Women of the Progressive Conservation Movement: 1900-1916
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Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environmental Review: ER. http://www.jstor.org Women of the Progressive ConservationMovement: 1900-1916 Carolyn Merchant Universityof California,Berkeley Nowherehaswomen'sself-consciousroleas protectorsof the environment been better exemplifiedthan duringthe progressiveconservation crusade of the early twentieth century. Although that role has been renderedall but invisibleby conservationhistorians,womentransformed the crusadefrom an elite maleenterpriseinto a widelybasedmovement. In so doing, they not only broughthundredsof local naturalareasunder legalprotection,but also promotedlegislationaimedat haltingpollution, reforestingwatersheds,and preservingendangeredspecies.Yet this enterprise ultimatelyrested on the self-interestedpreservationof their own middle-classlife stylesand was legitimatedby the separatemale/female spheres ideology of the nineteenthcenturyaimed at conserving"true womanhood," the home, and the child. In his book The Fight for Conservation (1910), Gifford Pinchot praisedthe womenof the progressiveera for their substantialcontributions to conservation. He cited the conservation committee of the Daughtersof the AmericanRevolution(chairedby his mother),the PennsylvaniaForestryAssociation, "founded by ladies," which carriedout some of the earliestwork done in that state, the nationalforestspreserved by Minnesotawomen, and the CalaverasBig Trees set aside by the women of Californiaafter a nine year fight.' Writinghis definitivehistoryof the progressiveconservationcampaignin 1959,SamuelHaysalso acknowledged the enthusiasmof women's organizationsfor conservationand theirstaunchsupport,until 1913,for Pinchotas leaderof the movement.HistoriansRobertWelker(1955)and StephenFox (1981)amplifiedotherfemalecontributions,especiallyto the Audubonmovementand the hikingclubs, whileadmittingthat muchremainsto be learnedregardingwomen'srolein conservation.2 Behindthese brieftributesto theirsubstantialcontributionslies an untoldstoryof immense energy, achievement,and dedication by thousands of women. Although only the most prominentwomen appearin recent historical studies,withoutthe inputof womenin nearlyeverylocale in the country, conservationgains in the early decadesof the centurywould have been fewer and far less spectacular. 57 !... .........|-l-<Ew g ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. 4A Fig. 1 Mrs. Loveli White CaliforniaFederationof Women's Clubs Club Life, 4, no 6 (Feb. 1906) 58 In the nineteenth century, women had developed interests and organizationsthat pavedthe way for theirwork in the conservationand reformmovementsof the progressiveera. Literaryclubsorientedtoward culture drew women together for mutual improvementand shared experiences,whilethe women'srightsandabolitionmovementsexposedthem to the politicalprocessand the publicarena. Leisuretime had afforded middleand upper-classwomen opportunitiesfor botanizing,gardening, birdlore, and camping. Propelled by a growing consciousnessof the panacea of bucolic sceneryand wilderness,coupled with the need for reformof the squalorof the cities, women burstvividly into the public arenain the earlytwentiethcenturyas a force in the progressiveconservation crusade.3 Who werethese womenof the conservationmovement?What were theiraccomplishments,objectives,and ideals?How did theyinteractwith the men who promotedconservation?What ideologicalframeworkdid they bringto the crusadeand to the conflicts that developedwithin it? I. FeministConservation The GeneralFederationof Women's Clubs In 1900, Mrs. Lovell Whiteof San Francisco,(Fig. 1), the brilliant, dynamicfounderand presidentof the women'sCaliforniaClub, took up the causeof forestry.Foundedat the homeof Mrs.Whiteon a cold rainy eveningin 1897in the wake of the first and abortiveCaliforniasuffrage campaign- a campaign"brilliant,rich in experiences"with a "a spirit of wholesomecomradeship,"- the CaliforniaClub mergedin January of 1900with women'sclubs throughoutthe state to form the California Federationof Women'sClubs. With Mrs. RobertBurdetteof Pasadena as presidentand Mrs. White as vice-presidentat large, the first meeting was steeped in conservationideals.4 "The preservationof the forestsof this state is a matterthat should appealto women,"declaredMrs.Burdettein heropeningaddress."While the women of New Jerseyare saving the Palisadesof the Hudson from utterdestructionby mento whosegreedysoulsMountSinaiis only a stone quarry,and the women of Colorado are saving the cliff dwellingsand pueblo ruinsof their state from vandaldestruction,the word comes to the women of California that men whose souls are gang-saws are meditatingthe turningof our world-famousSequoiasinto planksand fencing worthso many dollars." The forestsof the state, she went on, were the sourceof the state'swatersandtogethertheymadepossiblethe homes and healthof the peopleof California."Betterone livingtree in California, than fifty acres of lumberyard.Preserveand replantthem and the State will be blessed a thousandfoldin the developmentof its natural resources. . ."' In the yearsthat followed, Mrs. White,as Presidentof the California Club's OutdoorArt League,Presidentof the SempervirensClub, and later Chair of the Forestry Committeeof the General Federationof Women's Clubs made a national reputation"working unceasinglyin behalfof forestry.""Wheneverhernameis associatedwithany project," asserteda tributeto herin 1906, "it is looked upon as a guaranteeof success for the verygood reasonthat she has engineeredso manyundertakings by her executivestrengthand progressivespirit."6 In 1900Mrs. Whitebecamealarmedby a reportthat the Calaveras Grove of Big Trees in the Stanislauswatershedof the westernSierra, discoveredin 1850 and of world renown, was scheduledfor cutting by an easternlumberfirm.TheBigTrees,(Sequoiagigantea),werethe largest known redwoodsin existence,many measuringover 12 feet in diameter with bark up to two feet thick.7 In Februaryof thatyear,Mrs.WhiteaskedMrs.A.D. Sharon,a club memberwho was in Washington,to requestthe introductionof a joint resolutionin Congresscalling for the acquisitionof the grove on behalf of the public. Successwas immediateand too good to be true! In March Mrs. Whitereceiveda telegramfrom Mrs. Sharon:"Bill passed House Friday, Senate Monday, Presidentsigned Tuesday."8 Mrs. Whitesoon realizedthat the bill had only authorizednegotiation to purchase. No funds had been appropriated.But with cutting delayedowing to the owner's cooperationwith the law, Mrs. White as presidentof the OutdoorArt Leaguebegan a nationwidecampaignfor purchaseof the trees as a national park. 59 After a bill failedto passthe housein 1904,she organizeda petition drivethat collected 1,500,000signaturesand was endorsedby dozens of national organizations.Upon its presentationto President Theodore Roosevelt,the first specialpresidentialmessagewas sentto Congress"at the requestof an organizationmanagedby women," urgingpreservation of the groves.In addition,Mrs.Whitearrangedto havelargephotographs of the most prominenttrees, namedafter presidentsand generalsof the United States, sent to key congressionalcommittees.9 With Congressstill refusingto act, Mrs. Whiteembarkedon a personal campaignto lobby every senatorand representativein Congress. Finallyin 1909a bill was passedand signedby Rooseveltthat authorized exchangeof the CalaverasGroves for lands of equal value in the U.S. ForestReserves.Hailedas a greattriumphby the Women'sClubs,preservation of the Big Trees was not yet achieved.No lands satisfactoryfor the exchangecould be found by the owner, Mr. Whiteside.The situation remainedin limbo until 1926,whenannouncementwas madeof plansto cut the South Grove. At that point the fight was taken up by Mrs. Harriet West Jacksonwho as presidentof the CalaverasGroveAssociation determinedto pressfor a stateparkin lieu of the nationalparkoriginally authorized.Withthe assistanceof the CalaverasGardenClub, the North Grove was finally set aside in 1931. But not until 1954, largelythrough a statewideeducationcampaignconductedby Mrs. Owen Bradley,did the South Grove become part of the state park system.10 60 Mrs. LovellWhitewas also the presidentof the SempervirensClub that in cooperationwiththe CaliforniaFederationof Women'sClubsand the Women'sClubof San Jose succeededin creatingthe Big BasinState Park that preservedlargestandsof California'sotherredwood,Sequoia sempervirens.In 1900Mrs. CarrieWalterand Mrs. Louise Jones of the San Jose Women'sClubjoined a partyof six otherindividualsincluding representatives of the Sierra Club, the City of San Francisco, andnaturelovers.The partyspentseveraldaysin Big Basin photographers campingin "tents on the bank of a clear stream, fringedwith azaleas, and shadedby giantredwoods."Sittingaroundthe campfirein the evening, they discusseda strategyfor the preservationof the sequoias." The upshotwas the formationof the Sempervirens Club(laterknown as the Save the RedwoodsLeague)composedof men and womenunder the guidinghand of Mrs. White who were dedicatedto savingthe area from the saw. After securingan option on the land, the club conducted an education campaign through photographs, circulars, newspapers, schools, civicorganizationsand the women'sclubs. A bill introducedinto the state legislaturein 1901was bitterlyopposedby businessinterests, lumbercompanies,and politicians.Finallythe Assembly,convincedby publicopinion,passedthebillandthe Senatefollowedby a narrowmargin. Througha statewidetelegramcampaign,intensepressurewas put on the governorto sign in the last days of the veto period,and finallyBig Basin becamea state redwoodpark.'2 Recognizingthe needfor trainedmento manageand protectthe state forests, the women of the CaliforniaClub in 1903drew up a bill to be introducedinto the State Legislatureto establisha School of Forestryat the Universityof California,Berkeley.At thattimethe only threeschools of forestryin the U.S. wereall on the EastCoast, and WestCoast forests presentedspecialproblems.In herpleato clubwomento usetheirinfluence to supportpassageof the bill, Mrs. GeorgeLaw Smith, presidentof the forestrysectionof the CaliforniaFederationargued,"Theneedof guarding against forest fires and of lumbering the tracts, so that the industry maybe permanent,necessitatesthe establishmentof a Schoolof Forestry wherea sufficientcorps of trainedmen may be graduatedto take charge of the forests and administer them scientifically . . . In view of the vast and many sided interestsinvolvedyour help is solicitedto secure from the Legislaturean appropriationto establisha school of forestryat the Universityof California,Berkeley.""3 Whilethese efforts wereunderwayin California,acrossthe country in Minnesota,Mrs. LydiaPhillipsWilliamsof the MinnesotaFederation was organizinga repealof the "Dead and Down TimberAct" in order to savethe ChippewaForestReservefrom"BoardFeet"lumbermen.With Mrs.MiraLloydDock, a "whirlwind"on the PennsylvaniaForestryCommissionand fifty otherwomen, Mrs. Phillipschartereda steamerfor an excursioninto the reserveto createpublicityfor the repeal.Predictably, one of the two availablesteamerswas discoveredto have blowna boiler, while the other had been engageda few hours before by a lumberman for a week. Undaunted,the women engagedthe aid of a visitingboiler inspector,blacksmiths,carpenters,and plumberswho readiedthe ailing steamerfor departurethe following noon.'4 Soon aftersettingout, theydiscovereda numberof beautifulold pines that had been burnedat the root, therebyqualifyingfor cutting under the act. "Not a leaf, twig, or grassbladewas scorched,therewas no sign of trampor camper,but on examiningthe burningin the noblesttree of all the group,we discovereda smallkerosenelampalmostmelteddown." That trophyof the expeditionbecamethe symbolof the women's campaign to save the reserve.'5 Upon their return, women were sent to Washingtonto interview waveringcongressmenwho favoredthe Dead and Down Law. They told them:" 'We representthe StateFederationof Women'sClubs,whichhas a membershipof betweensix and seventhousandand you know that six or seventhousandwomenrepresentsix or seventhousandhusbandsand a few thousandsons who will possiblyvote as their fathersvote.' Some two weeks later, havingretiredfrom the field, we daredto send a batch of petitions to this same member and received his gracious reply: . . . 'I desire to assureyou, if I can advancethe interestsof the forest reserve movementin any way, commandmy serviceat any time.' "" Nationally,the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs, foundedin 1890had been active in forestrysince the turn of the centuryas part of a felt obligation to become informed on the most urgent political, economic,and socialissuesof the day. Selectingwomenin eachstatewho were familiarwith the principlesof forestryto head the clubs' forestry committees,localmembersfirstconductedcampaignsto savewastepaper and clean up their towns and cities. They formed coalitions with civic organizationsengagedin the beautificationof yards, vacantlots, school yards, and public buildingsby plantingtrees and shrubs.Followingthe exampleof Germanwomen,withwhomtheycorresponded,they planted long avenuesof shadetrees.Theyalso workedtowardthe acquisitionand 61 62 preservationof wooded tracts of land wherein"Nature should be left "" unrestrained. Localforestrycommitteesformedstudygroupsthatemphasizedboth aestheticand utilitarianaspectsof forestryas the conservationof wood and water.The ForestServiceprovidedliteratureand sent guestlecturers on treesand forestryto club meetings.Centurymagazinesuppliedthem witharticleson conservation,whilelocal librarieswereencouragedto acquirebookson forestry.Withtheseaidswomenavidlyidentifiedindividual species and studied family characteristicsand uses. Some, with the aid of a microscope,wenton to studyindividualpartsor to count tree rings. Others preparedtopics for discussion or conducted research in the mythologyand poetry associatedwith a given species.'8 In additionto keeping800,000membersinformedof the conservation policies and achievementsof Roosevelt and Pinchot, the General Federation'sForestryCommitteeplayedan influentialrole in the passage of legislationto protectforests,waters,and birdlife.Underthe direction of Mrs.LydiaPhillipsWilliams(1904-6),who hadbeenactivein the movement to preserveMinnesota'sforests, MaryGage Peterson(1906-8),an enthusiasticconservationist who hadlearnedforestryat the family'sPeterson Nurseryin Chicagoandon hernumerousexcursionsto forestsin Norway, Sweden,and Germany,Mrs. F.W. Gerard(1908-10)from Connecticut, and Mrs. Lovell White (1910-12),who had establisheda national reputationin savingthe CalaverasBig Trees,the committeecoordinated efforts to supportsuchprojectsas the creationof nationalforestreserves in New Hampshireand the SouthernAppalachiansand passage of the WeeksBill for protectionof the watershedsof navigablestreams.In 1910, 283 clubs reportedthat they had sent lettersand petitions for state and national legislationon forest fire laws, tax remissionfor reforestation, and the appropriationof demonstrationforests, while250 clubswereactive in the movementfor bird and plant protection.'I The Massachusettsclubs publisheda Directoryof Historical Trees that marked the location of some importanthistoricalevent or were preservedfor posterityas in the case of the seventyyear old AveryOak rescuedfrom certainfate as plankingfor "Old Ironsides."In 1904the women conducteda campaignto exterminatethe gypsy and brown-tail mothsthatattackedNew Englandtrees.Men,women,childrenand "selfsupportingundergraduates"turnedout to paint gypsy moth nests with creosoteand to burn browntail nests. Clubsobtainedcreosoteat 50? a gallon from dealers in Boston, along with half pint oyster cans and brushes.20 In Florida, club women were instrumentalin creatingstate forest reserves, while the women of Maine were active in setting aside Mt. Katahdinas a state forest. In Louisiana,Mrs. John Wilkinsonorganized a State ForestryAssociationto work for forestrylegislationand then in 1908 went on to organizethe Federation'sWaterwaysCommittee.2' Thestarof Pennsylvania's conservationeffortswas MiraLloydDock, the only womanto becomea PennsylvaniaStateForestryCommissioner. In 1897she presenteda paperon "Forestry"to the Federationof Pennsylvania Women, and an important 1904 paper became a standard referencefor local forestrycommittees.In 1912,as vice-chairmanof the Federation'sConservationDepartmentshe presenteda lengthysumma- tion of conservation efforts in Pennsylvania that included many achievementsof women.22 In 1886, she reported,the PennsylvaniaForestryAssociation was organizedby "some ladiesof Philadelphia."Thereafterwomenwereactive in the effort to authorizethe StateForestReserves,initialpurchases for which weremade in 1897. In 1911the PennsylvaniaSchool of Horticulturefor Womenwas createdto providepracticaleducationin field, laboratory,and greenhouseworkas well as marketing,and Dr. Caroline Rumbold,who had graduatedfrom the Universityof Munich,was put in chargeof a specialstate commissionfor eradicationof the Chestnut tree blight with an operatingbudget of $275,000.23 The lobbyingefforts of womenresultedin the creationof the PennsylvaniaDepartmentof Forestry.Accordingto a clippingin the Journal of theAmericanForestryAssociationin 1909,"the Stateof Pennsylvania neverwould havehad that departmentif it had not been for the organized efforts of the womenof Pennsylvania. .. On the morningthe bill for this matterwas underconsideration,everydeskin the Houseof Representatives and the State Senatewas flooded with petitionsfrom the women and their husbands . kill it." . . The women of the state made it impossible to In 1909,underthe leadershipof Mrs. John Wilkinsonof Louisiana, the Federationformeda WaterwaysCommitteeto promotethe developmentof waterpower,cleanwater,and cheaper,highervolumetransportation. The rationalefor women'sinvolvementlay in the effect of waterways on everyAmericanhome: Pure watermeanthealth;impuremeant diseaseand death.Additionally,beautificationof waterfronts,as had occurredin the watertownsof Europe, would lead to patriotismand love of one's country. Soon waterconservationprojectswereunderwayin 39 statesand 619 clubsincludingthe establishmentof referencelibraries,communityplans for puredrinkingwater,and sanitarywaterfronts.Publiccampaignstook place to introduceconservationeducationinto the schools in the form of textbooks,speakers,conferences,newspaperpublicity,andpamphlets. In manystatessuchas Delaware,womenheldcontestsfor schoolchildren and awardedprizes for the best essays on waterways.They conducted public educationcampaignson the importanceof the conservationof naturalresourcesand of clean waterand waterfronts.26 JosephRansdell,chairof the NationalRiversand HarborsCommittee speakingto the TenthBiennialConventionof the Federationin 1910, acknowledgedthe importantcontributionsof the women'sclubs to conservation."I appealto you as a representativeof the men who need and wishthe helpof women.We knowthatnothinggreator good in thisworld ever existedwithoutthe women. We considerour movementone of the greatestand best everinauguratedin the unionand we knowthat women can help us." In 1910the Federationreorganizedits forestryand waterwayscommittees under a Departmentof Conservationheadedby Mrs. Emmons Crockerof Fitchburg,Massachusettsand addeda birdliferepresentative, Mrs.FrancisB. Hornbrooke,also of Massachusetts. ThisDepartmentsent representatives to the SecondNationalConservationCongressin St. Paul 63 .. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . B.:..... Fig. 2 Lydia Adams-Williams 64 A writerandlectureron Conservation. ForestryandIrrigation,14 (June1908)p. 350 Minnesota in 1910 and the National IrrigationCongress at Pueblo, Colorado28 Mrs. Crockerwas an exceptionallyknowledgeableand dynamicindividual. She addressedthe Federation'sTenth BiennialConventionin 1910on thesubjectof nationalwaste,anddelivereda comprehensive report on1the activitiesof the ConservationDepartmentto the 11th Biennialin 191229 At the 1912 National Conservation Congress, she was enthusiasticallyreceivedwhen she lecturedon the scientificfoundationof the conservationof naturalresourcesand its relationto life in its broadest sense. If we do not follow the most scientificapprovedmethods,the most moderndiscoveriesof how to conserveand propagate and renewwhereverpossiblethose resourceswhichNaturein herprovidencehas givento man for his use but not abuse,the time will come whenthe worldwill not be able to supportlife and then we shall have no need of conservationof health, strength,or vitalforce,becausewe musthavethethingsto support life or else everythingelse is useless.30 The forest,she observed,providedthe basicsupportsystemon which life depended- it made humus, conservedsoil minerals,preventedsoil and wind erosion, staved off pollution, and throughthe marvelousaction of chlorophyllconverted"carbonicacid gas" (CO2)into pure air. Waterconservationwas equallyessentialbecausewaterpowerconserved coal whichin turn"conservesthe purityof ouratmosphere."A purewater supplythus conservedhumanhealth,strengthand life. Waxingeloquent about the interconnectednessof all life, Mrs. Crockerexcoriatedthose in her audiencewho downgradedthe value of animallife by reducingit to a pastimefor sentimentalists.Womenshouldplay a directrole in conservationby refusingto wear hats decoratedwith feathers,not only of the endangered egret, but less choice species as well.3 Duringthe period 1907-1912,womencontributednotices, newsitems, reports,andarticlesto ForestryandIrrigation,thejournalof theAmerican ForestryAssociation.Theypointedout women'swork to save forestsin placessuchas Colorado,Vermont,Maine,andNew York,printedlengthy summariesof progressin conservationas reportedat the Federation'sbiennial meetings,and announcedprotestactionssuch as that takenby Mrs. D.M. Osborneof Auburn,New York who, outragedby telephonepole workerswho hadmercilesslytrimmedhertreeswithoutpermission,"drove off the workmenand cut down the poles."32 Mrs. LydiaAdams-Williams,(Fig. 2), a self-styledfeministconservation writerand memberof the Women's National Press Association was particularlyvociferous in her efforts to popularizewomen's accomplishments.Her article "Conservation- Women's Work," (1908) in whichshe characterizedherselfas the first womanlecturerand writer on conservation,complainedthat "man has been too busy building railroads,constructingships, engineeringgreat projects, and exploiting vastcommercialenterprises"to considerthe future.Manthe moneymaker had left it to woman the moneysaverto preserveresources.She placed women'srole in conservationsquarelyin the contextof feministhistory: To the intuitionof Isabellaof Spain, to her tenaciousgrasp of a greatidea, to her foresightand her divine sympathythe worldis indebtedfor the discoveryof a greatcontinentfor the civilizationwe enjoytodayandfor the greatwealthof resources . . . And as it was the intuitive foresight of a woman which broughtthe lightof civilizationto a greatcontinent,so in great measure,will it fall to womanin her powerto educatepublic sentimentto save from rapaciouswasteand completeexhaustion the resourcesuponwhichdependthe welfareof the home, the children,and the children'schildren.33 In "A MillionWomenfor Conservation,"(1908)againtakingliberal notice of herown accomplishments,Mrs. Adams-Williamsdiscussedthe resolutionspassed by the women'sclubs in supportof the conservation 65 efforts of Roosevelt, Pinchot, the Inland WaterwaysCommission,the ForestService,the GeologicalSurvey,andtheAmericanMiningCongress. The Federationin Washington,D.C., of whichshe was a member,was the firstto passtheseresolutionsfollowedby fourothernationalwomen's organizationsthe combinedmembershipof whichtotalledone million.3" The GeneralFederationbegan to play an importantrole in the national conservationmovementby 1908.The presidentof the Federation, Mrs. Sarah Platt Decker of Denver, was the only representativeof a woman'sorganizationat the WhiteHouseGovernor'sConferenceon Conservationin 1908,althoughshe wasnot invitedto speak.Mrs.F.W. Gerard of Connecticut,chairof the ForestryCommitteefor the years1908-1910, attendedthe Conferenceof the NationalConservationCommissionheld in Washingtonin Decemberof 1908 as a follow-up to the Governor's Conference." 66 Mrs. Philip N. Moore, (Fig. 3), presidentof the Federationfrom 1908-1910,was a memberof the executivecommitteeof the NationalConservationCongressduringits first four years, was a presidingofficer in 1912,and becameits vice-presidentin 1913.Tributewas paidby the president of the Congressto her "rareability" to organizeand presideover largenumbersof enthusiasticwomen.Mrs.Mooreof St. Louis,Missouri, a leaderin educationaland philanthropicwork, was born in Rockford, Illinois, graduatedfrom Vassar College, and later became one of its trustees.She had been active for many yearsat the local, state, and national levelsof the Federation.The voice of Mrs. Moore and dozens of otherwomenwereheardloudly and forcefullyat the NationalConservation Congressesheld from 1909-1912.36 Woman's National Riversand HarborsCongress In 1908, sevenwomenin Shreveport,Louisianabandedtogetherto form the Women's National Riversand HarborsCongressthat would cooperatewith the National Riversand HarborsCongressthen headed by JosephE. Ransdell.Withinfourteenmonths,underthe leadershipof its president,Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies,it had grownto 20,000 membersand had held a nationalcongressin Washington,D.C. at whichtwentystates wererepresented.By 1910,its membershiphad risento 30,000(including a few men), representedthirty-nine states and territories, and was cooperatingwith other women'sconservationorganizations.A chapter of fifty women was formed in Honolulu, Hawaii as a result of efforts by the Women'sCollegeClubof Hawaii,the governorand his wife, and the local chapterof the Daughtersof the AmericanRevolution.3" On the stateandnationallevelsthe Congressworkedto supportrivers and harborsbills on waterwaydevelopmentand urgedpassageof the bill for the preservationof NiagaraFalls in the springof 1909. It pressedfor cleanshoresandstreams,heldconferencesandpublicgatheringsto educate the public,and sent lecturersto churchesto preachon the "moralstandpoint" of conservation.38 On a local level the membersfocused on introducingconservation educationinto the schools,conveyingto the nation'schildrentheirresponsibilityto save the country'snaturalresources.The Congresssponsored essaycontestsand metwithteachersandclubsin an effortto createpublic awareness.The chapter in Honolulu worked with senior high school . .. ........ ...... ... ....... . .... ..... . ... ........ ...... - .......-.... . -----........... ........ ........ .. ..... . .. ............ .......... ......... ......... ................ .. .,. -. -...... ................ ............................... ................... ......................... ... - ...... ... . ....... .................... ................ .......... . ....... . . . ....... ... ........ ........ ........... . - . .... .. .. .... ... .. ............ :.:... . . . i?,.. . . . . .. ... . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .... . .. .. .. .. ... .. ... ... . .... ...... .. .. .... ......- ..... .. .... ..... ..... ...... ..... .. .. .. .. . ...... . ... ... . .. ... . . .. .. . .. ... . . . . . . . . ..- .- .. . .:.:.;.;.;.:.: ....... ... ... .. . . . . . . .... ... . . . ..... .... . . . ...... :.:.;-;-;-;-:....... ... .. .. . . . . . ... . . . ..... . ... ,.,.,.: : ::::. . .. ... :.-.: .. .: : :.: :.::. :.;.:.:.;.,.:. ,:... - .:.:....... . ..:. .. .:. . ... .. .. ... . .. ...... ... ..... . ... ..;.. .::...,.. . . . . . ... ... ..... -.. .. .... ... ... ....: .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ... . . . . . .:;: I . . ... . .. .. . . ..... . . . ..... . .. . .. ... ... , ,: :::' . . ::. . .-. . -.-.;. -;.;.. - .... ...... .. .. .-... ... ... .::::: ... . . .. . . .. .. ... ... ... . . .. . .. .. .. . . . .. . . . . . .:::::::`: . .. . . . ........ ... . ... .. . . ..... . . . . .'... . ... . . . . . .;;;.. .::.;: .. .. .. . .. .. . . .. . .. , . . . .. .. ,, ,.:.: .. .. .. : .: : : .:..... .. .. .. : ... , , .... .. . . . .. . .. , . . . . .... , . . . . .............. . . . .. .. . . -... . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . ........ . . ... .. ..... .................. . .:.,-:-;;i-i,;A-ii:' . ......... ......... ..... ............., . .. .. ..... .. .... ........ ........ , .., ... . . ... .. ............ ........ . . ... . ..... ... .......... , -'-,z-ali " : :. ..... . . ........ . . ..: : ,.; .X : X -:-.-,-,-,-:-:-, : : :.,,. -:iii ..Y-:-:-:-:-:-:-: : . . . ... . ... -.-! ::!-::!::-.,:.. :,:..:-:!:;-::-.-: :!::.:!:..:.;:: ........... ..... , .... . . ..... . ..... 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"....% .:.:.:., .:. .: .. . .::':' ::: ::: : :::.::!-: :,.:.: ; :,:-::: :... .. ..: .. :. -7-;-:-: :-:-. : :-:-:-:-:-: ... .!! .. ... . . .. . .. ............. ;i;!;i;i, . . ........ --.::: ..: :: ;-::::;:.:.:;; . ... .... . .-..... - - ...... . ... .. ... ....... . ..... .. . . . . .::.:, :.: :::'. --, ...: .:.:.:.: ; :-; ;.: :.: : :.. ...---.:;::::::.:::::;.::::;:::::::;:::::::::i.,:. ......: .::...:.-: : : ; ::.;.. :.::::::..:.:::.;.::: :':: : :';:!:!7!:::.:::-: ::. :, I.....-....... .. . . .: ... .. .. .. .. - - ...... .: !:::;-:. :::,.:.:.:.: .: . .: :..:.:-,.-:-X I . .. .-. .- . . . .. . ...:... . .. . . . .. . ... . . ......... .... . :-::.: . . . ....... . ... .. .. . . . . ........ . .. - ...-.... ..'-:::-.: .. . -. . .... .-... . . ....... . . . . . . ..... ..... ... .. .... . . . . . . . ... .. ....... ... ........ .. . .. ..... - . .. . .. -... .: :.: .. .. .. ..... . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... . ... ..... . . .: :;: ::: :!::.:::.:: . .::. . ,::: . . ... . :: . :-:.:-:-:--: .:;: .;:. . :. ;: ;.:;:-:;::%:-:.: .: :7:::::: . :j:. . . . . . . .. :.:.-.:.:.: :.:.:.:: :.::,..::::.:::::.: .... .. .. .... - , ... ......... .. .... ::: :!: :;:::-:: . . ..... . .. .. ... -:::.: :.: -. ....... .. .. . .:' ........... . .-.-: :;:: . :::-:':`.:': .. :-,-;-:-,-....... .. ... .. .. .. .. _,., - --.;; : :: ; ::;:. :.;.,.:.:.:. .,. :!;;:!:;::,.-.::,- . : :::::::::::::,::::: iiiii::i-: . .. . ::::;:7:::::::::; . . .... .::!::':7 .:::::.::-: : . :'; ::::':;::::!:.:-: :... :.;.:. :. I..... .... .. .. : : : ::.:.:::.: 1,.: .;.;-:-;-;...:.:.:.:.; .!. . .. . .. ... - - ..... . . , ., ....... . .. ....... ..... .. .. .. .-. , . - :::::::;:;!:::;.. .:.: .X.X... ... . ::.::: ': .:.,.:::::::::: ... !;!:.:::!:: . .-.-.-. ....... ....-X.X. .... .-.-:-.-. ... .:. I.. .. :.:........ . .. . ... .. :iii: ---;. . 'iii --. ....... ::%:::: .-.1' .. .... ::,,I. . '. :: : ;:: 1.1 :. :: X :. :." .I. X ' 67 It has beensaid that this is a woman'sage and surelythe signs of that fact arenot wanting,for withinthesebeautifulgrounds of the Exposition are still echoing . . the stirring words of eloquenceand power of some of the foremostwomen of the world . . . who have journeyed not only from distant states ... but fromcapitals of Europe to discuss the great questions 68 of the day."9 As Mrs. Tomkiesexpressedit, "Ourworkis mainlyto educateupon the subject... Weareputtingforthall theenergyandinfluencewe canmuster for the cause, lest the enemycome while we are sleepingand sow in the peoples' minds the tares of 'individualism'and non-conservation."40 Likethe GeneralFederation,the Women'sNationalRiversand Harbors Congresssent articlesto Forestryand Irrigationfor the purposeof heighteningthe publicawarenessby covering"the nationwith a network of informationthat will in time bringmen and womento a full realization of our country's possibilities for permanentprosperity,and to demonstrate... the rapidand suredecadenceof the countryunlessthe nationalgovernmenttakestheconservationof thesein hand.""IMrs.Lydia Adams-Williams,the correspondingsecretaryof the Congress,reported on the meetingheldin Washington,D.C. in December1908at whichGifford Pinchot praisedthe women as "a power in any work they undertake." FrederickNewell "tracedthe forestrymovementfrom its inception, about twentyyears ago, at a meetingwith a handful of people 'mostlywomen,who lovedtrees'- to its presentgreatproportions."Mrs. Tomkies noted that if the Women'sCongressonly had more money to spendon promotion,the Congressmenof the U.S. would have to plead as had a Coloradolegislatorwhenhe wroteto the Presidentof the General Federationof Women'sClubs: "Call off yourwomen. I'll vote for your bill. ' The Daughtersof the AmericanRevolution In 1909Mrs. MathewT. Scott was electedPresidentGeneralof the 77,000 memberDaughtersof the AmericanRevolution.A representative of the more liberalwing of the DAR who had recentlydefeatedthe conservativesin a nationalelection,Mrs. Scott was an enthusiasticconservationistwho encouragedthe maintenanceof a conservationcommitteeconsisting of 100 membersrepresentingevery state. The chair of this committeewas Mrs. JamesPinchot, motherof GiffordPinchot,who by that token as well as her conservationefforts was said to have "done more for the cause of conservationthan any other woman.""3 Pinchot himself addressedthe 18th DAR Congressin Washington in 1909, praisingthe membersfor their efforts against"land grabbers" andsuggestingcertainconservationprojectsfor furtheraction.At the 1912 convention Pinchot thankedthe women for their efforts in aiding the passageof the Alaskacoal bill, the LaFollettelegislationregulatinggrazing, and invitedthemto take up the causeof waterpower.The DAR Pinchot said on anotheroccasion, "spellsonly anothername for the highest form of conservation,that of vital force and intellectualenergy."" Other conservationefforts of the DAR were directedtoward the preservationof the Appalachianwatersheds,the Palisades,and Niagara Falls (then threatenedby over-usageof waterby powercompanies).In fact, as Mrs.CarlVroomanpointedout to the NationalConservationCongressof 1911,"these77,000womendo indeedrepresenta perfectNiagara of splendidability and force - enough, if intelligentlydirected,to furnish the motivepowerto keeprevolvingall the wheelsof progressin this country." In 1905-6womennationwidehad respondedto Horace MacFarland of the American Civic Association whose editorials in the Ladies' Home Journalon the preservationof NiagaraFalls had producedtens of thousandsof lettersto Congress.45 DAR membersworkedto generatepublicityand enthusiasmfor conservationand forestryin theircommunities.The conservationcommittee sent lettersto state governorsaskingadviceon how they could best help eachstate'sconservationefforts. "Mostof the governors,"reportedMrs. Jay Cooke Howard, "preferredto have us turn our attention to the childrenratherthan to the men." The DAR's newsletterthereforeran a conservationcolumnfor its members'use explaininghow to inculcate in childrenthe virtuesof conservationoverwastefulnessalongwith other DAR values of truth, patriotism,and obedience." The DAR's PresidentGeneral,Mrs. Scott, was an advocateof scientific agricultureas a branchof conservation.A widow who manageda 20,000 acre model farm in Illinois, she paid her employees'expensesto attend the state agriculturalcollege. She also wholeheartedlysupported agriculture as a profession for women." The Audubon Movement The post-civilWarresurgenceof high fashionfor ladieshad, by the end of the century,taken an immensetoll on Americanbird-lifein the creationof exotic styles in millinery.Bird feathersand whole birds nestled atop the headsof society'supperand middle-classwomen. Bonnets of "saphireblue-velvettrimmedwith flowers and a gay colored bird;" hats of rubyvelvettrimmedwith lace, birds, and aigrette;and "coquettishly bent hat(s)of white leghorn,with . .. trimmingsof white plumes and chiffon" were thought to lend a chic, elegant air to milady.48 By the decade of the 1880s, hundredsof thousandsof song birds, swallows, Baltimoreorioles, egrets, and ternshad been sacrificedto the whims of fashion and the pockets of milliners.Editorialsin Field and Streamduringthe years 1883-4called attentionto the nationaltragedy andrecommended lawsfor birdprotection.Respondingto the urgentneed, the AmericanOrnithologists'Unionin 1886prepareda bulletin,published as a supplementto Sciencewith 100,000copiesissuedseparately,presenting a "Model Law" for the protectionof birds and a collection of articlesdocumentingthe wholesaledestructionof birds,appealingon their behalf to the ladies of the country.49 The first Audubon societies, organized in 1886, protested the "abominable" habit of wearingfeather fashions. Growingrapidly to 30,000 membersin six monthsand encouragedby the passageof laws in 69 New York and Pennsylvania,the Societies' foundersbegan publication of AudubonMagazinein 1887.Womenwho soughtto educatetheirsisters to the perilof birdsformedAudubonclubs, suchas the one at SmithCollege where two young female students developed a plan to protect plume birds. 'Go to it,' said they. 'We will start an Audubon Society. The birds must be protected; we must persuade the girls not to wear feathers in their hats.' 'We won't say too much about the hats, though,' these plotters went on. 'We'll take the girls afield, and let them get acquainted with the birds. Then of inborn necessity they will wear feathers never more.'50 "Birding" rapidly caught on at Smith with early morning field trips led by luminaries such as John Burroughs, or by student observers who aroused enthusiasm for living rather than dead plumage. This early movement, however, was doomed. It received no national press attention after 1889. Audubon Magazine ceased publication that year and by 1895 the A.O.U. was hopelessly discouraged by the rampant wearing of feathers.5 Then the tide turned. Within three years Audubon Clubs and state societies sprang spontaneously into existence in Massachusetts, where the vice-presidents included Mrs. Louis Agassiz, president of Radcliffe college, and Mrs. Julia J. Irving, president of Wellesley, in Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Iowa, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. In 1898 a score of ladies met in Fairfield, Connecticut to form the Audubon society of the State of Connecticut, electing as president Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, (Fig. 4), popular author of TheFriendshipof Nature(1894),Birderaft(1895),Birdsof Villageand 70 Field (1898), numerous articles in the New York Times and Evening Post, and nature stories for children."2 Soon thereafter, with the publication in 1899, of the first issue of the Audubon Societies' new official journal, Bird Lore, Mrs. Wright took on the task of editing the magazine's Audubon section and of reporting the latest developments in the politics of bird preservation. She requested that the secretaries of the initial nineteen state societies, all but one of whom were women, send news and notes to broaden and strengthen the movement. Contributors to the journal, in addition to Mrs. Wright, included women writers such as Olive Thorne Miller, author of the popular Bird Ways(1885),In NestingTime(1888),LittleBrothersin theAir (1892), and A Bird Lover in the West (1894); Florence A. Merriam (Bailey) who wrote Birds Through an Opera Glass for young people in 1889 and ABirding on a Bronco (1896) modeled on Mrs. Miller's earlier success; and Neltje Blanchan (Doubleday) among whose achievements were Bird Neighbors(1897)andBirdsThatHuntandAre Hunted(1898),and many other women who sent in short articles of general interest."3 Two sex-linked issues dominated the early years of Bird Lore: the protection of game birds from male hunters and nests from boy eggthieves, and the protection of plume birds from extinction in the cause of ladies' fashions. In 1897, Julia Stockton Robbins reported that a 'hat show' conducted by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society had resulted in the establishment of Audubon Departments by many milliners. In Chicago wholesalemillinerscut down on the use of egret and wild bird feathers and began using domestic ones instead. In Wisconsinthe aid of both clergymenand millinerswas enlistedin a broadprotectioncampaign.At the New YorkStateAudubonSociety'ssecondannualmeeting"Madame Lilli Lehmannwhose love of animalswas perhapsgreaterthan her love of music, made an eloquent appeal to women to cease from featherwearing." In Rhode Island, according to secretaryAnnie Grant, an "Audubonnet" display of 150 beautiful and attractive feather hats demonstratedthattheycouldbe madewithoutthe plumageof wildbirds.S * ~~~~~~~~~... . ... . ... .. .:...... 71 Fig. 4 Mrs Mabel Osgood Wright PresidentConnecticut AudubonSociety Bird Lore 15 (1913) FrankChapman,generaleditorof the magazineput the responsibility for defying fashion directlyon the women themselves:"Is there no appeal from fashions'decree?Womanalonecan answerthesequestionsand the case is so clear she cannot shirk the responsibilityof replying."I55 For a time the campaignseemedto be gainingground. But in 1900 an inexplicableresurgencein fashionfeathersfromterns,gulls, andgrebes took immensetolls along the Atlanticseaboardand Mrs. Wrightcalled on the membersfor increasedaction. By this time only five states had passedthe A.O.U. "Model Law." Nevertheless,duringthe first decade of the twentiethcenturypublicconsciousnessoverconservationandreform helpedto routthemillinersandplume-hunters. By 1905,twenty-eightstates had passedthe "ModelLaw" and Audubonsocietieswerecallingfor internationalcooperation,particularlyfrom the Britishwherethe plume tradecentered.Birdreservations, patrolledby Audubonwardens,hadbeen createdin many states and the Thayerfund establishedto raise money for legislationand enforcementefforts.56 Still, however,the sale of white"aigrette"feathersincreasedat such an unprecedentedrate that white egrets and "snowy herons," seemed doomedto extinction.All knownrookerieswerecontinuallypillagedduring the breedingseasonwhenthe beautiful"nuptial"feathers(or aigrettes) appeared,with deathto the parentand certainstarvationfor the young. After featherswerepulled,the birdswereleft to die or tied up as decoys. The AudubonSocietyappealedto the National Federationof Women's Clubsfor help:"Theclubwomenof Americawiththeirpowerfulinfluence should take a strong stand againstthe use of wild birds' plumage,and especially against the use of the Aigrette. . . . A close affiliation between this Associationand the National Federationof Women'sClubs would be mutuallyhelpful."5" In 1903,an impassionedplea by womento womenagainstthe wearing of egret feathersappearedin the CaliforniaFederationof Women's Clubs'newsletter."Rememberladies,thateveryaigrettein yourhat costs the life of a tendermother.We see the evidenceof wholesaledestruction of birds in shop windows on the street, in cars, and everywhere . . . In order to have the plumageat its best, it is necessaryin some instances to skin the birds alive . .. With each old bird killed . .. many of the young 72 birdsarestill unableto carefor themselves. . . At leastwomenmaydesist from wearingany sort of plumagein theirhats, as they haveso repeatedly been urgedto do."" At the ConservationCongressof 1909,WilliamFinleyof the National AudubonSocietiesaddressedthe assemblageon the agriculturalbenefits of birds and urged that the vandalismof the plume huntersbe halted. "As long as women demandthese plumes, men will be found to supply them." At the close of the Congress,MissGilletteof New Yorkproposed a resolution,unanimouslyadopted, callingfor forbearancein the wearing of any feathersthat entailedthe killingof wild birds, for the protection of nests, and for the educationof childrenthat they mightlearn"to love all birds of the earth.""9 Mrs. Gerard,Chairof the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs' ForestryCommitteeappealedto the womenat their 1910BiennialConvention:"Ourwork for the AudubonSocietyis not as activeas it should be. Can we logicallywork for conservationand expectto be listenedto, while we still continueto encouragethe destructionof the song birdsby followingthe hideousfashionof wearingsong birdsand egretsupon our hats? . . . If women can raise the freight rates, because of the size of their hats, they can reducethe insect pest by changingthe trimming."60 Speakingto the 1912 ConservationCongress,Mrs. Crockerof the GFWC'sConservationCommitteeaskeda personalfavor of the women present:"This fall when you choose your fall millinery. .. I beg you to choose some other decoration for your hats . .. You have no idea what you do when you wear these feathersuntil you reallythink deeply into it, and I am not speakingof the egret . . . wholly, but of the less choice feathers. There is one exceptionto this rule and that is the wearingof the ostrichplumewhichare naturallyshed and can be collectedwithout killingthe birds.Will you not spreadthis gospel, not only to yourselves, but all the other women need to be asked to do the same thing.p61 In October1913,a new TariffAct was passedthat outlawedthe import of wild birdfeathersinto the UnitedStates. It was so vigorouslyenforcedthat newspaperswere filled with accountsof "the wordsand actions of indignantladieswho found it necessaryto give up theiraigrettes, paradiseplumes,and otherfeathersuponarrivingfromEurope.Two days after the new law went into effect, Audubon Save the BirdsHats were beingadvertisedin New Yorkfor $5 to $15apiece.Congratulations poured in from all over the world for the Audubon Society's great victory.62 So rareas to be on the verge of exterminationa few years before, by 1915 egrets in guarded rookeries in the southern United States, numbered10,580alongwith50,000littleblueheronsandan equalnumber of ibis. Publicopinionhad shiftedso far towardbirdprotectionthat far fewer "bad birdlaws" werebeingintroducedinto state legislatures.The work of a decade and a half had begun to show results.63 73 II. ConservationIdeology The ConservationTrilogy Althoughthe womenof the organizationsrepresentedat the National ConservationCongresseswerepublicactivistsin theirlocal communities, they neverthelessacceptedthe traditionalsex roles assignedto them by late nineteenthcenturyAmericansociety as caretakersof the nation's homes, husbands,and offspring, supportingratherthan challengingthe two spheresideology of the nineteenthcentury. At the National Congresses,women repeatedlycalled on the traditions assignedthemby societyin justifyingthe publicdemandsthey were making.Unwillingand unableto breakout of thesesocialroles, and supported by the men of the Congresses,they drewon a trilogyof slogans -conservation of womanhood,the home, and the child. The Conservationof True Womanhood The "conservationof true womanhood"was a subject repeatedly stressedby womenat the ConservationCongresses.Mrs.Scottof the DAR pleaded "as the representativeof a great National organizationof the women of the land, for the exalting, for the lifting up in specialhonor, of the Holy Grail of Womanhood."" Speakingto the ConservationCongressof 1909, Mrs. OvertonEllis of the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs, called conservation"the surestweaponwithwhichwomenmightwin success."Centuriesof turning last night'sroastinto hash, remakinglast year'sdressand controlling the home's resourceshad given womena heightenedsense of the power of the conservationidea in creatingtrue womanhood."Conservationin its materialand ethical sense is the basic principlein the life of woman 65 In her presidentialaddressto the GeneralFederation'sTenth Biennial Meetingin 1910, Mrs. Philip N. Moore set conservationin its context for women as "no new word, no new idea," but a unifyingtheme for the contributionsof women to society as the conservorsof life." Mrs.CarlVrooman,also of the DAR, emphasizedthe idealwoman's subservienceto the man in conservation."We may not, it is true, formulateany new policiesfor you, or launchany issues, or makeany very originalcontributionsto yourprogram,but thereis one thingwomencan bringto a movementof thiskind- an atmospherethatmakesideassprout and grow, and idealsexpandand developand takedeeperroot in the subsoil of the masculinemind."67 74 The Conservationof the Home The home as the domain of true womanhoodbecame the second theme in the conservationtrilogy. The National Congressof Mothers, representedby Mrs. OrvilleBrightof Chicago,dedicateditself to conservationof naturalresourcesfor "theuse, comfort,andbenefitof the homes of the people." Mrs. Brightadoptedthe utilitarianphilosophyof the progressivesin stressingthat conservationprimarilybenefittedhuman life rather than other organisms, since the fate of forests, land, waters, minerals,or food would be of little consequencewere there "no men, women, and childrento use and enjoy them."68 MargaretRussellKnudsenof Hawaii,of the Women'sNationalRivers and HarborsCongressarguedat the 1909ConservationCongressthatconservationof the home was the specialmissionof woman. The "markof civilizationwasthe arrivalof womanon the scene. .. In no nationalmovement has there been such a spontaneousand universalresponse from womenas in this greatquestionof conservation.Womenfrom Maineto the most Westernshoreof the HawaiianIslandsare aliveto the situation, becausethe homeis woman'sdomain.She is the conserverof the race."69 Conservationof the Child Thirdin the trilogywas the link betweenthe conservationof natural resourcesand the conservationof the childrenand futuregenerationsof the United States. According to Mrs. John Walker, a member of the Kan- sas City chapterof Daughtersof the AmericanRevolution,woman'srole in conservationwas dedicatedto the preservationof life, whileman'srole was the conservationof materialneeds. "Woman,the transmitterof life" must thereforecare for the product of life - future generations.The childrenof the nation should not be sacrificedto "factories, mills, and mines," but must be allowed "to enjoy the freedomof the bird and the butterfly . . . and all that the sweet breast of Nature offers so freely."70 Mrs.OvertonEllisof the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubspromotedthe conservationof children'slivesat the 1909Congress:"Women's supremefunctionas motherof the racegives her specialclaimto protection not so muchindividuallyas for unborngenerations."7'Mrs. Welch also of the GeneralFederationassertedthatwhatconservationreallymeant was conservationof childlife. Becausethe unscrupuloususe of childlabor in the name of money, "the god of greed," was claimingthe lives of childrenby the scores, withoutthe conservationof children'shealthand well-being,the conservationof naturalresourceshad no real meaning. The Federationwas dedicatedto "the enactmentof lawswhichshalltend to the conservationof the vital forces representedin the mothersof the race and the childrenwho are the country'sfuture citizens."72 Women's Suffrage and the ConservationMovement Althoughthe womenwho attendedthe NationalConservationCongresses were speakingout on public affairs of interestto the nation's welfare, they were limitedin their influenceon legislationthroughlack of the vote. By the timeof the conservationcongresses,severalstates(Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming,and Utah)had givenwomenthe vote and a nationwide women's suffragecampaignwas underway.Mrs. Scott of the DAR noted the possibilitythat women might sometime in the future "undertake,in addition to their other duties, the heavy responsibilities of the voter and politicalworker."'3Althoughwomenrepresentativesat the congressesdid not have a platformthat relatedsuffrageto conservation, nevertheless,the issue was frequentlymentioned.74 Althoughthe GeneralFederationof Women'sClubsdid not take an official position on the extensionof the vote to femalesuntil late in the suffragemovement,the issue was raisedat the Federation'sTenth Biennial (1910). In her speechon "EqualSuffrage," Miss KateN. Gordon, Vice-Presidentof the NationalAmericanWomanSuffrageAssociation, citedthe censusof 1900that had revealedthat 117,632morewomenthan men in the UnitedStateswereliteratewith the ratioconstantlyincreasing owingto the vast influxof illiteratemaleimmigrants.Women,she argued, should have the rightto expressan opinion throughsuffrageon matters of vital importanceto theirlives. Taxes, the milk supply, publichealth, education,and moralconditionswereall issuesthat directlyaffectedthe sphereof the home, whichthroughthe femalevote wouldbe represented in the Legislatures."We haveneverhada democracy,"she asserted,"we have only had a sex oligarchyand . . . there are some men and women who are not satisfiedwith existingconditionsresultingfrom a sex oligarchy ... We don't wanta man-madeworld;we don't wanta woman-made world, but we want a worldwherethe opinionsof men and women rate equally and then, and not till then, will we have a true democracy."75 The anti-suffragists,however,also drewon conservationrhetoric"the watchwordof the hour" - in arguingagainstthe extensionof the 75 vote to women. Suffragewas not a "natural"rightbestowedon human beings at birth, proclaimedAlice Chittendonof Brooklyn. On the contrary "in opposingthe extensionof suffrageto women, we are seeking to conservewoman'snaturalforces for the greatwork Naturehas given herto do. The conservationof energystrengthensone's forces, whilediffusion weakens them . . ." Scientific and biological evidence, she said, indicatedthat the "welfareof the State and Race" would suffer if the burden of suffrage were added to all the other responsibilitiesof womanhood.As civilizationgrewout of its savagestate whereinwomen had had morepower(as, for example,amongthe Iroquois,Lycians,and Saxons)to its presentlevelof development,the "law of intendeddifferentiation of sex activity"took effect. 'Each sex should have its own work to do . . . in the social and intellectual world,' she asserted, quoting a "recent writer,"76and concluded: A diffused energy cannot be a vitalizing one . . . If woman mustnow assumethe responsibilities and dutiesof politicallife - if she must do man's work in additionto her own, it will meana diffusionof herown naturalpowersand energies,and we shall have deterioration and not progress . .. I would have womanseriouslyconsiderwhethershe may not betterserveher day and generationby conservingher God-givenpowers for her own greatworkas a Home-maker,ratherthan diffuse her forces by seekingto do man's work also.77 76 III. Denouement The Fifth National ConservationCongressopened in Washington, D.C. on November 18, 1913 and proceededfor three days. Its vicepresident,Mrs. Philip N. Mooreof the GeneralFederationof Women's Clubs,did not speak.Nor did any otherwomanfromthe Federation,the DAR, the CountryWomen'sClubsor the Women'sNationalRiversand HarborsCongress.The sole femalevoice heardwas Miss Mabel Boardman from the AmericanRed Cross who lecturedon "Conservationof Life in the LumberCamps."78 AmericanForestry(the new name of the journal of the American ForestryAssociation)carrieda full reporton the meetingin its November issue. Descriptionsof the activitiesof the Congresswereaccompaniedby the portraitsof fifty men who had chairedand workedon the committees. A photographtakenthe nightof the ForestryBanqueton November 19 showedsome 160 men seatedat roundtables before a speakers'platform. Mrs. Philip N. Moore was not among them.79 A briefnotein the ForestryCommittee'sreportto the Congressseems to providethe explanationfor the absenceof women: The desirabilityof . .. an organization (to representthe mutual forestry and lumbering interests) was emphasized by the presenceat (the Fourth National Congressin) Indianapolis (1912)of a numberof men who wereno longerin need of the generaleducationalpropagandarelativeto the conservation of naturalresources,but attendedthe Congressfor the purpose of meetingprogressivemen in theirown and relatedlines andsecuringspecificinformationhelpfulin the solutionof their own problems. The need for a workingorganizationand a rallyingpoint, where mutual and more or less technicalproblemsmay be discussedis felt particularly by the forestryandtimberinterests ... the active workers desired an opportunity to exchange views on technicalproblems. . .80 Conservationand forestryhad come of age as technicalprofessions.As such they wereno longeraccessibleto women. After 1912the American ForestryAssociationceasedto print articlesor news items on the work of women in forestry. Lydia Adams-Williamsdisappearedfrom the scene.8I A second explanationfor the disappearanceof women also seems plausible.That sameyearthe popularnationwidestrugglefor the preservation of Hetch HetchyValley,a partof California'sYosemiteNational Park, reachedits conclusion.Withthe passageof the RakerAct by Congressin 1913, the City of San Franciscowon its long battle for a public watersupply.The womenof the conservationcrusadehad workedhard to preservethe valley as an integralpart of the park. GiffordPinchot,the women'searlyinspirationand supporterin conservationefforts had takenthe opposingside, recommendingat the congressionalhearingsthat a dam be constructedacross the valley to serve the interestsof thousandsof city people ratherthan accommodatethe needsof the few who campedand hikedin the area. The women'sclubs, unableto supportor understandPinchot'sposition, openlysplit with his approachto conservation.From 1908until 1913they workedfor preservation of the valley.'2 Soon after a City of San Franciscoreferendumin November1908 favoredconstructionof the dam, JohnMuirhad takenthe HetchHetchy issue to the nation. Many in the conservationmovementralliedto support its preservationthroughlettersand telegramsto the House Committee on Public Landswhichheld hearingsin January1909.Among them were women who had campedin the valley, who were membersof the SierraClub or AppalachianMountainClub, and who were opposed to the commercialuse of such a scenic wonderland."3 MarthaWalkerof Los Angelespointedout that "it wouldbe a glitteringexampleof our 'commercialspirit'werewe to lose HetchHetchy." She had spentall her summersin the Sierrasand was confidentthat soon easternerswould"cometo knowthe wondersof thesehighSierrahillsides, with their gardensof beautifulflowers and great trees.''84 Eva Channingof Boston who visited Californiain the summerof 1908 was a firm believer"in national parks and the right of people to have them safeguarded." Martha Haskell, also of Boston, who had campedthereand wantedto preserveit for the people, pointedout that the cost to the nationwas far greaterthan for San Franciscoto seekwater elsewhere.GraceEstherDattle of San Jose, who had visitedthe valley, knew that it would one day be needed as an overflow for visitors to Yosemite.85 Othersrepresentedwomen'sorganizationsor spoke on the basis of professionalexperience.Mrs. WilliamHanson of the ForestryCommittee of the FloridaFederationof Women's Clubswrote that those "imbued with the forestry spirit" were anxious to conserve remaining woodlands.MaryWorstellof New YorkCityhad lecturedmorethan 150 77 times for the New York Boardof Educationon YosemiteNationalPark and herextensivetravelsin the Sierras.FromVirginiaCity, Nevadacame a telegramfrom LauraMcDermottwho was outragedthat "America's greatestgift fromthe Creatoris aboutto be sacrificedat the feet of Mammon." . . . "I am a graduate of the University of California, a botanist 78 and hope to be a protectorof nature'swilds," she concluded."6 Prominentamongthosetestifyingat the Senatehearingson February 10was HarrietMonroe,SierraClubenthusiast,editorof PoetryMagazine, and representativeof 500 membersof the ChicagoGeographicalSociety and 5,000 membersof the SaturdayWalkingClub. Her briefarguedthat irreparableinjurywould be done to the beauty of the valley: United States Army engineersand others have reportedthat San Franciscois exceptionallywell placedfor watersupplies; that the presentsource may be developedto three times the presentconsumption;and that no less than 14 other sources areeasilyavailable.Whythenshouldshebe permittedlikesome ruthlessCleopatra,to dissolvethis pearl withoutprice in the cup she lifts to her lips?"87 After the House committeevoted by only 8 to 7 in favor of the dam constructionwitha strongdissentingminorityreport,andthe Senatefailed to report the bill out of committee, the resolution was temporarily withdrawn.But the battle lines were only beginningto form.8" By Decemberof 1909 Muir had begun to bombard the popular magazineswith articlesand photographsdescribingthe scenic wonders of the valley. The FederationCourier,official organ of the California Women'sClubs,ranhis "BriefStatementof the HetchHetchyQuestion" in Decemberannouncingthat the bill would soon come beforeCongress. As president of the Society for the Preservationof National Parks (formedbecausethe San FranciscobasedSierraClubwas divided589 to 161againstthe dam), Muirhad collectedthe endorsementof the General Federationof Women'sClubs,the CaliforniaFederation,andmanyother StateFederationswho all adoptedresolutionsprotestingthe scheme.On the east coast the same articlewas carriedin the Federation'sWomanof Today publishedin Boston. By the end of 1910, 150 women's clubs throughoutthe countrywereactivelyengagedin the campaignto preserve Hetch Hetchy Valley.'9 The women'ssupportfor preservationwas vieweddimlyby the men of the opposition. MarsdenManson, San Francisco'scity engineerwho supervisedthe surveysand plansfor the dam, believedthathis opponents consistedlargelyof "short-hairedwomenandlong-hairedmen" who were membersof the "so-callednature-lovingsocietieslikethe Apalachian[sic] Club of Boston, the SaturdayEveningWalkingClub of Chicago, et id genus omne." He maintaineda "list of names and addressesof people objectingto (the)use of HetchHetchy," that includednumerouswomen and believedit necessaryto dispel fallaciesperpetratedby "individuals and corporationsactingbehindthe screenof well meaningand innocent nature lovers."'90 Mansonfound an ally, however,in CarolineK. Shermanof Chicago who had met him on a visit to Yosemiteand told the ForestryDepartment of the ChicagoFederationof Women'sClubs of his "intimateac- quaintancewith everytree, shruband herb," of his "close study of the sequoias,"and of his ancestor,John Clayton,"whomwe all knewas the botanistfor whomClaytoniawas named."Assuringthe clubthat he was not a "cold-bloodedengineer,ignorantof forestry,andindifferentto beauty," while Muir althougha poet and artist "could not speak with the authorityof a sanitaryengineer,"she arguedthat healthshouldcome first and "then as muchbeautyas possible." She was convincedthat she had "carriedheraudiencecompletely"conveyingto the womenManson'sview that "monopolistsprofessingto be interestedin 'conservation'" wereusing the "holy word 'conservation'for conservingtheir own private interests."9' BecausePresidentTaft, who followedRooseveltto the WhiteHouse, and his secretaryof the InteriorRichardBallingerwere at odds with Pinchot, a decisionon the questionwas temporarilypostponed.But by the first year of the Wilsonadministrationin 1913the fate of the valley was sealed. With the new Secretaryof the InteriorFranklinLane, a San Franciscoattorney,favoringthe project,the Houserapidlyscheduledhearings for which the preservationistswere unable to marshalforces. In Septemberwhenthe House passedthe bill 183to 43, preservationistsnationwide threw themselvesinto the fray.92 The NationalCommitteefor the Preservationof YosemiteNational Parkheadedby RobertUnderwoodJohnson,editorof TheCentury,and Charles Eliot, presidentof the First ConservationCongresscirculated brochureson "The HetchHetchyGrab"and "The Invasionof Yosemite NationalPark." Among prominentcitizenslistedas preservationistsfor the park were Mrs. EmmonsCrocker,chair of the ConservationCommitteeof the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs. On the committee, whichrepresented mostof the statesof the union,weretwenty-fivewomen, some of whom, like Mrs. Philip N. Moore, were GeneralFederation leadersnow openlyopposedto Pinchot.In fact the stancetakenby women promptedWilliamKent,congressionalrepresentativefrom the San Francisco Bay Area to write to Pinchot that the conspiracyagainstthe dam was "engineeredby misinformednatureloversand powerinterestsworking throughthe women's clubs."93 Although preservationistslost the battle over Hetch Hetchy in December1913,they hadarousedthe nation.The passageof the National Parks Act in 1916that establishedan administrationin the Department of the Interiorfor the numerousparkscreatedsince 1872gavethemsome compensationfor its loss. Increasinglywomen availedthemselvesof opportunitiesto visitthe NationalParksandmeetthechallengesof wilderness outings. The Sierra Club afforded women expanded opportunities for wildernessand on manyclub trips, femalemembersbeganto outnumber males.Morewomenthanmenhadbecomemembersof the NationalParks Association by 1929.94 On a nationallevelthe conservationmovementslackenedduringthe second decadeof the twentiethcentury,with the erosionof government backing, the narrowingof supportfor Gifford Pinchot and the professionalizationof forestryand water-powerengineering.Althoughwomen were not active in the professionsor as visible on the national level as they had been at the heightof the conservationcrusade,theirinterestin 79 the creationof parks,gardens,and birdpreservesdid not vanishwiththe declineof organizedconservation.The GeneralFederationof Women's Clubscontinuedto maintaina ConservationCommittee,andthe Audubon societiesprovidedwomen with avenuesfor leadershipas secretariesand presidentsof local chapters. Constitutingapproximately35Voof the Audubonnationalmembershipin 1905,the numberof womenhad risen to slightlyover 50%oby 1915.95 Duringthe decadeand a half that introducedthe century,women's organizationshad helpedthe nationto achieveenormousgainsin the conservationof naturalresourcesand the preservationof sceniclandscapes. Yet the platformfor promotingthese objectiveshad been a mixed one. Workingclosely with the men of the movement,women frequentlysaw themselvesas ideologicallyopposed to what they perceivedas commercial and materialvalues.Feministand progressivein theirroleas activists for the publicinterest,they wereneverthelesspredominantlyconservative in their desire to uphold traditionalvalues and middle-classlife styles rooted in these same materialinterests.These contradictionswithin the women'sconservationmovement,however,werein realitymanifestations of the similarmixtureof progressiveand conservativetendenciesthat characterizedthe progressiveera itself. ER nf'9 - ENDNOTES 1. Gifford Pinchot, The Fight for Conservation (New York: Doubleday and Page, 1910, pp. 101, 105-6. 80 2. Samuel Hays, Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The ProgressiveConservation Movement, 1890-1920 (New York: Atheneum, 1975; originally published 1959), pp. 142-144, Robert Welker, Birds and Men (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1955) pp. 184-199; Stephen Fox, John Muir and His Legacy: The American ConservationMovement (Boston: Little Brown and Company 1981), pp. 341-5, 173-8. 3. Karen Blair, The Clubwoman as Feminist: True Womanhood Redefined, 1868-1914 (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1980); Aileen S. Kraditor The Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1890-1920 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1965); Hans Huth, Nature and the American (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1957) ch, 7, 9; Liz Keeney, "Women and Popular Botany: A Study in Nineteenth-Century American Social Values," paper given at the Berkshire Conference on Women's History, Vassar College, 1981; Fox, p. 341. Peter Schmitt, Back to Nature: The Arcadian Myth in Urban America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969). Suellen M. Hoy, "Municipal Housekeeping: The Role of Women in Improving Urban Sanitation Practices, 1880-1917," in Martin V. Melosi, ed. Pollution and Reform in American Cities, 1870-1930 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980), pp. 173-98. 4. Mary S. Gibson, editor, A Record of Twenty-fiveYears of the California Federationof Women's Clubs, 1900-1925(n.p.: The CaliforniaFederationof Women's Clubs, 1927), pp. 6, 7. 5. Gibson, ed. pp. 10-11. 6. Club Life, OfficialOrganof the CaliforniaFederationof Women'sClubs,4, no. 6 (February,1906), p. 1. 7. Gibson, ed., Twenty-fiveYears, p. 174;Club Life, 1, no. 11 (March, 1903, p. 7; H.E. Rensch,E.G. Rensch,and MildredBrooke,HistoricSpotsin California, sponsoredby the StateConferenceof the NationalSocietyof the Daughters of the AmericanRevolution(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1933),pp. 51, 499; R. Coke Wood, Big TreeBulletin:HistoricalandBotanicalFactsaboutthe North and South Grove of the CalaverasBig Trees (Murphys,Ca., 1960). 8. Gibson, ed., Twenty-fiveYears, p. 175. 9. Gibson,ed., Twenty-fiveYears,pp. 176-7;ClubLife,2, no. 8 (December,1903), p. 2; ClubLife, 2, no. 10 (February,1904),p. 5; ClubLife, 3, no. 2 (June, 1904), p. 4; Club Life, 3, no. 8 (February,1905),p. 4. 10. The GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs,TenthBiennialConvention,Official Report(Newark,New Jersey,1910),p. 127;"CalaverasBig TreesSaved," Conservation,Official Organof the AmericanForestryAssociation, 15 (1909), p. 177. Gibson, ed., Twenty-fiveYears, p. 177; CalaverasGrove Association, "South Grove, CalaverasBig Trees" (Stockton, Ca.) 11. Gibson, ed. Twenty-fiveYears, pp. 13-18. 12. Club Life, 1, no. 10 (February,1903),p. 1; Club Life no. 11 (March,1903), p. 7; ClubLife, 2, no. 10 (February,1904),p. 6; Gibson,ed. Twenty-fiveYears, pp. 17-18. 13. ClubLife, 1, no. 9 (January,1903),pp. 1-2;Gibsoned., Twenty-fiveYears, p. 178;Paul Casamajor;ed. ForestryEducationat the Universityof California (Berkeley,CaliforniaAlumniForesters,1965), pp. 11-12. 14. Mrs. L.P. Williams,ChairmanForestryCommittee,"Address," General Federationof Women'sClubs;AmericanForestryAssociation,Proceedingsof the AmericanForest Congress(Washington,D.C., 1905), pp. 428-35. 15. Ibid., p. 432. 16. Ibid., p. 434. 17. Mrs.Welch,GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs,"Address,"Proceedings of the SecondNationalConservationCongressat SaintPaul, September5-8, 1910 (Washington:NationalConservationCongress,1911),p. 161;Mrs.F.W. Gerard, Chairman,"Reportof the ForestryCommittee,"in the GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs, (citedas G.F.W.C.) TenthBiennialConvention(Newark,New Jersey,1910),pp. 127-31;LydiaPhillipsWilliams,"Announcement of the Forestry Committee," FederationBulletin: Official Organ of the MassachusettsState Federationof Women'sClubs,2, no. 6 (March,1905),p. 192;FederationBulletin, 4, no. 5 (February,1907),pp. 201-3;Mrs.P.S. Peterson,chairman,ForestryCommittee,"Suggestionsto ClubWomenof the UnitedStates,"FederationBulletin, 5, no. 2 (November,1907),pp. 58-9, quotationon p. 58. 18. Mrs.MaryGagePeterson,GeneralFederationof Women'sClubs,"Address," in Proceedingsof the First National ConservationCongressheld at Seattle, Washington,Aug. 26-28, 1909 (n.p., 1909), pp. 136-40. 19. Mrs. OvertonEllis, "TheG.F.W.C.sin ConservationWork,"FirstNational 81 ConservationCongress,pp. 149-58.Welch,SecondNationalConservationCongress, p. 161;Gerard,G.F.W.C. Tenth Biennial,p. 130; MaryL. Wood, The Historyof theGeneralFederationof Women'sClubs(NewYork:G.F.W.C., 1912), pp. 149, 170-1, 195, 208-9, 217, 221, 231, 245, 253, 257, 263, 282, 296. 20. FederationBulletin,2, no. 5 (February,1905),pp. 144-5);FederationBulletin, 2, no. 3 (1904), pp. 99-100. 21. Gerard,Tenth Biennial,p. 128-9;p. 140. 22. JennieJuneCroly,The Historyof the Woman'sClubMovementin America (New York: HenryG. Allen & Co., 1898), p. 105. The frontispieceof Croly's book bearsthe followinginscription:"This book has been a laborof love, and it is lovinglydedicatedto the TwentiethCenturyWomanby one who has seen and sharedin the struggles,hopes,andaspirationsof the womanof the nineteenth century,J.G. Croly." On MiraLloydDock see also, FederationBulletin,2, no. 3 (1904),p. 99; G.F.W.C.EleventhBiennialConvention,June25 to July5, 1912, San Francisco,Ca. (n.p. 1912), p. 266. 23. MiraLloydDock, "PracticalConservationin Pennsylvania,"in G.F.W.C., EleventhBiennial,pp. 266-72. 24. "Women as Workers,"Conservation,15 (1909), p. 156. 25. Mrs. J.D. Wilkinson, ChairmanWaterwaysCommittee, "Report of the G.F.W.C., Second National ConservationCongress, pp. 412-3. Wilkinson, "Reportof Waterways Committee,in G.F.W.C.,TenthBiennialConvention,1910, pp. 140-3. 26. Ibid. 27. JosephRansdell,"OurNationalWaterways,"G.F.W.C.,TenthBiennial,pp. 144-150,quotationon p. 150. 28. Wood, Historyof the G.F.W.C., p. 282. 29. Mrs.EmmonsCrocker,"OtherNationalWastes,"in G.F.W.C., TenthBiennialConvention,1910,pp. 151-59;Crocker,"Reportof the ConservationDepartment," in G.F.W.C., EleventhBiennialConvention,1912, pp. 242-7. 30. Crocker,"Address,"in Proceedings,FourthNationalConservationCongress (Indianapolis,1912), pp. 257-62, quotationon p. 258. 31. Ibid., pp. 259, 260, 261. 82 32. LydiaAdams-Williams,"Forestryat the Biennial,"Forestryand Irrigation, Official Organ of the AmericanForestryAssociation, 14, (1908), pp. 435-7; "Fightingfor herTrees,"Forestryand Irrigation,14(1908),p. 230. See also pp. 17, 127, 231. 33. LydiaAdams-Williams,"Conservation- Woman'sWork," Forestryand Irrigation,14 (June, 1908), pp. 350-1, quotationon p. 350. See also AdamsWilliams,"Wasteof NaturalResourcesand Need for Conservation,"Forestry and Irrigation,14 (1908),pp. 266-9, on the expendituresand projectsof the U.S. ReclamationService,the InlandWaterwaysCommission,rate of consumption of coal and wood, and the need for scientificmanagement. 34. LydiaAdams-Williams,"A MillionWomenfor Conservation,"Conservation, OfficialOrganof the AmericanForestryAssociation,15 (1909),pp. 346-7; Adams-Williams, "Upholdingthe Government,"ForestryandIrrigation,14(May, 1908), p. 270. 35. FourthConservationCongress,p. 241;Proceedingsof a Conferenceof Governorsin theWhiteHouse,Washington,D.C., May13-15,1908(Washington,1909), p. xxvii. Gerard,"Reportof the ForestryCommittee,"G.F.W.C. Tenth Biennial, p. 127. 36. Fourth ConservationCongress, pp. 240-1, 248; Wood, History of the G.F.W.C., pp. 244-5. 37. Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, "Address,"SecondConservationCongress,p. 163-6. 38. MargaretRussellKnudsen,Women'sNationalRiversand HarborsCongress, "The Conservationof the Nation'sNaturalResources,"FirstConservationCongress, pp. 206-11. 39. Ibid., p. 207. 40. "TheWomen'sNationalRiversandHarborsCongress,Conservation,15(909), p. 642. 41. FrancesShuttleworth,Women'sNationalRiversand HarborsCongress,"Interestof Womenin Conservation,"Letterto Editor,Conservation14(1908),pp. 568-9. 42. LydiaAdams-Williams,"The Women'sNationalRiversand HarborsCongress," Conservation,15 (1909), pp. 98-101. 43. MargaretGibbs,TheD.A.R. (NewYork:HoldtReinhartandWinston,1969), pp. 79-80. Mrs.CarlVrooman,D.A.R., "Address,"in Proceedingsof the Third NationalConservationCongressat KansasCity, MissouriSeptember25, 26, and 27, 1911 (KansasCity, Missouri1912), pp. 117-9, quotationon p. 117. 44. Gibbs, pp. 78, 82; AmericanMonthly,April 19, 1909;ThirdConservation Congress,p. 117. 45. ThirdConservationCongress,p. 117.J. HoraceMcFarland,"Howthe Power CompaniesBeautifyNiagara,"LadiesHomeJournal,23, no. 11 (October,1906); ibid., 22 (Sept. 1905)and 23 (Jan. 1905). 46. Mrs. Jay Cooke, "Address," Second ConservationCongress, p. 167; Vrooman,ThirdConservationCongress,p. 118. 47. Mrs. MatthewT. Scott, "Address,"ThirdConservationCongress,p. 127; Gibbs, D.A.R., p. 79. 48. Welker,Birds and Men, pp. 196-9, figures35, 38, 40 of illustrationsfrom Godey's LadiesBook, 1883and the Delineator,1898. 49. Welker,pp. 200-4; "Historyof the AudubonMovement,"BirdLore, 7, no. 1 (January-February,1905), pp. 45-57. Paul Brooks, "Birds and Women," Audubon,82, no. 5 (September,1980):88-97.RobinW. Doughty,"Concernfor FashionableFeathers,"Forest History, 16, no. 2 (July, 1972), pp. 4-11. 50. FlorenceMerriamBailey, "How to ConductField Classes," Bird-Lore,2, no. 1, (February,1900), p. 83. 51. "Historyof the AudubonMovement,"op. cit. Bird-Lore,1905, p. 47. 52. Welker, pp. 207, 189; "The ConnecticutSociety," Bird-Lore, 1, no. 1 (February,1899), pp. 30-1. 53. Bird-Lore,1, no. 1 (February,1899),pp. 28-9;Welker,187-92;Brooks,"Birds and Women." 54. Bird-Lore,1, no. 1 (April, 1899),p. 66; ibid., 1, no. 3, (June, 1899),p. 103; ibid., 1, no. 6, (December,1899), p. 204. 55. Bird-Lore,1, no. 6 (December1899), p. 206. 83 56. Bird-Lore,2, no. 1 (February,1900), p. 32; Bird-Lore,7, no. 1 (JanuaryFebruary,1905), pp. 58, 296. 57. Bird-Lore,7, no. 6 (December,1905),p. 308;T. GilbertPearson,"TheWhite Egrets," Bird-Lore,14, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb., 1912), p. 62. 58. "The Wearingof Bird Plumage," Club Life, 2, no. 1 (May, 1903), p. 5. 59. WilliamL. Finley, NationalAssociationof AudubonSocieties,"Conservation of Wild Birds," First ConservationCongress,p. 112; Miss Gillette,ibid., p. 211-2. 60. Mrs. F.W. Gerard,"Reportof the ForestryCommittee,"G.F.W.C., Tenth Biennial,p. 129. 61. Crocker,FourthConservationCongress,p. 260-1. 62. Bird-Lore,15, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec., 1913), p. 399. 63. Bird-Lore,17, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec., 1915),pp. 411, 495, 497. Bird-Lore,14. no. 1 (Jan.-Feb., 1912), p. 62. 64. Mrs.MatthewT. Scott, SecondConservationCongress,pp. 271, 275;Fourth ConservationCongress,p. 252. 65. Mrs. OvertonEllis, "The GeneralFederationof Women'sClubsin Conservation Work," First ConservationCongress,p. 150. 66. Mrs. Philip N. Moore, Tenth Biennial,pp. 29-30. 67. Mrs. Carl Vrooman,ThirdConservationCongress,p. 119. 68. Mrs. OrvilleT. Bright,NationalCongressof Mothers,FourthConservation Congress,pp. 196-200,quotationson pp. 196, 200, 196. 69. MargaretRussellKnudsen,First ConservationCongress,p. 208. 70. Mrs. John Walker,FourthConservationCongress,p. 255. 84 71. Mrs. OvertonEllis, First ConservationCongress,p. 155. 72. Mrs. Welch, Second ConservationCongress,pp. 161, 162-3. 73. Mrs. MatthewT. Scott, Fourth ConservationCongress,p. 254. 74. AileenKraditor,TheIdeasof the WomanSuffrageMovement,1890-1920(New York; ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1965),pp. 4-6. 75. Kate N. Gordan, "EqualSuffrage,"TenthBiennial,pp. 233-9, quotations on pp. 238-9. 76. Alice Chittendon,"Anti-Suffrage,"G.F.W.C., TenthBiennial,pp. 243-53, quotationson pp. 253, 243, 252. For more on anti-suffragismsee Kraditor,pp. 114-42. 77. Ibid., pp. 251-2, 253. 78. Reportof the ForestryCommitteeof the Fifth NationalConservationCongress, (Washington,D.C., 1913), especiallypp. 385-9. 79. AmericanForestry,19 (November,1913), banquetphotographon p. 970. 80. "The ForestryCommittee,"Ibid., p. 834. 81. On womenin the forestryprofessionin recentyearssee SallyK. Fairfaxand Lois Whitte, "Womenin Forestry,"Proceedingsof the EighthWorldForestry Congress,Jakarta,Indonesia,October 16-18, 1978. 82. Hays, Conservationand the Gospel of Efficiency,p. 193. 83. U.S. Congress,House, Committeeon PublicLands,Hearingson HJ Res223, "San Franciscoand the Hetch HetchyReservoir,"60th Congress,2nd, session (January9, 12, 20, 21, 1909). 84. Ibid., p. 177. 85. Ibid., pp. 201, 216, 221. 86. Ibid., pp. 241, 332, 153. 87. U.S. Congress,Senate,Committeeon PublicLands,Hearingon Jt. Res. S.R. 123,60thCongress,2nd. session(February10, 1909),pp. 30-2,quotationon p. 32. 88. RoderickNash, Wildemessand the AmericanMind(NewHaven:YaleUniversity Press, 1973), pp. 168-9;Fox, Muir, p. 142. 89. John Muir, "Brief Statementof the Hetch HetchyQuestion," G.F.W.C., FederationCourier,1, no. 2 (December,1909),p. 2. Muir, "Brief Statement," The FederationBulletinfor the Womanof Today," 7, no. 4 (Boston, January, 1910),pp. 110-111.Gerard,"Reportof the ForestryCommittee,G.F.W.C.,Tenth Biennial,p. 130. Nash, Wilderness,p. 169. 90. MarsdenMansonto G.W. Woodruff,April6, 1910,Mansoncorrespondence, BancroftLibrary,Universityof California,Berkeley,Manson"Namesand Addressesof people objectingto use of Hetch Hetchy;"ms., n.d. 91. CarolineK. Shermanto MarsdenManson, October15, 1909, Mansoncorrespondence,BancroftLibrary,U.C., Berkeley. 92. Nash, Wilderness,pp. 170-1. 93. NationalCommitteefor the Preservation of the YosemiteNationalPark,"The Hetch Hetchy "Grab" Bulletinno. 1 (1913);idem, "Commentsof the United StatesPresson the Invasionof the YosemiteNationalParik,"Bulletinno. 2 (1913). Hays, Conservationand the Gospel of Efficiency,p. 194, letter from Kent to Pinchot, October 8, 1913, Gifford Pinchot manuscripts, #1823, Library of Congress. 94. RuthE. Prager,"Rememberingthe High Trips,'"SierraClub Oral History Project, "Sierra Club Women," Bancroft Library, Universityof California Berkeley, Vol. I, p. 6 & 8; Fox, John Muir, p. 343 and note, p. 422. 95. Hays,Conservationandthe Gospelof Efficiency,pp. 185-98;Fox, JohnMuir, pp. 343-5; "List of Members,"Bird-Lore,7 (November-December,1905), pp. 345-8;"Listof Members,"Bird-Lore,17(November-December, 1915),pp. 541-8. 85
