Conservationist, environmental activist, suffragist
Rosalie Barrow Edge's activism started with the women's suffrage movement. She was a member of the Equal Franchise Society in New York City and later served as correspondence secretary of the New York Women's Suffrage Party. Her activism as a suffragist gave her experience in writing, engaging the public, and giving speeches that would carry forward to her environmental activism.
Although interested in the natural world since she was a child, she became an avid bird watcher during the 1920s. She was spurred to action by the accounts of the slaughter of thousands of birds of prey that went unprotested by Audubon Societies and were often carried out with their tacit approval. In 1929, she spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS), accusing them of failing to protect all birds, not just songbirds. That same year, she founded the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) to tackle the mainstream conservation movement's ineffectiveness in species preservation, specifically protecting species prior to their becoming rare. A lawsuit in 1931 resulted in bad publicity for and a permanent break with the NAAS, now The National Audubon Society. The ECC's campaign for reformation of lax conservation practices at Audubon properties resulted in a 60% loss of membership across Audubon Societies.
In 1934, after inaction by The National Audubon Society to end a decades-long hawk shoot on the Kittatinny Ridge in the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains that routinely resulted in the deaths of thousands of hawks, Rosalie purchased a lease on the land to stop that year's fall shoot. She hired a warden to ensure that the shooting would stop. This is the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the world's first refuge for the preservation and observation of and education about birds of prey. Rosalie later purchased the land and opened it to the public. She served as president of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association until her death. Her son, Peter Edge, in his biographical speech "Rosalie Edge, a Most Determined Woman," declared Hawk Mountain Sanctuary her crowning achievement.
Other achievements this hardline conservationist could claim include the protection of waterfowl, the creation of Olympic National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, the addition of old-growth sugar pine groves to Yosemite National Park, and the reform of The National Audubon Society. She influenced the founders of the Environmental Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy, and others during the thirty years she was a leader in changing how the environmental movement conserved wildlife and natural resources.
Finally, in November 1962, she was honored at The National Audubon Society's annual meeting as one of the most prominent persons in American conservation and was met with a standing ovation.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's founding vision for conservation.
Rosalie Barrow Edge's activism started with the women's suffrage movement. She was a member of the Equal Franchise Society in New York City and later served as correspondence secretary of the New York Women's Suffrage Party. Her activism as a suffragist gave her experience in writing, engaging the public, and giving speeches that would carry forward to her environmental activism.
Although interested in the natural world since she was a child, she became an avid bird watcher during the 1920s. She was spurred to action by the accounts of the slaughter of thousands of birds of prey that went unprotested by Audubon Societies and were often carried out with their tacit approval. In 1929, she spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS), accusing them of failing to protect all birds, not just songbirds. That same year, she founded the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) to tackle the mainstream conservation movement's ineffectiveness in species preservation, specifically protecting species prior to their becoming rare. A lawsuit in 1931 resulted in bad publicity for and a permanent break with the NAAS, now The National Audubon Society. The ECC's campaign for reformation of lax conservation practices at Audubon properties resulted in a 60% loss of membership across Audubon Societies.
In 1934, after inaction by The National Audubon Society to end a decades-long hawk shoot on the Kittatinny Ridge in the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains that routinely resulted in the deaths of thousands of hawks, Rosalie purchased a lease on the land to stop that year's fall shoot. She hired a warden to ensure that the shooting would stop. This is the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the world's first refuge for the preservation and observation of and education about birds of prey. Rosalie later purchased the land and opened it to the public. She served as president of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association until her death. Her son, Peter Edge, in his biographical speech "Rosalie Edge, a Most Determined Woman," declared Hawk Mountain Sanctuary her crowning achievement.
Other achievements this hardline conservationist could claim include the protection of waterfowl, the creation of Olympic National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, the addition of old-growth sugar pine groves to Yosemite National Park, and the reform of The National Audubon Society. She influenced the founders of the Environmental Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy, and others during the thirty years she was a leader in changing how the environmental movement conserved wildlife and natural resources.
Finally, in November 1962, she was honored at The National Audubon Society's annual meeting as one of the most prominent persons in American conservation and was met with a standing ovation.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's founding vision for conservation.
Conservationist, environmental activist, suffragist
Rosalie Barrow Edge's activism started with the women's suffrage movement. She was a member of the Equal Franchise Society in New York City and later served as correspondence secretary of the New York Women's Suffrage Party. Her activism as a suffragist gave her experience in writing, engaging the public, and giving speeches that would carry forward to her environmental activism.
Although interested in the natural world since she was a child, she became an avid bird watcher during the 1920s. She was spurred to action by the accounts of the slaughter of thousands of birds of prey that went unprotested by Audubon Societies and were often carried out with their tacit approval. In 1929, she spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS), accusing them of failing to protect all birds, not just songbirds. That same year, she founded the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) to tackle the mainstream conservation movement's ineffectiveness in species preservation, specifically protecting species prior to their becoming rare. A lawsuit in 1931 resulted in bad publicity for and a permanent break with the NAAS, now The National Audubon Society. The ECC's campaign for reformation of lax conservation practices at Audubon properties resulted in a 60% loss of membership across Audubon Societies.
In 1934, after inaction by The National Audubon Society to end a decades-long hawk shoot on the Kittatinny Ridge in the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains that routinely resulted in the deaths of thousands of hawks, Rosalie purchased a lease on the land to stop that year's fall shoot. She hired a warden to ensure that the shooting would stop. This is the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the world's first refuge for the preservation and observation of and education about birds of prey. Rosalie later purchased the land and opened it to the public. She served as president of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association until her death. Her son, Peter Edge, in his biographical speech "Rosalie Edge, a Most Determined Woman," declared Hawk Mountain Sanctuary her crowning achievement.
Other achievements this hardline conservationist could claim include the protection of waterfowl, the creation of Olympic National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, the addition of old-growth sugar pine groves to Yosemite National Park, and the reform of The National Audubon Society. She influenced the founders of the Environmental Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy, and others during the thirty years she was a leader in changing how the environmental movement conserved wildlife and natural resources.
Finally, in November 1962, she was honored at The National Audubon Society's annual meeting as one of the most prominent persons in American conservation and was met with a standing ovation.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's founding vision for conservation.
Rosalie Barrow Edge's activism started with the women's suffrage movement. She was a member of the Equal Franchise Society in New York City and later served as correspondence secretary of the New York Women's Suffrage Party. Her activism as a suffragist gave her experience in writing, engaging the public, and giving speeches that would carry forward to her environmental activism.
Although interested in the natural world since she was a child, she became an avid bird watcher during the 1920s. She was spurred to action by the accounts of the slaughter of thousands of birds of prey that went unprotested by Audubon Societies and were often carried out with their tacit approval. In 1929, she spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS), accusing them of failing to protect all birds, not just songbirds. That same year, she founded the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) to tackle the mainstream conservation movement's ineffectiveness in species preservation, specifically protecting species prior to their becoming rare. A lawsuit in 1931 resulted in bad publicity for and a permanent break with the NAAS, now The National Audubon Society. The ECC's campaign for reformation of lax conservation practices at Audubon properties resulted in a 60% loss of membership across Audubon Societies.
In 1934, after inaction by The National Audubon Society to end a decades-long hawk shoot on the Kittatinny Ridge in the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains that routinely resulted in the deaths of thousands of hawks, Rosalie purchased a lease on the land to stop that year's fall shoot. She hired a warden to ensure that the shooting would stop. This is the founding of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the world's first refuge for the preservation and observation of and education about birds of prey. Rosalie later purchased the land and opened it to the public. She served as president of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association until her death. Her son, Peter Edge, in his biographical speech "Rosalie Edge, a Most Determined Woman," declared Hawk Mountain Sanctuary her crowning achievement.
Other achievements this hardline conservationist could claim include the protection of waterfowl, the creation of Olympic National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, the addition of old-growth sugar pine groves to Yosemite National Park, and the reform of The National Audubon Society. She influenced the founders of the Environmental Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy, and others during the thirty years she was a leader in changing how the environmental movement conserved wildlife and natural resources.
Finally, in November 1962, she was honored at The National Audubon Society's annual meeting as one of the most prominent persons in American conservation and was met with a standing ovation.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's founding vision for conservation.
Bio by: Lisa R. Garrett
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Mabel Rosalie Edge
Daughter of John Wylie Barrow
and
Harriet Bowen Barrow
Widow of Charles Noel Edge
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