Committee which supervised the election of officers, appointed committees, managed finances, and arranged for publications and
meetings. Officers of the Society included a President, Honorary Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. When the Society was incorporated in 1947, new by-laws were
instituted which abolished the Executive Committee and replaced it with an annually elected Board of Directors. In December 1959, the name of the Society was changed to the
Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Inc. (ANS). In 1969, the Society moved into its headquarters at Woodend, a thirty room mansion on forty acres of
land in Chevy Chase, Maryland, which was bequeathed to ANS by Mrs. Chester Wells. The Atlantic Naturalist, the Society's official organ, was published from 1950 to
1976. In 1976, Audubon Naturalist News became the primary ANS publication.
Although the Society was founded "for the protection and study of birds," it has been active in all areas of wildlife protection, the preservation of natural areas, and
pollution control. The Society has lobbied for environmental legislation, promoted environmental education, and disseminated environmental information through its publication
program. Conservation efforts of the Society have included blocking the construction of highways along the C & O Canal and through Rock Creek and Glover-Archbold parks;
the preservation of Dyke Marsh in Virginia; assistance in the formation of the Potomac Valley Conservation and Recreation Council; and the protection of bald and golden eagles.
PAPERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WASHINGTON, D. C. AND VICINITY, 1934-1936 AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
Type:
Archival materials
Note:
This collection division consists of unpublished papers on the flora and fauna of the Washington, D. C. area which were prepared by local naturalists and presented
before the Biological Society of Washington between 1933 and 1935. A plan to publish the papers in a volume on the Natural History of Washington, D. C. never materialized.
It is unclear how the papers came to the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. Also included are correspondence and notes concerning the papers.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
Volume 1 1897-1901. Contains materials documenting the organization and early activities of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia. Included is correspondence of Elliott Coues, George Miller Sternberg, William Dutcher, Florence A. Merriam, Cli...
Container:
Box 1 of 46
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
In 1946, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia began publication of a mimeographed newsletter called "The Wood Thrush." It was put into journal form in
1948 and renamed Atlantic Naturalist in 1950. The journal ceased publication in 1976. Editors of Atlantic Naturalist, and its predecessor "The Wood Thrush" included
Shirley A. Briggs, 1949-1969; Gale Monson, 1969-1971; and Ben O. Osborn, 1971-1976.
This collection division documents the publication of Atlantic Naturalist, and its predecessor "The Wood Thrush", 1948-1976. The records consist primarily of general
correspondence, 1948-1971; advertising records, 1948-1971; and subscription records, 1951-1968. Also included are records concerning the suspension of publication, 1977-1980.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
CLARENCE R. SHOEMAKER PAPERS, 1893-1943 AND UNDATED.
Type:
Archival materials
Note:
Clarence R. Shoemaker (1874-1958) was a staff member of the Division of Marine Invertebrates, United States National Museum from 1910 to 1944. He joined the Audubon
Society of the District of Columbia in 1907 and remained a member until his death.
This collection division consists of field notes kept by Shoemaker on outings in the Washington, D. C. area, 1918-1920; photographs and glass plate negatives taken by Shoemaker,
including pictures of Society members and outings; pencil drawings of botanical subjects; and Society memorabilia.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
IRSTON R. BARNES CORRESPONDENCE, 1946-1965 AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
Type:
Archival materials
Note:
Irston R. Barnes (1904- ) was President of ANS (before 1960, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia), 1946-1961 and Chairman of the Board of Directors,
1961-1968.
This collection division consists primarily of correspondence of Barnes during his tenure as ANS President, 1946-1961. The correspondence is both incoming and outgoing
and concerns Society administration and activities; ornithological matters; and environmental issues. Correspondents include ANS officers and members; ornithologists and naturalists;
conservation organizations; Congressmen and Senators; government agencies; and the general public. Also included are typed copies of articles prepared by Barnes for "The Naturalist,"
a weekly column that appeared in the Washington Post.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
Volume 2 1897-1907, 1912. Includes manuscript copies of the Annual Report of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, 1897-1907; a report of the Audubon Society of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 1906; Society by-laws; and a publication, "The Bird Cla...
Container:
Box 1 of 46
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7294, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States., Records
Negatives of the following persons: 1) Mrs. John Dewhurst Patten, 2) Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg, 3) officers and executive committee of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia , n.d., 4) class on birds, n.d.
Collection Creator::
Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States Search this
Container:
Box 1 of 1
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 06-110, Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Records
