Leila Gay Forbes Clark (1887-1964) was an entomologist and librarian at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. She was the second woman to direct the Smithsonian's library. Prior to her work at the Smithsonian, she worked as a librarian at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

Randolph-Macon Woman's College Randolph College is a private liberal arts and sciences college in Lynchburg, Virginia. Founded in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman's College, it was renamed on July 1, 2007, when it became coeducational. The college offers 32 majors; 42 minors; � ...

, and the US Department of Agriculture. She joined the Smithsonian in 1929 and spent the rest of her career there becoming director in 1942. During her tenure she oversaw the merger of the main

Smithsonian Library Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

with the U.S. National Museum Library which resulted in the centralized Smithsonian Libraries system currently in place. She and her husband went on frequent butterfly expeditions and coauthored ''The Butterflies of Virginia'' in 1951. A new form of golden banded-skipper, ''Autochton cellus leilae'', was named for her by her husband.

Personal life

Clark was born in

Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated town in St. Lawrence County, New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Canton, the other named Rensselaer Falls. The town is named after the gr ...

to Henry Prentiss Forbes and Harriet E. Wood. She received a B.S. from

Saint Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was founded ...

in 1908. She married

Austin Hobart Clark Austin Hobart Clark (December 17, 1880 – October 28, 1954) was an American zoologist. He was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts and died in Washington, D.C. His research covered a wide range of topics including oceanography, marine biology, ...

on September 23, 1933.

References

1887 births 1964 deaths Women entomologists American librarians American lepidopterists Smithsonian Institution people American women librarians 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American women scientists {{US-entomologist-stub