Eckstorm, Fannie Pearson Hardy (1865–1946)

American writer, ornithologist and folklorist. Born Fannie Pearson Hardy, June 18, 1865, in Brewer, Maine; died Dec 31, 1946, in Brewer; dau. of Manly Hardy (fur trader) and Emeline Freeman (Wheeler) Hardy; Smith College, BA, 1888; m. Reverend Jacob Andreason Eckstrom (Episcopal cleric), 1893 (died 1899); children: Katharine Hardy Eckstrom, Paul Frederick Eckstrom.

Expert on Maine history and culture, grew up among hunters, trappers, lumbermen, boatmen and Indian guides of northern and eastern Maine; learned to keep precise trapper's and wildlife records and gained extensive knowledge of Maine birds and animals; was the 1st woman to serve as superintendent of Brewer schools (1889–91); joined father in crusade for preservation of state's big game and rights of native hunters, writing series of articles for Forest and Stream; wrote The Bird Book (for children) and The Woodpeckers (both 1901), as well as The Penobscot Man (1904), which recounts exploits of river drivers on Penobscot River, and a biography of woodsman and hunter David Libbey (1907); contributed to Atlantic Monthly (1908); began collecting local ballads, co-writing Minstrelsy of Maine and British Ballads of Maine (both 1929); co-founded Folk-song Society of the Northeast (1930); also wrote Indian Place-Names of the Penobscot Valley and the Maine Coast (1941) and Old John Neptune and Other Maine Indian Shamans (1945).