Anna Botsford Comstock (1854-1930) was a scientist, illustrator, and educator. She was a pioneer in higher education for women, and also ensured future generations could learn about nature and the environment around them.
Anna Botsford Comstock (1854-1930) was a scientist, illustrator, and educator. She was a pioneer in higher education for women, and also ensured future generations could learn about nature and the environment around them.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hi, I’m Alesandra Tejeda. I’m one of the writers and producers behind Womanica. I’m also a writer on As She Rises, another Wonder Media Network show.
As She Rises is about personalizing the elusive magnitude of climate change through the power of poetry and the stories of climate activists. These themes are always on my mind, which is why I’m excited to guest host this episode for our Eco Warriors month. We’ll be talking about women fighting for conservation and ecological justice.
Today, we’re talking about a scientist, illustrator, and educator. She was a pioneer in higher education for women, and also ensured future generations could learn about nature and the environment around them.
Let’s meet Anna Botsford Comstock.
Anna was born in 1854 on a farm in a town called Cattaraugus, in western New York.
She was an only child and spent her early days living in a log cabin on the edge of an orchard.
Anna’s mother loved nature, and passed that love on to Anna. Anna later wrote “My hours of great happiness were when she would go into the fields and woods with me.”
When Anna was three, the family moved from the log cabin to a frame house at the edge of a forest. It was a step up, in terms of accommodations. But the family still farmed and was largely self-sufficient. They grew wheat, corn, vegetables, and livestock. They also spun yarn, and tapped the trees for maple sugar.
School was also very important for Anna as a child. She attended a rural school house about a half mile from her home. Because their house was nearby, the teachers often stayed with Anna’s family. She took a special liking to these educators, who brought new and intriguing ideas into her life.
Anna did have a rebellious streak though. Around the age of 10 or 11, she started acting out in class, climbing trees, and running from teachers when they tried to chastise her. Anna and a classmate also started experimenting with swear words.
One afternoon, they saw a caterpillar on a fence. The two girls hurled bad name after bad name at the creature until it reared up and swung itself back and forth. This alarmed Anna and her friend so much they quickly changed their ways. No more cruel words for the insect.
At 14, Anna got a taste of her own medicine when she started filling in as a teacher at the local school. She instructed her students in all sorts of subjects, from math to ecology.
There wasn’t a public high school at the time, but Anna was able to attend a prep school called the Chamberlain Institute. She graduated in 1873. The next year, she enrolled at Cornell University. The school was only in its sixth year at the time.
Cornell is where Anna met John Henry Comstock. At the time, he was a master’s student, and one of her zoology lecturers. He was also one of the few entomologists at the university. Throughout their courtship, they sat together at the dining hall, and would collect moss and autumn leaves together, walking around the gorge. When they first met, Anna and John were both planning to marry other people. But, after years of getting to know one another, they married each other in 1878.
Harry – as he came to be known – was hired on as a professor at Cornell, and they settled into a life together on campus. Anna would help him with his research. In particular, she would illustrate his lectures. She paid keen attention to detail, and even won awards for her drawings.
Eventually, Anna went back to Cornell to finish her degree. She took classes in science and wood-engraving, so that she could learn to create more detailed illustrations. Anna graduated in 1885, and even became the third woman to join the American Society of Wood Engravers.
As the 1800s were coming to a close, life was changing for Americans. More young people were moving away from rural areas and into cities. The fear was: they might lose knowledge of the natural world. Enter: The Nature Study Movement. The Movement encouraged teachers to help kids to learn by doing, touching, and experiencing the world around them. It was a pedagogy similar to Anna’s own educational experience as a young girl.
Back at Cornell, Anna teamed up with another professor and botanist, Liberty Hyde Bailey. Together, they led the Nature Study program at Cornell.
In 1911, Anna also wrote a tome of a textbook called the Handbook of Nature Study. At more than 900 pages in length, the book is part teaching guide, part reference text, complete with Anna’s signature illustrations. In the book she wrote:
"Nature-study is, despite all discussions and perversions, a study of nature; it consists of simple, truthful observations that may, like beads on a string, finally be threaded upon the understanding and thus held together as a logical and harmonious whole.”
Anna saw the Nature Study Movement as important for both students, and teachers. Perhaps if teachers could spend more time outdoors, they’d also be less stressed and exhausted by their jobs. And, students would in turn be more engaged and have more concern for the natural world.
Meanwhile, Anna had become an assistant professor at Cornell – the first woman to hold such a position. However, the trustees objected to a woman professor, so her title was later downgraded to lecturer. While teaching at the Nature Study School at Cornell, she ran summer programs for hundreds of rural and urban teachers.
Anna and her husband later turned their focus to writing books about insects for children’s teachers. They published a handful of books about bees, spiders, butterflies, and other insects.
In 1921, Anna gave her final lecture as a professor at Cornell, though she never entirely stopped teaching.
Anna died in August 1930. The Nature Study Handbook, translated into eight languages, remains an important tool for educators, even today.
All month, we’re highlighting eco-warriors. For more information find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!