Mabel Osgood Wright

Mabel Osgood Wright, who lived from 1859 to 1935, was a champion of bird life and habitat. In 1898 she founded the Connecticut Audubon Society and in 1914, as its president, created America's first private bird sanctuary. In 1915 she founded the Fairfield Garden Club, bringing together local ladies to discuss the virtues of naturalistic landscaping. She wrote twenty-seven books on birds, gardens, and nature, each demonstrating her belief in the beauty of the natural world and the moral imperative to conserve wild spaces. She was also a prolific photographer, a passionate political activist against the plume trade, and a lifelong educator who in her seventies could be seen carting bird exhibits to local schools via horse-drawn wagon. Birdcraft Sanctuary is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a stop on the Connecticut Women's History Trail.

Fairfield, Connecticut · United States