Morgan, Ann Haven (1882–1966)

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Morgan, Ann Haven (1882–1966)

American zoologist and conservationist. Name variations: (nickname) Mayfly Morgan. Born Anna Haven Morgan on May 6, 1882, in Waterford, Connecticut; died of stomach cancer on June 5, 1966, at her home in South Hadley, Massachusetts; elder daughter of Stanley Griswold Morgan and Julia (Douglass) Morgan; received secondary education at Williams Memorial Institute, New London, Connecticut; attended Wellesley College, 1902–04; Cornell University, A.B., 1906, Ph.D., 1912; never married; no children.

Assistant and instructor of zoology, Mt. Holyoke College (1906–09); became associate professor (1914); served as chair of the zoology department (1916–47); became full professor (1918).

Selected writings:

Field Book of Ponds and Streams: An Introduction to the Life of Fresh Water (1930); Field Book of Animals in Winter (1939); Kinships of Animals and Man: A Textbook of Animal Biology (1955).

Ann Haven Morgan was born in Waterford, Connecticut, on May 6, 1882, the eldest daughter and first of three children of Stanley and Julia Douglass Morgan . She had an early love of the outdoors and eagerly explored the fields and streams near her home. After her secondary education at Williams Memorial Institute in New London, Connecticut, she enrolled at Wellesley College in 1902. Two years later, she transferred to Cornell University, where she received an A.B. degree in 1906. Upon graduation, she was hired as an assistant and instructor of zoology at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. After three years there, she returned to Cornell and received her doctorate in 1912 with a dissertation on the biology of mayflies. It was her enthusiasm for this dissertation topic that earned her the nickname of "Mayfly Morgan." She quickly moved up the ladder after rejoining the faculty at Mt. Holyoke, becoming an associate professor in 1914, the chair of the zoology department in 1916 (a position she retained until her retirement in 1947), and a full professor in 1918. In the classroom or out in the field, Morgan always wore an old-fashioned shirt-waist, tie, and long skirt. She spent her summers conducting research and instructing at several institutions, including the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts (1918, 1919, 1921, 1923) and the Tropical Laboratory in Kartabo, British Guiana (1926).

Ann Morgan considered herself a general zoologist. Over the years she expanded her studies to include not only aquatic insects but also the habits and conditions of hibernating animals as well as issues of conservation and ecology. She was always able to communicate her observations and insights well, and her books have enjoyed continued popularity with the public. Her Field Book of Ponds and Streams: An Introduction to the Life of Fresh Water (1930) emphasizes each animal group and the concept of the ecological niche, or the specific place and function of the group in the wider ecosystem. Her Field Book of Animals in Winter (1939) deals mainly with the ecological issue of how animals survive the rigors of winter. Animals in Winter, a film based on this book, was made by Encyclopedia Britannica Films and released in 1949 for classroom use.

Morgan stressed the need for humans to understand wildlife and to value the environment. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was instrumental in reforming the science curriculum in schools and colleges to include ecology and conservation courses. Through a series of summer workshops for teachers, she sought to have ecology and conservation taught in conjunction with subjects such as geography, zoology, and sociology. She also served on the National Committee on Policies in Conservation Education. In her final book, Kinships of Animals and Man: A Textbook of Animal Biology (1955), she asserted: "Now that the wilderness is almost gone, we are beginning to be lonesome for it. We shall keep a refuge in our minds if we conserve the remnants."

During her teaching career, Ann Haven Morgan collected many honors and awards, including fellowships at Harvard, Yale, and Cornell, and election as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1933, she was one of only three women featured in that year's edition of American Men in Science. Upon her retirement from Mt. Holyoke in 1947, at age 65, she and her longtime companion, zoology professor A. Elizabeth Adams , visited the western United States and Canada to gather ideas for conservation awareness. Ann Morgan died of stomach cancer at her home in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on June 5, 1966, just as ecological awareness was gaining a foothold in America.

sources:

Bailey, Brooke. The Remarkable Lives of 100 Women Healers and Scientists. Holbrook, MA: Bob Adams, 1994.

Sicherman, Barbara, and Carol Hurd Green, eds. Notable American Women: The Modern Period. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1980.

collections:

Morgan's papers are held at the Williston Memorial Library-Archives, Mt. Holyoke College, and in the Woman's Rights Collection, Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College.

Jo Anne Meginnes , freelance writer, Brookfield, Vermont

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia