Born Mabel Rosalie Edge in NYC, the youngest of five children of John Wylie Barrow and Harriet Bowen Woodward Barrow, a family of wealth and prominent social standing. She received a private school education as such.
Rosalie was a New York socialite, suffragist, and amateur birdwatcher, who established the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) in 1929 to expose the conservation establishment's ineffectiveness, and a strong activist for species preservation. In 1934 she founded the world's first preserve for birds of prey, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, near Kempton, Pennsylvania. During the Great Depression, Edge was considered the United States' most militant conservationist (Hawk of Mercy).
She married Charles Noel Edge, a wealthy British engineer of ship and railroad construction, May 1909 in Japan. After 3 years of travel abroad, the Edge's returned to New York permanently where their children Peter and Margaret were born.
In 1915 she became a social activist for the first time in the women's voting rights movement, joining the Equal Franchise Society, giving speeches and writing pro-suffrage pamphlets. She later served as secretary-treasurer of the New York Women Suffrage party under Carrie Chapman Catt.
She became interested in bird watching in the 1920's joining ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers in Central Park. Inspired to become a conservationist activist upon reading of the slaughter of 70,000 bald eagles in the Alaskan Territory. She also denounced the common practice of appreciating birds by killing and mounting them for study regardless of species rarity.
Not formally trained in natural sciences she was educated by top forest and wildlife professionals, becoming expert enough to write and advocate knowledgeably enough on a wide variety of conservation topics, including the importance of preserving birds of prey, species diversity, dangers of toxins and pesticides up to DDT and protecting virgin forests. Prior to establishing Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Edge founded and ran the ECC from 1929 until her death. The ECC's emphasis was the need to protect all species of birds and animals so that they didn't become rare. A 1931 successful suit by Edge against the National Association of Audubon Societies, now The National Audubon Society, to spark reform for their lax conservation practices allowing hunting on their lands and for access to their membership and mailing list, resulted in a bitter feud between them which resulted in the resignation of their longtime president and a significant membership decline. This break lasted up until a few weeks before her death in November 1962, she attended the National Audubon Society's annual meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she was introduced as one of the most prominent figures in American conservation and was met with enthusiastic applause. This was one of her last public appearances.
In 1934, after decades of hawk and eagle slaughter on a ridge in the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania, Edge ended the shoot by buying up the property and turning it into a sanctuary. Willard Gibbs Van Name, the American Museum of Natural History zoologist who advised her and secretly wrote her earliest EEC pamphlets, lent her the $500 to obtain a lease-buy option on about 1340 acres. Eventually Hawk Mountain Sanctuary grew to 2600 acres and remains so to this day with over 60,000 visitors (in 2008).
Other conservation accomplishments of Edge in addition to founding the ECC and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, were national grassroots campaigns to create Olympic National Park (1938) and Kings Canyon National Park (1940), successfully lobbying congress to purchase about 8000 acres of old growth sugar pines on the perimeter of Yosemite National Park, that were to be logged. She influenced founders of The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), along with other major wildlife protection and environmental organizations created during and just after the 30 years when she dominated the conservation movement.
In 1960, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, provided the scientist and author Rachael Carson with significant migration data that enabled her to link the decline of the juvenile raptor population to DDT, in her bestselling book Silent Spring.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is located on the Schuylkill-Berks county boundaries in southeastern Pennsylvania with links to the Appalachian Trail, it is popular with hikers and birdwatchers. It is the world's oldest sanctuary committed to the preservation and observation of birds of prey. HMS was registered a National Natural Landmark in 1965. It is not owned or financially supported by the state but is entirely self-sufficient with it's own governing body. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association also partners with Kutztown University and Cedar Crest College, to provide higher level classes to students in relevant fields of study. They also offer programs, seminars and volunteer opportunities to the public. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's original efforts.
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See Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association Facebook for more events, projects, partnerships, research, education and other interests including the Hanover Bald Eagle nest live stream courtesy of HD on Tap and their blog.
HD on TAP run permitted wildlife streaming cameras that include eagle nests and the Hanover Bald Eagles, nesting Falcons in the city of Harrisburg, Pa., the Pa. Bear Den, other wildlife throughout the state complete with educational information for each on habitats, banding, identification, etc. plus links to other live streaming wildlife services across the country. HD on TAP have been granted a Special Permit by Pennsylvania Game Commission for educational purposes. PGC mission is to manage wild birds, wild mammals and their habitats for current and future generations.
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For further interest please go to:
www.hawkmountain.org
www.hdontap.com
---
Mabel is buried near her parents.
!She used her middle name as her primary name which is reflected here. It is Mabel Rosalie Edge on her marker. She is not recognized on Find a Grave as famous in her time.

Born Mabel Rosalie Edge in NYC, the youngest of five children of John Wylie Barrow and Harriet Bowen Woodward Barrow, a family of wealth and prominent social standing. She received a private school education as such.
Rosalie was a New York socialite, suffragist, and amateur birdwatcher, who established the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) in 1929 to expose the conservation establishment's ineffectiveness, and a strong activist for species preservation. In 1934 she founded the world's first preserve for birds of prey, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, near Kempton, Pennsylvania. During the Great Depression, Edge was considered the United States' most militant conservationist (Hawk of Mercy).
She married Charles Noel Edge, a wealthy British engineer of ship and railroad construction, May 1909 in Japan. After 3 years of travel abroad, the Edge's returned to New York permanently where their children Peter and Margaret were born.
In 1915 she became a social activist for the first time in the women's voting rights movement, joining the Equal Franchise Society, giving speeches and writing pro-suffrage pamphlets. She later served as secretary-treasurer of the New York Women Suffrage party under Carrie Chapman Catt.
She became interested in bird watching in the 1920's joining ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers in Central Park. Inspired to become a conservationist activist upon reading of the slaughter of 70,000 bald eagles in the Alaskan Territory. She also denounced the common practice of appreciating birds by killing and mounting them for study regardless of species rarity.
Not formally trained in natural sciences she was educated by top forest and wildlife professionals, becoming expert enough to write and advocate knowledgeably enough on a wide variety of conservation topics, including the importance of preserving birds of prey, species diversity, dangers of toxins and pesticides up to DDT and protecting virgin forests. Prior to establishing Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Edge founded and ran the ECC from 1929 until her death. The ECC's emphasis was the need to protect all species of birds and animals so that they didn't become rare. A 1931 successful suit by Edge against the National Association of Audubon Societies, now The National Audubon Society, to spark reform for their lax conservation practices allowing hunting on their lands and for access to their membership and mailing list, resulted in a bitter feud between them which resulted in the resignation of their longtime president and a significant membership decline. This break lasted up until a few weeks before her death in November 1962, she attended the National Audubon Society's annual meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she was introduced as one of the most prominent figures in American conservation and was met with enthusiastic applause. This was one of her last public appearances.
In 1934, after decades of hawk and eagle slaughter on a ridge in the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania, Edge ended the shoot by buying up the property and turning it into a sanctuary. Willard Gibbs Van Name, the American Museum of Natural History zoologist who advised her and secretly wrote her earliest EEC pamphlets, lent her the $500 to obtain a lease-buy option on about 1340 acres. Eventually Hawk Mountain Sanctuary grew to 2600 acres and remains so to this day with over 60,000 visitors (in 2008).
Other conservation accomplishments of Edge in addition to founding the ECC and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, were national grassroots campaigns to create Olympic National Park (1938) and Kings Canyon National Park (1940), successfully lobbying congress to purchase about 8000 acres of old growth sugar pines on the perimeter of Yosemite National Park, that were to be logged. She influenced founders of The Wilderness Society, The National Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), along with other major wildlife protection and environmental organizations created during and just after the 30 years when she dominated the conservation movement.
In 1960, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, provided the scientist and author Rachael Carson with significant migration data that enabled her to link the decline of the juvenile raptor population to DDT, in her bestselling book Silent Spring.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is located on the Schuylkill-Berks county boundaries in southeastern Pennsylvania with links to the Appalachian Trail, it is popular with hikers and birdwatchers. It is the world's oldest sanctuary committed to the preservation and observation of birds of prey. HMS was registered a National Natural Landmark in 1965. It is not owned or financially supported by the state but is entirely self-sufficient with it's own governing body. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association also partners with Kutztown University and Cedar Crest College, to provide higher level classes to students in relevant fields of study. They also offer programs, seminars and volunteer opportunities to the public. In 2009, the sanctuary celebrated the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's original efforts.
---
See Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association Facebook for more events, projects, partnerships, research, education and other interests including the Hanover Bald Eagle nest live stream courtesy of HD on Tap and their blog.
HD on TAP run permitted wildlife streaming cameras that include eagle nests and the Hanover Bald Eagles, nesting Falcons in the city of Harrisburg, Pa., the Pa. Bear Den, other wildlife throughout the state complete with educational information for each on habitats, banding, identification, etc. plus links to other live streaming wildlife services across the country. HD on TAP have been granted a Special Permit by Pennsylvania Game Commission for educational purposes. PGC mission is to manage wild birds, wild mammals and their habitats for current and future generations.
---
For further interest please go to:
www.hawkmountain.org
www.hdontap.com
---
Mabel is buried near her parents.
!She used her middle name as her primary name which is reflected here. It is Mabel Rosalie Edge on her marker. She is not recognized on Find a Grave as famous in her time.