These Homes are for the Birds

In spring of 1916 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle posted a challenge to the children of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties: make a birdhouse for the birds of Long Island.

The invite appeared in the Junior Eagle - in a section dedicated to content for kids, some of it sent in by the readers themselves, such as: stories, poems, jokes, cartoons, an exchange column for swapping goods, and always included an article by the children’s page editor, Aunt Jean. The section did not even shy away from stories about war, albeit with a children’s spin. In the April 6 issue we find an interview with the first entrant to the birdhouse competition, Consuelo Gestal, highlighting her interest in birds, current events and music. Remarkably, an early article anticipating the contest, A birdhouse exhibit, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 22 March 1916, p. 6, only mentions the participation of boys, but by the time the competition applications were published, girls were included, and Consuelo nabbed the first entry.

In the intervening months of May and June, contest applications appeared in the paper with articles on participating schools and other organizations, like Scout troops, and various kids’ approach to project. One sanitorium director expressed his gratitude that the birdhouses he anticipated being furnished by contestants would cheer the residents, adults and children, with the birds they would attract. Birds, apparently, could use the help at the time. Songbirds were in decline - so much so that the governments of the United States and Canada enacted a series of laws against their killing and capture in the early years of the 20th century, culminating in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

In June the contest ended, with winners getting gold or silver medals, and every contestant receiving a certificate. The several pictures of contestants proudly holding their entries shows a lively creativity at work. Designs included log cabins, windmills, multi-floor bird apartments, and the very ecological entry from the medal winner on the left made entirely of corn cobs. One hopes the birds had many little families in these fancy abodes.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.