Stanton Davis Kirkham (December 7, 1868 – January 6, 1944) was a naturalist, philosopher, ornithologist and author.
He was named after Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, whom his father had served as an aide.
Kirkham was the author of As Nature Whispers (1902), The Ministry of Beauty (1907), Where Dwells the Soul Serene (1907), In The Open: Intimate Studies and Appreciations of Nature (1908), The Philosophy of Self-Help: An Application of Practical Psychology to Daily Life, (1909), Mexican Trails: A Record of Travel in Mexico, 1904-7, and a Glimpse at the Life of the Mexican Indian (1909), Resources: An Interpretation of the Well-Rounded Life (1910), East and West: Comparative Studies of Nature in Eastern and Western States (1911), Outdoor Philosophy: The Meditations of a Naturalist (1912), North and South: Notes on the Natural History of a Summer Camp and a Winter Home (1913), Half-True Stories: For Little Folks of Just the Right Age (1916), After Thirty Years (1923), Animal Nature and Other Stories (1926), Cruising Around the World and the Seven Seas (1927) and Shut-In (1936).
An illness he contracted during a horseback journey across South America in 1914 rendered him an invalid for the latter part of his life.
His philosophy, as stated in The Ministry of Beauty and other works, could be said to fall within the category of Transcendentalism.