Ada Hayden:
Prairie Protector

---

This article was written and posted on INHF's website in Feb. 2007.

Iowa State University Library/Special Collections Department. (used with permission)

A young Ada Hayden, photographed in prairie

Ada Hayden (1884-1950) was a strong woman with strong opinions—especially when it came to protecting Iowa's native prairies.

Ada grew up in rural Ames and, in 1918, became the first woman to receive a doctorate degree from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University). She soon joined the university's faculty (botany department) and later served as long-time curator of the state's herbarium.

Meanwhile, Ada conducted research on Iowa's vanishing prairies—and soon became a public advocate for preserving them. She has been decribed as brusque, eccentric, diversely talented and fearless.

Thanks to her legacy, many Iowa prairies are now permanently protected, including a prairie that bears her name.

Learn more about this early Iowa conservationist and her lasting legacy by following the links below!

About Ada Hayden

Hayden profile 1 (Ecology College article on INHF website, 2007)

Hayden profile 2 (20th Century Women at Iowa State)

Hayden profile 3 (Biography from Iowa State)

Hayden profile 4 (A Protector of Iowa's Prairies by Marcy Seavey)

Hayden profile 5 (Champion of Iowa Prairies by Deborah Lewis)

About Hayden Prairie (located in Howard County)

Hayden Prairie 1 (directions & background info, by Howard County Conservation Board)

Hayden Prairie 2 (directions and background info, by Iowa DNR)

About the Ada Hayden Herbarium

The Ada Hayden Herbarium

Other publications

SELY, D. 1989. Ada Hayden: A tribute. Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science 96:1-5.

LEWIS, D. 2001. Ada Hayden, champion of Iowa prairies. Proceedings of the Seventeenth North American Prairie Conference: seeds for the future, roots of the past, pp. 215-219.

LOVELL, J. 1987. She fought to save Iowa's prairies. The Iowan 36(2):22-27, 56-57.

For more information, e-mail Cathy Engstrom, Director of Communications, or call (515) 288-1846.