Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

MS 462
Althea R. Sherman (1853-1943)
Collection, 1913-1952, n.d.


Descriptive summary

creator:

Sherman, Althea R. (1853-1943)

title:

Collection

dates:

1913-1952, n.d.

extent:

0.21 linear ft. (1 half-document box)

collection number:

MS 462

repository:

Archives of Women in Science and Engineering, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

Althea R. Sherman Collection, MS 462, Archives of Women in Science and Engineering, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Althea Rosina Sherman was born in 1853. Eight years later her family arrived in northeast Iowa and settled near Farmersburg. She received her B.A. (1875) and M.A. (1882) from Oberlin College in art. During that time she also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. After receiving her master's degree Sherman taught art at Carleton College and was supervisor of art in the Tacoma, Washington, schools.

Sherman was a self-taught ornithologist, but it wasn't until she was over fifty years of age that she fully immersed herself in the study of birds. She moved back to the family homestead in 1895 to take care of her ailing parents. After her parents' death she began recording observations of birds on her farm. She eventually filled 60 notebooks with meticulous observations, joined 15 scientific societies, and wrote numerous papers for professional journals. Sherman became a leading ornithologist in her day despite having any formal scientific training.

Birds of an Iowa Dooryard (call no. QL684.I6 S5) was published after her death in 1943. The book includes Sherman's observations on the chimney swift, phoebe, house wren, short-billed marsh wren, catbird, screech owl, flicker, and several other species of bird.

 

Collection description

The collection (1913-1952, n.d.) primarily contains reprints of published articles written by Althea Sherman. The articles present Sherman's studies on the house wren, sparrow hawk, hummingbirds, bird conservation, and other topics of related interest. Also included is an article by Margaret Morse Nice reflecting on correspondence between Sherman and herself and a copy of Iowa Bird Life (June 1943) containing a thorough biography of Sherman written by Mrs. H. J. Taylor.

 

Organization

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

"Additional Evidence Against the House Wren"

1925

1

2

"'Animal Aggregations': A Reply"

1924

1

3

"Are Birds Decreasing in Numbers?"

1927

1

4

"Bird Conservation"

1920

1

5

"Birds by the Wayside"

1916

1

6

"Birds by the Wayside in Egypt and Nubia"

1915

1

7

"Birds by the Wayside in Greece"

1916

1

8

"Carolinian Avifauna in Northeastern Iowa"

1913

1

9

"A Choice of Birds"

n.d.

1

10

"Down with the House Wren Boxes"

1925

1

11

"Experiments in Feeding Hummingbirds During Seven Summers"

1913

1

12

"Historical Sketch of the Park Region about McGregor, Iowa and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin"

1919

1

17

"Iowa's Woman Ornithologist: Althea Rosina Sherman, 1853-1943." Iowa Bird Life (June 1943)

1943

1

13

"A National Bird Day"

1922

1

14

"The Nest Life of the Sparrow Hawk"

1913

1

15

"The Old Ornithology and the New"

1930

1

16

"Some Letters of Althea Sherman" by Margaret Morse Nice

1952