Guess Eleanor Anderson
28 Mar 1881 - 30 Jan 1979
diedTempe, Arizona, USA
bornUvalde, Texas, USA
SchooltblData
BiographyCame to Tempe from San Antonio, Texas, in 1903 to visit her sister, Honor Moeur. She developed an interest in studying birds, and started building sanctuaries, nursing injured birds, and banding birds. She was a federally licensed bird bander, banding an estimated 5,000 birds over a 30-year period. She became known as Tempe's "bird lady." For years, busloads of school children, about 1000 a year, would go to her home to learn more about birds. Over the years, she became an authority on the migratory patterns of birds, sharing
her findings with government agencies and private researchers. She wrote for Western Bird Banding Magazine and other local and regional publications. In 1940 her home was designated by the federal Fish and Wildlife Bureau as a federally recognized bird sanctuary.
She was a charter member of the Tempe Women's Club, and a member of the Desert Botanical Garden since 1946. She was also a charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary, William Bloys Post
No. 2. Other organizations of which she was a member include the Tempe Beautification Committee, the Tempe Library Board, the Tempe Garden Club, the Tempe Historical Society, and the Tempe Art League. She served with the Red Cross during World War II.
Birchett Park, the triangular area at Mill Avenue and 13th Street in front of Gammage Auditorium, was named for Joseph and Guess Birchett.
She was named Tempe's Centennial Queen in 1971. In 1975 she received the William Bloys Post No. 2 American Legion Americanism Award in recognition of her significant service to boys and girls. In October 1989 she was postumously inducted into the Arizona Capitol Museum's Women's Hall of Fame. The Guess Anderson Birchett Memorial Loan Fund at ASU was established upon her death.In 1923, '25 , -'28, -'29, -'30, -'31 , -'32 lived at 609 Forest Ave.
Lived at 202 E. 7th Street. See also: Joseph T. Birchett
OSB 37
BIO-Anderson
BIO-Birchett
BIO-Celaya
HPS-111
Federal census (Tempe), 1910
Tempe CD, 1906-1909, '25, -'28, -'29, -'30, -'31, -'32
Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe
Person TypeIndividual
