Great Nebraska

Naturalists and Scientists

Elizabeth Van Sant

Elizabeth Van Sant having a great love for nature and its wildlife took in numerous birds, rodents, insects, and arachnids to studied them along with her father and Frank H. Shoemaker, who at the turn of the twentieth century lived together in Omaha, Nebraska. While Shoemaker lived with Elizabeth and her father, she assisted in his photography and the documentation of wildlife they found around Omaha or while on short trips. Elizabeth also managed the “Bird Room” documented in many of Shoemaker’s notes and photographs.

Highlighted here are Elizabeth’s own observations and discoveries that she noted in her diary and field notes.