May Theilgaard Watts, Illinois Naturalist
Environmental Education Pioneer, Started Rails to Trails
In 1942 the Morton Arboretum was opening the Thornhill Education Center. May Theilgaard Watts, teacher and botanist, was sought to be the director of education and first naturalist. Akin to the hardy pioneer species of plants which first colonize barren land, at age 49 May took firm root at the Arboretum teaching nature classes for all ages and interests and drafting the guiding principles for nature programming.
Educational strategies which she had employed as a teacher in a one- room school house were applied to classes at the Arboretum. Children and adults, advanced and beginners, and tenderfoot and expert, learned from each other. Lectures were interspersed with chalk talks, poems, songs, games and finger plays. Indoor sessions were always followed by longer outdoor interpretive walks and talks led by a robust 5’9” Scandinavian woman with a virgin braid worn atop her head.
Ecological Succession
May popularized the concept of succession for a general audience in her books and teachings. Having been a student at the University of Chicago under the Henry Chandler Cowles who drafted the ecology curriculum for the young university and nationally laid the foundation for the new branch of science, ecology, May was introduced to Cowles' concept of “dynamic vegetational succession,” the gradual changes in the structure and function of a community over time. She dedicated her first book Reading the Landscape: Adventures in Ecology to Cowles presenting the landscape as a mystery filled with clues to wondrous natural stories. Reading the Landscape of Europeand its European equivalent The Countryside Around You interpreted the natural history she had seen in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Denmark and England.
Rails to Trails
One aspect of Europe which May transplanted to the United States was the footpath into the countryside. May observed that an abandoned railroad line covered in native plants was to be removed to make way for construction. She campaigned to preserve the railroad right of way as a nature corridor for future generations. Her determination led to the Illinois Prairie Path and in 1971 the national Rails to Trails program.
Educational TV
May’s productive years as a working naturalist included scripting and conducting a series for the newly founded WTTW, Chicago’s educational TV station. “Reading the Landscape” provided viewers with experiences in observing and interpreting the world around them. Individual programs had titles such as Plant Pioneers, Fence Rows, the Forest in Spring, and Sand Dunes.
Nature Study Guild Publishers
May and her husband, Raymond Watts, founded Nature Study Guild Publishers to market 4” x 6” pocket finder guides for field identification of plants like The Flower Finder, and Master Tree Finder, Winter Tree Finder, and Desert Tree Finder. May’s granddaughter, Bridget Watts continues the business today.
Retirement Endeavors
Upon retirement from the Arboretum in 1961, she maintained the role of consultant and helped to design and select plants for The May Theilgaard Watts Reading Garden adjacent to the Arboretum Library. She penned a column for The Chicago Tribune entitled “Nature Afoot” in which she shared her knowledge of what to observe while walking around Chicago neighborhoods.
When May passed away August 20, 1975, she left a legacy in her writings, teachings and indomitable spirit. Her resounding voice for nature and the breadth of her vision for nature education continues today through a diverse offering of seasonal courses for all ages and interests at the Morton Arboretum.
May Theilgaard Watts Reading Garden
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