She created the Ethel Z. Bailey Horticultural Catalogue Collection and in 1912 was the first woman in Ithaca, New York to earn a driver's license.
[2] She graduated from Smith College in 1911 with her bachelor's degree in zoology,[2] and afterward worked at Cornell University alongside her father, editing several of his publications, including Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture and Manual of Cultivated Plants.
[2] Bailey traveled to countries including Venezuela and Trinidad on research excursions with her father.
[2] In order to transport herself to and from the Hortorium, Bailey earned her driver's license in 1912, and was the first woman in Ithaca, New York to do so.
[2] While at Cornell, Bailey contributed to Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture and the Manual of Cultivated Plants and edited the first eight volumes of the academic journal, Gentes Herbarum.