26 Facts About Rosalie Edge

Rosalie Barrow Edge was an American environmentalist and suffragist.

Rosalie Edge was considered the most militant conservationist of her time, and she clashed publicly for decades with leaders of the Audubon Society over approaches to wildlife preservation.

Rosalie Edge's British father was a wealthy accountant and cousin to Charles Dickens, whom he resembled, and a near relative of the painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

Rosalie Edge's mother traced her ancestry to Dutch merchant Kiliaen van Rensselaer.

Rosalie Edge favored her over her older siblings and treated her as their leader.

Rosalie Edge challenged the will, winning a larger portion of the estate after about a year in court.

Rosalie Edge did not get involved for a few years, during which she settled her family in New York and gave birth to two children.

In May 1915, shortly before the birth of her second child, Rosalie Edge felt that she was about to die, and she responded by making donations to charities and causes.

Biographer Dyana Z Furmansky describes the latter donation as an "odd choice", as Edge had not previously shown any interest in bird conservation.

Weeks after giving birth, Rosalie Edge began participating in the United States' women's suffrage movement, despite Charles Rosalie Edge's opposition to the cause.

Rosalie Edge joined the New York State Women's Suffrage Party, becoming corresponding secretary in 1915.

Rosalie Edge gave speeches, wrote pro-suffrage pamphlets and undertook other activities for the cause.

In 1915, the family purchased Parsonage Point in Rye, New York, and it was while there that Rosalie Edge began to take a strong interest in birdwatching.

Rosalie Edge started to take an interest in the birds of New York City, joining ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers in Central Park, and befriended the biologists from the American Museum of Natural History who would frequent the park at lunchtime.

Rosalie Edge asserted that it was every person's civic duty to protect nature.

Rosalie Edge founded and ran the Emergency Conservation Committee from 1929 until she died.

Rosalie Edge was a member of a New York branch of the Audubon Society.

Rosalie Edge returned to the US and spoke before the annual meeting of the society in October 1929 about the matter.

Rosalie Edge learned that the Audubon sanctuaries were killing predator animals, including birds of prey, and trapping many small mammals.

In 1931, Rosalie Edge filed a suit against the NAAS to obtain its membership mailing list.

The break between the NAAS and Rosalie Edge lasted until a few weeks before her death in November 1962.

Rosalie Edge asked for help from the Audubon Society, the ECC, and other conservation groups, which met together in 1933 and agreed to purchase the land and create a sanctuary.

Audubon Society president T Gilbert Pearson pledged to raise funds and buy the property, but Edge learned the next year from Pough that the society had not done so.

Rosalie Edge had the caretakers charge a fee for educational tours and begin collecting data about birds in the area.

Rosalie Edge died on November 30,1962, after experiencing chest pain.

Rosalie Edge influenced founders of The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Environmental Defense Fund, along with other major wildlife protection and environmental organizations created during and just after the 30 years when she was active in the conservation movement.