Kathleen (Betty) Anderson Papers Finding Aid : Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries

Background on Kathleen (Betty) Anderson

Born June 15, 1923, Kathleen “Betty” Anderson was an influential self-taught ornithologist and conservationist. While she was born in Montana, Anderson spent most of her life in southeastern Massachusetts, most notably at Wolf Trap Hill Farm in Middleborough, where Anderson kept extensive notes on wildlife sightings in a series of diaries that span decades. Anderson’s professional career as an ornithologist began in the 1950s when she worked for the U.S. Public Health Service after an outbreak of equine encephalitis. In the 1960s, Anderson established an Operation Recovery banding station on Duxbury Beach, as well as what is now Manomet, Inc., where she served as the founding director from 1969-1983. She served as a charter member and Chair of MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Advisory Committee, as well as being President of the Trustees of the Wildlands Trust.

Among Anderson’s numerous awards and accolades, she received the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Arthur A. Allen Award; the Francis Sargent Award from the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board; the Allen Morgan Award for Lifetime Achievement from Mass Audubon; and she was one of the first women to be elected to membership in the Nuttall Ornithological Club, serving as president in 1987.

Anderson passed away on August 24, 2018 at the age of 95.

Scope of collection

The Kathleen “Betty” Anderson Papers consist almost entirely of her Daily Reminder diaries from 1968-2015, with a couple of missing years. Using these diaries, Anderson kept detailed notes observing wildlife and environmental conditions at Wolf Trap Hill Farm. These diaries provide not only her research notes and findings, but also Anderson’s daily activities. Included, often loose at the front and back of the books, or between pages, are newspaper clippings, postcards, the occasional leaf or bird feather, and other ephemera. Alongside the diaries, there is a notebook with notes about various plant species and a notebook with butterfly sightings and notes.

Ephemera has been left where Anderson put them in the diaries to preserve the way that she had organized the material. Newspaper clippings and pressed leaves have been interleaved with paper to avoid further staining and damage to the pages around them. Other organic material, such as feathers, have been placed in archival envelopes and kept between the entries where they were found.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Inventory

Dailyaide - The Silent Secretary

1968

Box 1

Textblock coming away from spine and splitting in two, most prominent Jul. 19-20. Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, notes. At front of book: loose, ripped emails from Richard B. Primack dated 2003; loose folded bird sighting chart; loose newspaper clipping dated 1967 Apr 16. At back of book: loose Columbus Audubon Society field trip record.

Mexico CSU Notebook

1968, 1973, 1988, 1998

Box 1

Notes about various plant species.

Daily Reminder

1976

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Handwritten note, postcard, photo in front.

Daily Reminder

1977

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. May 10-11: memo; Jul. 9-10: handwritten note; Nov. 16-17: pressed leaf; Dec. 28-29: daily field card.

Daily Reminder

1978

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings.

Daily Reminder

1979

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. May 26-27: handwritten bird notes.

Daily Reminder

1980

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings.

Daily Reminder

1981

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Checklist of Massachusetts birds in front. Jul. 3-4: Manomet Bird Observatory count; Aug. 5-9: MBO fall banding totals; Nov. 18-19: newspaper clipping.

Daily Reminder

1982

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Typed research notes in front. Jun. 7-8: postcard from Chris; Aug. 28-29: postcard. MBO observation lists in back.

Daily Reminder

1983

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, notes from travel to Central and South America, some basic research notes and data, thoughts on early climate change research. Mar. 13-14: male Mallard flank feather between pages.

Daily Reminder

1984

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Checklist of Massachusetts birds in front; newspaper clipping about controlling marsh mosquitos; Mar. 4-5: leaf pressing; May 19-20: typed entry and list for South Shore Big May Day; Jul. 10-11: four cards, North American nest-record card program; Oct. 4-5: newspaper clipping; Oct. 6-7: newspaper clipping; Oct. 8-9: magazine clipping; Nov. 3-4: clipping about bald eagles; Nov. 17-18 photocopy from British Birds; Dec. 15-16: Cape Cod Christmas bird count.

Daily Reminder

1985

Box 1

Damage in the binding around late September. Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. May 10-11: checklist of Massachusetts birds; Jun. 21-22: sketch of field site; Jul. 13-14: Kathleen's business card with notes.

Daily Reminder

1986

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. DOR Vertebrates, South Shore Bird Club field trips, Massachusetts Daily field card, newspaper clipping in front. Feb. 21-22: newspaper clipping; Apr. 4-5: Goshawk feather; May 16-17: checklist of Massachusetts birds; Aug. 26-27: August highlight; Nov. 8-9: handwritten notes. Roadkills list in back.

Kathleen S. Anderson Butterfly Notes

1986-2001

Box 1

Notes of butterfly sightings from 1986 to 2001, details about specific species of butterfly.

Daily Reminder

1987

Box 1

Currently removed from collection to address water damage. Water damage starting in January and ending around August. Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Jan. 4-5: Plymouth Christmas bird count; Mar. 25-26: newspaper clipping; May 16-14: envelope; in back: checklist of Massachusetts birds, Block Island weekend count.

Daily Reminder

1988

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Postcards from Noreen and Bruce. Handwritten note in front. Apr. 21-22: postcard from Bruce, check receipt; Aug. 19-20: handwritten note; Nov. 29-30: newspaper clipping ; Dec. 13-14: leaf; in back: South Shore fall roundup with note from Bob, South Shore May Day trip.

Daily Reminder

1989

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings, travel to Belize. Card from Bruce in front; Dec. 16-17: typed remembrance of Joseph "Archie" Hagar and information about Massachusetts Wildlife magazine; in back: South Shore Fall roundup list and newspaper clippings about Joseph A. Hagar and Harold J. Donner.

Daily Reminder

1990

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data. In front: traveler's list and checklist booklet for birds of North America; Block Island Weekend of Rhode Island Audubon Leaders' list of birds and number seen on island. Jan. 1: feather, possibly an owl's; Apr. 16-17: newspaper clipping; Oct. 15-16: newspaper print out; Nov. 26: newspaper clipping glued to page; Memoranda: magazine clipping and newspaper clipping about average temperatures for Earth. In back: photos of Peregrine Falcon; memorandum from Bill Davis; South Shore fall roundup; Block Island Weekend of Rhode Island Audubon Leaders' list of birds and number seen on island.

Daily Reminder

1991

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data. Feb. 25-26: Polaroid photo of barnacle goose family; Apr. 26-27: magazine clipping about sockeye salmon; Apr. 28-29: clump of rabbit fur with skin; Jun. 29-30: newspaper clipping; Aug. 28-29: newspaper clipping; Sep. 5-6: S.S.B.C. trip to outer cape from Bob Fox; Sep. 7-8: newspaper clipping; Sep. 29-30: feather; Oct. 5-6: Cape Cod Christmas bird count ; Oct 11-12: newspaper clipping about Carroll M. Williams.

Daily Reminder

1992

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, museum work. Sep. 20-21: clipping; Sep. 26-27: ground-water levels clipping; Oct. 22-23: photo of ducks dated Oct. 16; Dec. 17-18: magazine and newspaper clippings about earthquakes. Cape Cod Christmas bird count in back.

Daily Reminder

1993

Box 1

Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings. Jul. 19-20: newspaper; Jul. 23-24: newspaper; Dec. 8-9: newspaper clipping about California condors.

Daily Reminder

1995

Box 1

Currently removed from collection to address water damage. Water damage at very front of book. Day-to-day activities, bird and wildlife sightings, basic research notes and data, notes about recent scientific findings, summer through early fall blank. Jan 12-13: Bald Eagle counts; in back: traveller's list and checklist for birds of North America; check list of Rhode Island birds; Massachusetts Daily field card; check list of Massachusetts birds; letter from Trevor L. Lloyd-Evans; paperwork for conservation events.