The Two hundred and Fiftieth-anniversary Celebration of the Royal Society and The International Entomological Congress

This chapter describes how John Henry Comstock was asked to represent Cornell University at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society of London in 1912. On the evening after the Comstocks' arrival in London, Henry went to the first informal meeting of the delegates to the Royal Society Celebration. On July 16, 1912, there was an impressive service in Westminster Abbey, which was attended by the delegates who were all in Academic dress. That evening, there was a great dinner in the Guild hall for the delegates. Eleven of the wives of delegates, including Anna Botsford Comstock, were entertained at dinner by Lady Bradford at her home in Manchester Square. The closing event of the celebration was the garden party at Windsor Castle. The delegates were received by their Majesties in the palace and were shown through it afterwards. Henry then attended the International Congress of Entomologists in Oxford in August of 1912.

“How to Know Butterflies” and the “Confessions to a Heathen Idol”

This chapter discusses the teaching experiences of Anna Botsford and John Henry Comstock at Chautauqua. At Chautauqua, they had a very large field class and they were both tired when they returned to Ithaca early in August of 1903. Henry had 33 classes in his summer term that year. He gave a course of lectures on spiders, which was very popular. Meanwhile, Anna's problem in the Chautauqua classes was a difficult one. The teachers had no background of science, and it seemed best to get each one in the class interested in some phase of nature that they could follow by themselves later. Anna found trees, ferns, birds, and butterflies adapted for this work. However, all the butterfly books were too advanced for use in these courses. As such, Anna besought her husband to write one with her. On November 13, 1903, she accepted the trusteeship of William Smith College.

Anna Botsford Comstock—Childhood and Girlhood

This chapter discusses the childhood and girlhood of Anna Botsford Comstock, recounting the story of her family and heritage. Her parents' earlier marriages complicated Anna's relationships and greatly enriched her life. Anna was taught to work early, and she learned to sew before she was four years old and to knit when she was six. In Sunday school, she asked puzzling questions, which were answered by some quotation from the Bible, instead of reasonably. Thus, Anna came to regard the Bible as a refuge for ignorance and a stifler of reason, a prejudice that remained a secret in her mind until after she too reached the age of reason and came to realize its majesty and beauty. The chapter then looks at Anna's experience studying English Grammar, which she hated until she came to appreciate it after she studied Latin. She also attended a “select school” in Otto wherein she took a few drawing lessons. When Anna was fourteen, the teacher in the primary room of their village school took ill and had to leave six weeks before the term ended; she was asked to take her place. She then attended “Chamberlain Institute and Female College” at Randolph and started for Cornell University in November of 1874 wherein she studied both botany and zoology.