Dates

• Existence: 1878 - 1962

Biographical Note

Born in East Orange, New Jersey on October 13, 1878, Harold Harris Bailey was the son of Harold Balch Bailey and Lillie Adams Taylor. As a child, Bailey moved with his parents to Newport News, Virginia, and in 1906, he married Ida Margaret Eschenburg. Bailey worked as a naval architect and ship broker, perhaps while living in California, then returned to Newport News. He served four years as game inspector for Virginia and Maryland before resigning in 1918 to devote all of his time to the management of his farm on the James River in Virginia. Meanwhile, inheriting an interest in ornithology from his father, Bailey had published The Birds of Virginia in 1913.

Bailey moved with his wife and children to Miami, Florida, where he worked with the Bureau of Biological Survey and published The Birds of Florida in 1925. During his years in Florida, Bailey was instrumental in the establishment of Everglades National Park.

In 1937, Bailey married Laura Beatty Law, and the couple in 1942 moved with their extensive collections to Goshen, Virginia, where they renovated the abandoned Rockbridge Alum Springs mineral spa and established the Rockbridge Alum Springs Biological Laboratory. In 1961, Bailey established the Bailey Research Trust (later the Bailey Wildlife Foundation). Following Harold Bailey's death on July 24, 1962, Laura Bailey oversaw curatorial duties for the collection and presented it to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1969. She died in Lexington, Virginia on September 18, 1975.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: