DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS BAILEY ALFRED M. NATURALIST: LIFE OF A MUSEUM THE FORTUNATE DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS NUMBER 12, MARCH 1, 2019 WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports 2001 Colorado Boulevard (Print) ISSN 2374-7730 Denver, CO 80205, U.S.A. Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (Online) ISSN 2374-7749 Frank Krell, PhD, Editor and Production VOL. 1 VOL. DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE & SCIENCE OF NATURE DENVER MUSEUM Cover photo: A.M. Bailey at Laysan Albatross nesting colony, Laysan Island, Hawaii, December 1912. Photograph by George Willett. DMNS No. IV.BA13-072. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports (ISSN 2374-7730 [print], ISSN 2374-7749 [online]) is an open- access, non peer-reviewed scientifi c journal publishing papers about DMNS research, collections, or other Museum related topics, generally authored or co-authored The Fortunate Life of a Museum Naturalist: by Museum staff or associates. Peer review will only be arranged on request of the authors. REPORTS Alfred M. Bailey The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/Science/ 1, 2019 • NUMBER 12 MARCH Volume 1—Boyhood to 1919 Museum-Publications free of charge. Paper copies are exchanged via the DMNS Library exchange program ([email protected]) or are available for purchase from our print-on-demand publisher Lulu (www.lulu.com). Kristine A. Haglund, Elizabeth H. Clancy DMNS owns the copyright of the works published in the & Katherine B. Gully (Eds) Reports, which are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial use of published material contact the Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives at [email protected]. WWW.DMNS.ORG/SCIENCE/MUSEUM-PUBLICATIONS A.M. Bailey hunting, Iowa, 1914. Photograph by Fred W. Kent. DMNS No. IV.2002-10-12. DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS NUMBER 12, MARCH 1, 2019 The Fortunate Life of a Museum Naturalist: Alfred M. Bailey Volume 1—Boyhood to 1919 Edited by CONTENTS Kristine A. Haglund,1 Elizabeth H. Clancy1 & Foreword by Kristine A. Haglund 2 Katherine B. Gully1 Alfred M. Bailey photography by Elizabeth H. Clancy 3 Alfred M. Bailey chronology 5 The Fortunate Life of a Museum Naturalist by Alfred M. Bailey 6 Preface 6 Boyhood to early career 9 Boyhood Memories 9 High School to University, 1907–1911 20 Laysan Island Expedition, 1912–1913 23 Iowa, 1913–1916 41 Indian Summer Canoeing, Theme Paper, 1914 41 The “Egg” 42 Louisiana, 1916–1919 43 1916 43 Chenier au Tigre, 1918 53 Seabird Colonies, 1918 57 Bear Hunt, 1918 59 Down the Atchafalaya, 1918 60 1919 62 References 71 1Alfred M. Bailey Libary and Archives Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2001 Colorado Boulevard Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, U.S.A. [email protected] Bailey Foreword Born on February 18, 1894, and raised in educating people through his film lectures and Iowa City, Iowa, Alfred Marshall Bailey would exhibits. The Denver Museum’s dioramas, in become widely known as an ornithologist, many ways, are Bailey’s way of inviting the author, photographer, lecturer, nature popular- visitor to stand where he had stood and see izer, and museum director. His career, which what he had seen. spanned 56 years, brought him national and These volumes, eight in all, will not only international recognition. He was an enthusi- function as a narrative of Bailey’s life but also astic fieldman, always looking forward to his of the history of natural history museums and next outing. The results of his work include his the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in publications, correspondence, and photogra- particular. Additionally, they will serve as phy, most of which are preserved by the Alfred an entrée and finding aid to portions of the M. Bailey Library & Archives. In addition, he DMNS archives, library, and zoological col- acquired the funding, participated in most lections and provide backstories for many of of the field work, and oversaw the installa- the dioramas. tion of the majority of the Denver Museum of At the urging of the Museum’s board of Nature & Science’s1 nature dioramas during trustees, Bailey began writing, in longhand, his tenure as the Museum’s second Director his life’s story around the end of his time (1936-1969). Those “windows on nature” still as Director of the Museum. He was able to intrigue and stimulate wonder, excitement, complete it to a logical end, including pre- and learning conversations between parents, liminary image selection, prior to his death on teachers, and children. The Bailey-era diora- February 25, 1978. His secretary, Margaret mas also inspired the addition of others such (Maggie) Denny, was the one most capable as those in the Museum’s Prehistoric Journey of translating his scribbled handwriting into and Space Odyssey halls. a typescript. She continued the transcription This autobiographical publication covers until her own death in 1980. Bailey’s childhood through the end of his Bailey’s autobiographical manuscript career. His working title was Field Work of remained on a shelf in the Museum’s a Museum Naturalist, but he already had archives until about 2010 when I began a publication by that name that describes to contemplate my own retirement from the his 1919–1922 work in Alaska. To avoid Museum and realized that if I didn’t publish confusion, we have changed the title to The it, probably no one would. This was a task Fortunate Life of a Museum Naturalist: Alfred larger than initially envisioned. The process M. Bailey. Bailey always considered himself of taking a handwritten document to a typed to be one of the most fortunate people he version and then to an electronic version knew, fortunate because he was able to do is time-consuming, meticulous work. This for a living everything he loved: traveling project couldn’t have been done without the to exotic, challenging, and distant locales; technological advancements unknown during meeting fascinating people; observing and Bailey’s lifetime: sophisticated word process- photographing wildlife, especially birds; and ing software, scanners and photo editing software, and the resources of the World- 1 The Denver Museum of Nature & Science was known during his time as the Colorado Museum of Natural wide Web. Also valuable in establishing and History and the Denver Museum of Natural History. 2 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 12, March 1, 2019 Life of a Museum Naturalist vol. 1 Alfred M. Bailey Photography correcting dates, spelling, and questionable Bailey already understood the importance wording were Bailey’s journals. But most of documenting his field work when he was valuable were the volunteers, without whom invited on his very first field trip to Laysan this project would have been impossible and Island in 1912. He kept a daily record in his to whom I am extremely grateful: Dr. Jean field journal and he took along a camera bor- Saul, Marjorie Pries, and Martha Gray trans- rowed from a college friend in order to make ferred the text into electronic format; Saul a photographic record as well. He continued assisted Liz Clancy (the Museum's Image to combine detailed journal entries with pho- Archivist Emerita and Image Editor for this tographs throughout his 56-year career and publication) with image selection; and Kath- they served him well in the numerous and erine Gully, the Museum's Librarian Emerita, varied publications he wrote over the years. compiled the list of Bailey’s publications Taking copious notes, he documented images and the bibliographies for each of the eight with stories of the unusual and the important. volumes. A large thank-you goes to Jean And he found and recorded a great deal of Saul for her financial support. The Museum’s the humorous along the way. Archivist Sam Schiller and Image Archivist In working with Bailey's photographic René O’Connell patiently provided their valu- collection, I have been continually impressed able assistance whenever requested, which with the clarity and near perfect focus of most was frequently. Last, but never least, I am of his pictures—especially when seen under thankful to Dr. Frank Krell for his patience extreme magnification. and ongoing support for this publication. One has only to read his autobiography Many thanks to everyone who joined me in to understand many of the problems wildlife this memorial to one of the Museum’s most photographers must endure while obtaining influential individuals. good wildlife photographs. In the early 1920s, Bailey spent 16 months above the Arctic Circle Kristine A. Haglund collecting specimens in Alaska and Siberia. Archivist Emerita He photographed his experiences as he went. Alfred M. Bailey Library & Archives Photographic equipment of that period was large, bulky, and heavy. Cameras, lenses, tripods, film, and other photographic accesso- ries had to be carried along in addition to the normal equipment needed to collect specimens and survive in freezing temperatures. Over the years, photographic technology improved and camera equipment got smaller and lighter, but the convenience of the digital world was never available to Bailey as it didn’t exist at all during his lifetime. Bailey traveled all over the world to study and obtain photographs of a huge variety of birds and mammals which he used for DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 12, March 1, 2019 3 Bailey museum exhibits, publications, and lectures. from the motion picture film to use as "still" He worked in many obscure and difficult loca- images suitable for publication. Fairly early tions in order to be where unique, rare, and on, Bailey also began taking color images in even endangered wildlife can be found. He 35mm slide and 4”x5” formats. He frequently built photographic blinds and waited in them converted some of his color images to black for hours.