Mabel Osgood Wright
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| Fairfield resident, author and naturalist, best known as the founder of the Connecticut Audubon Society and the Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary.
Mabel Osgood Wright was born and raised in New York City. Educated at a private school and at home, she became a keen amateur naturalist as a young girl and published her first essay on nature in the New York Evening Post at the age of 16.
Wright and her husband, an art and rare books dealer, settled in Fairfield where she became involved in efforts to revive the original Audubon Society at the state level. First established in 1886, the national organization had been completely disbanded by 1895. The Connecticut Audubon Society, which Wright founded in 1896, was the second state organization created. She also sat on the advisory board of the National Commission which was formed to oversee the state organizations and is credited with helping to revive the national movement as editor and writer for Bird-Lore, the precursor to The Audubon magazine. In addition to her work on behalf of the Audubon society and nature conservancy, Wright published several important books, including The Friendship of Nature (1894), Birdcraft (1895), and Flowers and Ferns in Their Haunts (1901). She also wrote the popular Barbara books which blended social commentary and fiction, and an autobiography, My New York (1926). Tommy-Anne and the Tree Hearts (1896), Wabeno and the Magician, and other educational stories for children written by Wright brought nature appreciation to a new generation being raised in a more urban environment. Birdcraft, the sanctuary named after Wright's successful book, was the first bird preserve of its kind. Its design and construction were carefully planned by Wright. Within ten years of its opening in 1914, Birdcraft received over 10,000 visitors and was home to 32 different nesting species. By the 1940's there were over 153 species, a museum and education center had been added, and the site was visited by ever increasing numbers of school groups and scout troops as Wright would have wished. Birdcraft was officially designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. | |||||||||||
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