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Miriam Birdseye

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Miriam Birdseye
A white woman with short dark curly hair
Miriam Birdseye, from the 1917 yearbook of Cornell University
Born1878
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 28, 1948 (age 69)
Carmel, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Home economist, nutritionist, college professor
RelativesClarence Birdseye (brother)

Miriam Birdseye (1878 – August 28, 1948) was an American home economist, nutritionist, and college professor. She taught at Cornell University, Bates College and Simmons University, before a thirty-year career at the United States Department of Agriculture.[1]

Early life and education

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Birdseye was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Clarence Frank Birdseye and Ada Jane Underwood Birdseye. Her brother was businessman and inventor Clarence Birdseye II.[2] She attended Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, and graduated from Smith College in 1901. She trained to teach domestic science at Pratt Institute,[3] and at Teachers College, Columbia University.[4]

Career

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Birdseye worked at the National Lamp Association of Cleveland as a young woman, studying working conditions in the company's factories. She also taught school in New York City. From 1909 to 1910 she taught at Simmons College in Boston. She was head of the household economy department at Bates College from 1911 to 1912. She was a member of the home economics faculty at Cornell University beginning about 1915.[5]

Birdseye was based in Washington, D.C., from 1917 to 1946, as a nutrition specialist in the Department of Agriculture's extension service. She traveled throughout the United States as a speaker at state extension program conferences.[6][7][8][9] She also spoke to women's clubs,[10][11] and contributed to a 1941 educational film, For Health and Happiness, directed by Helen Monsch.[12]

Birdseye was a member of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, and chaired the Textile Standardization Committee of the American Home Economics Association. She was a member of the Smith College Alumnae Association, the Zonta Club, and the Women's City Club in Washington.[3]

Publications and reports

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Birdseye's work at the United States Department of Agriculture often involved writing reports, many of which are now available online.

  • Extension Work in Foods and Nutrition (1923)[13]
  • Adequate Diets for Families with Limited Incomes (1931, with Hazel K. Stiebeling)[14]
  • "How to make the foods and nutrition project contribute to the general growth of home demonstration club members" (1936)[15]
  • "Some nutrition facts every 4-H club member should learn" (1936)[16]
  • "Food budget adjustments in drought areas" (1936)[17]
  • "Help for herb-garden demonstrators" (1936)[18]
  • "Notes on using herbs in landscaping" (1937)[19]
  • "Introduction", in Leonie de Sounin's Magic in Herbs (1941)[20]
  • "How the school lunch program in Barbour County, West Virginia, was organized and carried on in 1939-40" (1944)[21]
  • "Selected Herb Recipes" (1946)[22]
  • Savory Herbs: Culture and Use (1946, with M. S. Lowman)

Personal life

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Birdseye lived in Washington with a Bohemian baroness, Leonie de Sounin, for more than a decade. De Sounin died in 1942.[23] Birdseye retired to Carmel, California,[24] and died there in 1948, at the age of 69.[1][25]

A character named "Miriam Birdseye" is featured in Nancy Spain's detective novels,[26] but the character has little in common with the American nutritionist.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Miriam Birdseye, 70, U.S. Food Specialist for 30 Years, Dies". Evening Star. 1948-08-30. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2025-06-03. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Kurlansky, Mark (2012). Birdseye: The adventures of a curious man. Internet Archive. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-52705-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  3. ^ a b "Miriam Birdseye Faculty, Household Economics". Suffrage at Simmons. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  4. ^ "Federal Specialist Keeps Tab on Food; Miss Miriam Birdseye Has Job Quite in Keeping with Name". The News Journal. 1928-06-01. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Cornell University, The Cornellian (1917 yearbook): 17.
  6. ^ "Program Framed for Homemakers Session Tuesday". Medford Mail Tribune. 1935-04-28. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Program for Extensio Service Staff Conference Has Topics of Interest to Agriculturists". The Burlington Free Press. 1935-12-13. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Nutritionist Urges Country Women to Grow Culinary Herbs for Sale". The Courier-Journal. 1941-03-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "To Confer Here". Nevada State Journal. 1945-06-03. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Miss Birdseye to Address Garden Club". Finger Lakes Times. 1937-11-03. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Miss Birdseye Will Address Garden Club". The Charlotte Observer. 1942-10-13. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "For health and happiness". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  13. ^ Birdseye, Miriam (1925). Extension work in foods and nutrition, 1923. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
  14. ^ Stiebeling, Hazel K. (Hazel Katherine); Birdseye, Miriam (1931). Adequate diets for families with limited incomes. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
  15. ^ United States. Extension Service; Birdseye, Miriam (1936). How to make the foods and nutrition project contribute to the general growth of home demonstration club members. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington].
  16. ^ United States. Extension Service; Birdseye, Miriam (1936). Some nutrition facts every 4-H club member should learn. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington].
  17. ^ United States. Extension Service; Birdseye, Miriam (1936). Food budget adjustments in drought areas. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington].
  18. ^ United States. Extension Service. Division of Cooperative Extension; Birdseye, Miriam (1936). Helps for herb-garden demonstrators; suggested activities for 4-H herb-garden demonstrators. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington.
  19. ^ United States. Extension Service. Division of Cooperative Extension; Birdseye, Miriam (1937). Notes on using herbs in landscaping. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington].
  20. ^ Sounin, Leonie de (1941). Magic in herbs. New York: M. Barrows & Company, Incorporated.
  21. ^ Birdseye, Miriam (1944). How the school lunch program in Barbour County, West Virginia, was organized and carried on in 1939-40 /. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C. : Extension Service, War Food Administration.
  22. ^ Birdseye, Miriam (1946). Selected herb recipes. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture.
  23. ^ "Funeral Services Held for Baroness De Sounin". Evening star. 1942-01-22. p. 27. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Smith College has 75th Anniversary Fund Drive; Miriam Birdseye of Carmel Heads Local Alumnae Group". The Californian. 1947-04-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Miriam Birdseye (obituary)". Times Herald. 1948-08-31. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Among the new books; Miriam Birdseye back on the scent". Marylebone and Paddington Mercury. 1950-11-17. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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