Dear Nature,I know naught of the

wondrous life of these, your smallest creatures.

Teach me!

Anna Botsford Comstock• September 1, 1854: Born to Marvin and Phebe Irish Botsford in Otto, New

York• 1874: Anna attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York to study

modern languages and literature

• October 8, 1878: Anna and John married at her parent’s home in Otto • 1879: Anna left Cornell University because they were on the move to

Washington D.C. • 1879 to 1880: Prepared drawings for John’s 1880 Report of the

Entomologist on citrus scale insects• 1885: Anna reentered Cornell and received her bachelor’s degree in natural

history• 1888: as she prepared illustrations for her husband’s book Introduction to

Entomology • 1895: Anna made engravings for Manual for the Study of Insects which was

written by John • 1895: Anna was asked to assist with the development of a curriculum to

promote knowledge and understanding of nature • 1897: Coauthored Insect Life• 1897: Started teaching nature study at Cornell

• 1900: Title was changed to Lecturer • 1903: Wrote Ways of the Six-Footed, • 1904: Coauthored How to Keep the Butterflies to train teachers in nature

study • 1905: Wrote How to Keep Bees, • 1906: Wrote Ways of the Six-Footed and Confessions to a Heathen Idol, • 1911: Wrote The Handbook of Nature Study, • 1914: Wrote The Pet Book, • 1916: Wrote Trees at Leisure • 1922: Retired from Cornell as a professor but continued to teach in the

summer sessions• 1923: Nominated by the National League of Women Voters as being among

the twelve greatest women in the country • August 24, 1930: Anna died in Ithaca, New York • 1988: Anna was inducted into the National Wildlife Federation Conservation

Hall of Fame. She was “widely recognized as the mother of nature education” (Conservation Hall of Fame –National Wildlife Federation, n.d.)