May Rogers Webster (May 23, 1873 – January 7, 1938) was an American naturalist active in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, especially known for her knack of taming

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s, but also for starting

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

programs in that state.

Early life

Alice May Rogers Webster (nee' Rogers) was born in

Scituate, Massachusetts Scituate () is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. History The Wampanoag and their neighbors have inhabited ...

, the daughter of Thomas Lewis Rogers and Ella Sophia Nickerson Rogers.G. M. A.
"Obituaries: May Rogers Webster"
''The Auk'' 55(2)(April 1938): 314. She was a member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, tracing her ancestry to William Brewster.

Hummingbirds, camp, and other activities

After reading a 1928 article about feeding hummingbirds in ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' by Margaret L. Bodine, Laurence J. Webster designed a blown-glass hummingbird feeder for his wife, May Rogers Webster, who enjoyed hummingbirds in the garden of their summer home in

Holderness, New Hampshire Holderness is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,004 at the 2020 census. An agricultural and resort area, Holderness is home to the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and is located on Squam Lake. Holderne ...

.Dan True
''Hummingbirds of North America: Attracting, Feeding, and Photographing''
(University of New Mexico Press 1995): 82-83. May Webster was elected as an associate of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

in 1936. She hosted visiting scientists interested in the birds who frequented her garden. In 1950, after she died, the Webster feeder became the first commercially-produced hummingbird feeder, and the design is still called "the Webster feeder" by enthusiasts today. In 1932, May Rogers Webster founded the New Hampshire Nature Camp at Lost River, and she ran the teacher training camp for several years. The teacher training camp continued summer programming at Lost River into the 1960s. In 1933, she began "Conservation Week" in New Hampshire schools, an annual observance dedicated to environmental education. In 1935, she spoke to the New Hampshire state meeting of Garden Clubs about conservation. She was active on the national level in the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the record ...

. She was vice president of the New England Wildflower Preservation Society, and a member of the Massachusetts

Society of Colonial Dames The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Pe ...

. In 1936, she was visited by

Harold E. Edgerton Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton (April 6, 1903 – January 4, 1990), also known as Papa Flash, was an American scientist and researcher, a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is largely credited with ...

. He was able to illustrate with her help that it was possible to take photographs with an exposure of one hundred thousandth of a second using a

strobe A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope. The word originated from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning ...

. Edgerton took photographs of hummingbirds in Holderness using the "Webster Feeder". A picture of her with the birds flying around her appeared in ''National Geographic''.

Personal life and legacy

May Rogers married Laurence Jackson Webster in 1901. They had a son, Frank George Webster, born 1903. She died in 1938, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. In 1966, Frank Webster donated the Lost River camp property to the Squam Lakes Association, in memory of Laurence and May, for the creation of the

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (SLNSC) is an environmental education center and zoo founded in 1966 and opened to the public on July 1, 1969. The science center is located in Holderness, New Hampshire, United States. The mission of the science ...

. May's great-grandson, Tim Fisher, has served as president of the Squam Lakes Association and chair of the Leadership Council of the Squam Lakes Uplands Conservation Project."Member Profile: Timothy O. Fisher"
''Tracks & Trails'' (Spring 2015): 3.

References

External links

* A photograph
"Mrs. Webster and Her Hummingbirds"
(1936), by

Harold Eugene Edgerton Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton (April 6, 1903 – January 4, 1990), also known as Papa Flash, was an American scientist and researcher, a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is largely credited with ...

, in the collection of the

MIT Museum The MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, technology-related artworks, artificial intelligence, architecture, robotics, maritime histor ...

.
A reproduction of the original Webster hummingbird feeder prototype.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, May Rogers 1873 births 1938 deaths American naturalists People from Scituate, Massachusetts People from Holderness, New Hampshire